A hero is idolized for their courage and valiant ideals. Heroism plays a vital role in the lives of Beowulf and Sir Gawain. These characters represent what a hero stands for, but their lives as heroes are told differently in their stories. They are both seen to be brave, noble, and skilled men on their journeys, but the strengths portrayed through these heroes are of inner and outer strength. Though while both Beowulf and Sir Gawain show feats of heroism in their stories, Beowulf is shown to be the greater of the two heroes.
Early in the story, we learned that Beowulf was already seen as a mighty hero demonstrating his astonishing power and courage. The poet characterizes Beowulf as “the mightest man on earth” (Line 197). They’re during a swimming match with a rival named Breca, Beowulf shows a feat of his endurance as he, “on the open sea” (Line 507), finishing a race seven-day race. While on the event, Beowulf ended up killing many sea-beasts. Beowulf demonstrates the truth of his heroism when a storm occurs during the match. He chooses to stay alongside Breca, the weaker swimmer, instead of wanting to win the race. Even though the storm ended up separating the two of them, Beowulf showed that he was willing to give up winning the race rather than let the safety of his opponent jeopardized.
