Loyalty in Classic Literature Essays

Loyalty in Classic Literature Essays Loyalty in Classic Literature Essay Loyalty in Classic Literature Essay â€Å"Hero, a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.† (Unknown) Many aren’t known as heroes, but when you dig down deep in their life, and realize how they treat others, their strengths, their braveness, quickly you realize a hero. Beowulf, Hector, and Hercules all have many characteristics as to how they are a hero, but with loyalty, braveness, and their unnatural strengths, they are automatically all considered a hero. Beowulf, the Iliad, and Hercules all show characteristics of loyalty, especially when it comes to their community. Beowulf is very loyal to his men, by telling them to back off, he will fight the monster alone. Loyalty comes in with him doing this for Hrothgar and the protection of his men, â€Å"so Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall† (Raffel 15). In the Iliad, Hector is very loyal to his city, Troy, as he even goes up to fight for the city and ends up getting killed while in the battle against Achilles. â€Å"After an inner struggle in which he considers simply bargaining with Achilles peacefully, Hector decides to fight to the death.† (Fagles, intro). Hercules also shows loyalty by staying faithful to Gwen, his lady friend. Even when she passes away, he travels all the way to Haities to save her. Also in his city, Hercules was also very dedicated to his people. In a city, being a hero means being very brave and taking risks for everyone. After defeating Grendel, Beowulf came back twice in order to kill Grendel’s mother and a fire-breathing dragon. Although during his battle with the dragon, Beowulf was fatally injured. â€Å"Beowulf arose, with his men around him, ordering a few to remain without their weapons† (Raffel 134-136). In the Iliad, Hector is brave for going up to fight against Achilles, the mightiest of warriors. Hector screaming and panting states, â€Å"No more running from you in fear, Achilles!† With no fear, Hercules stays