<p> #1: Beowulf vs. Superman across a huge sword molded by giants—a sword that only he can lift. He grabs At first glance, the two heroes could be brothers—their brute strength is the weapon and decapitates Grendel’s mother with one swipe. The death of easy to see. Superman hides his identity. Beowulf kills monsters of all sorts. Grendel’s mother, again, shows Beowulf’s incredible strength. Superman not Although these two men are extremely heroic and have super-human abilities, only has super-strength, but also speed, invulnerability, flight, and many other they are quite different in morals. Beowulf and Superman go about their lives in traits. He holds natural gifts beyond any ordinary human capability. Superman, opposite ways, but these two heroes from different time periods both show also known as the Man of Steel, can break steel and lift objects of enormous similar and separate qualities. In the end, their heroic deeds save the lives of weight. And Superman gives every ounce of power and strength that he has in a countless innocent people. They demonstrate suitable values and morals from the fight to protect people. He is “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a societies of their different time periods. locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” The two heroic figures, Beowulf and Superman, display a great amount Although similar in bravery and strength, Beowulf and Superman differ of one thing: bravery. They both fight the forces of evil and save the day. In greatly: their identities and morals are completely opposite. Beowulf seeks fame Beowulf’s story, Grendel persistently terrorizes Hrothgar’s village for twelve and recognition; Superman hides his identity behind an alias. Beowulf wants to years. Finally, Beowulf arrives to stop the bloodthirsty beast once and for all. His leave behind a legacy to be remembered by, for there is no such thing as an heroic bravery and strength sends Grendel to his death, but the madness has not afterlife in the Anglo-Saxon times. He confidently boasts of his accomplishments yet ended. Grendel’s mother is an even fouler beast than Grendel himself; she about how many monsters he has defeated and grueling tasks he has overtaken. seeks revenge for the death of her child. Beowulf must again be a hero and swim Beowulf wants to prove to everyone that he is capable of doing anything he to the depths of the monster-infested lake to face and kill Grendel’s mother. pleases. His followers support him and stand by him every step of the way, which Beowulf relieves the village of the horror they have encountered. No matter how boosts Beowulf’s confidence. Superman, on the other hand, works alone. He difficult the challenge, Beowulf will always fight a beast to the death. Likewise, modestly disguises himself as a normal human being to avoid the attention of Superman illustrates his heroic qualities by fighting crime throughout Metropolis. being a superhero. Superman acts as a weak, ordinary person; he identifies Anytime someone calls out to Superman for help, he arrives at the scene in a himself as a man named Clark Kent. Clark Kent—a meek, fragile man who flash ready to help. His enemies—whether General Zod, Doomsday, or Lex works as a reporter for the Daily Planet—quickly transforms into the strong and Luthor—arrogantly think they can defeat him, but Superman always ends their powerful Superman once trouble arrives. He even covers his true identity: the evil ways. He defeats these criminals and puts them to justice by sending them to ‘S’ emblem beneath his oversized, button-down shirt. He does not brag about all jail where they belong. Even though he makes a vow not kill them, Superman of the villains he has defeated, as Beowulf did. It was acceptable for a man to always saves the day in the end, bringing justice to the city. They both fight with boast of his bravery and cunning back in Beowulf’s time, but modesty is the best dignity, making them great superheroes. way to go in Superman’s setting. The morals of a given culture can fluctuate over Being the superheroes of their day, Superman and Beowulf have time, changing the way that somebody acts toward their peers. incredible amounts of strength to fight and defend innocent people. They each Both Beowulf and Superman live for one thing: to destroy evil and fight prove their tremendous abilities by fighting off enemies and protecting civilians. for the good of others. Having both of these heroes in our lives always reminds Beowulf is not able to use a weapon in the vicious battle against Grendel; he has us to stand up for righteousness and to fight for the ones we love, even if that no choice but to fight with his bare hands. To end the battle, he tears the means putting ourselves in the way of danger. People in today’s society monster’s arm from its socket. Grendel helplessly crawls back to his cave to sometimes get caught up in their own lives and forget about other people around bleed to death. Another example of Beowulf’s strength is when he swam for them. Having superheroes like Beowulf and Superman remind us that we need to hours to the depths of a boiling lake to face Grendel’s mother. Once at the bottom open our eyes every now and then and see how we can help others. However, the of the swamp, he faces the ferocious beast to kill her once and for all. His sword, most important thing that both of these stories emphasize and will keep on Hrunting, fails him and breaks in two during the fierce battle. Beowulf comes emphasizing as their stories live on remains—good will always conquer evil. #2: Compare and Contrast: Billy Mays and the Pardoner and drink to fill him up. In contrast Billy Mays was a simple businessman. He Call in the next 30 minutes and you will get not one, not two, but four chose to use his natural talent in the business world to make a name for himself pieces of the original Old Testament— just pay shipping and handling. This in a moral and ethical manner. He lived a lavish life, expensive cars, a huge statement, though weird and misdated, is a combination of the works of the late house, and anything else his heart desired. He simply chose to use his skills in a Billy Mays, and The Pardoner from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Two of the more ethical and moral manner. best salesmen of all time, both men with great people skills: just trying to make it In contrast of how they used their skills, as everyday men, they were in this world. Morally, two different men, the pardoner full blown lies, selling pig amazingly similar. Both very cocky, living lavish lives, they were good at what bones and other scraps as relics. Billy Mays simply tends to stretch the truth-- they did and they knew it. They had the sort of attitude where they knew they Mighty Putty may not hold two trucks together--but at least they got it to in one could take anything, no matter how terrible of an item, and get you to pay way perfect test. Billy Mays and the Pardoner are very similar, neither have good more than it is worth. They were bold, giving pitches most men would not even products to sell, they both have the same lifestyles and morals, yet they have very attempt. The Pardoner at the beginning of his tale, said “greed is the root of all different business ethics. evil” he went into detail about how he is only in it for the money. He explained Neither man had the best products. As a matter of fact neither of them how he is paid by the church to go and sell these pardons, and in return he will had even decent products. Yet they both were very successful in their sales of give the money he earns back to the church. On the contrary, he pockets most of whatever they were given. The gift of sales, some are born with it, some are not, these earnings and also dabbles in selling “relics” for even more quick corrupt and these two men simply got some extra. They knew how to sell not just the cash. Though Billy Mays may not have told you straight to your face that he was product but also the idea, whether a second chance at heaven, or an easier life of a greedy man, his actions spoke much louder than his words. He had a net worth patty flipping. They were both able to give you problems you didn’t even know of 10 million dollars--and he surely enjoyed all of it. He owned two Bentleys, you had. Remember last week when you were jealous of your neighbor? God and two very large estates. does. It is a simple question with a simple answer, and even if it did not happen, The two men lived hundreds of years apart, one walked home to home maybe you just do not remember. Better buy that bone of Saint Peter just in case. selling pig bones as magical relics, the other stood in front of a camera and The Pardoner was the man that could give you the simple answer to the simple reached an entire nation in seconds. Yet, they remain very similar. The two men problems, even if he was the one who brought such problems to your attention. may have been in a very different time period, yet after all of these years Billy Mays had a great advantage: he was able to make one perfect pitch to salesmen still seem to find a way to trick us into believing in them, in their millions of people nationwide. Remember how hard it was to flip your products, even when we know it is trash. They adapt, they Two men of hamburgers in the pan last time? Probably not, because it was not. Yet with some completely different time periods, different parts of the world, and different quick footage of a young woman looking like she was pulling Excalibur out of lifestyles, so similar. No matter how much the times may seem to change. The the stone, now you think back, maybe it was hard, but it is not worth $20. But basic roots of all mankind will always linger. We are never really as separate wait call now and get two, now he has you thinking “that’s only $10 each!” and from our ancestors as we tend to think. you are now the not-so-proud owner of not one but, two Big City Slider Stations. With the way they do business they may seem like the same men, #3: For Fame and Glory despite being 500 years apart. The two men have very different business ethics. Two arms are lifted up high, grasping their weapon, poised to launch The Pardoner will openly admit he is selling you garbage, and that he is in it for it at their opponent. One arm is holding an axe and the other a baseball. They nothing more than the money. Yet minutes later he is trying to convince you of both throw their weapons with incredible force and precision. They hit their how badly you need his “relics” with healing powers. The pardoner is supposed targets right in the middle. Both figures are strong people, idolized by those to be a man of the cloth, living a modest life of helping people buy forgiveness around them. The main difference though is one is a major league athlete and the for their sins, yet he wears fine clothes, and rarely goes a night without good food other is an Anglo-Saxon epic hero. These two figures are similar in many ways, including their flaws. They are separated by centuries but have become icons in shutout. But, even with all of this his crowning achievements are the two world many cultures even with major flaws. Both have felt rejection, achieved historic series titles that he led the New York Yankees to in 1999 and 2000. It is easy to feats, and finished their careers with one last stand. see why either one of these people would be idolized. Their accomplishments are Like Beowulf, Roger Clemens faced rejection during his lifetime. numerous and impressive. But outside their fields of battle, they aren’t people Beowulf’s was rejected by many of the warriors for the king when he came to someone would look up to because both are not ideal people. Roger Clemens was fight Grendel. They felt they could handle it and don’t want Beowulf to be there. known to have anger issues, and Beowulf lived his life looking to gain as much Beowulf then proved himself to the king with tales of his heroism and feats of fame as he could for himself. But people still look as these two people as idols strength. Beowulf took this feeling of rejection head on and his self-confidence and have looked at them that way through their lives. allowed him do it. He also had the strong desire to attain fame and while his To maintain their fame and fans both Beowulf and Roger Clemens quest was noble, it was powered by selfish motives. Beowulf’s rejection had last stands during their lives. Beowulf’s battle was with a dragon who was happened at the beginning of his quest while Roger Clemens’ struggle took place terrorizing his people. Even though he was far past his prime he decided to battle after his career. It was in the form of steroid abuse charges. Clemens took this this great beast. Everyone including Beowulf knew he wouldn’t return. He went issue head on also, and his self-belief, similar to Beowulf, helped him take on this because he knew it was his last chance to gain eternal fame. His fight with the allegation. Roger Clemens went up in front of Congress and a court to prove his dragon led to his death. However he also defeated the dragon and he attained innocence when almost everyone was ready to discount his records and throw eternal glory as one of the greatest warriors the world has seen. Roger Clemens him aside. His ability to not listen to other people and fight for what he knew was had a similar end to his baseball career. After over twenty years in the major true let him battle to a non-guilty verdict on all six charges of steroid abuse. leagues and a long multi-year trial, almost everyone would have thought they Many people still believe he is guilty, and similar to Beowulf his fight was to would never see anything from Roger Clemens again. In spite of this Roger keep his fame intact and let him continue to make money and be a successful Clemens played one last game at the age of 52. With no competitive play, Roger sports figure. These two men both dealt with rejection and fought these rejections Clemens came in and struck out 3 batter while giving up no runs in 6 innings. nobly, but with underlying selfish motives tried to preserve their long history of This last appearance reminded everyone why he was so great and that he is truly epic accomplishments. one of the most talented pitchers to ever play the game. Just like Beowulf, These two men had epic accomplishments, and they are known for Clemens’ last stand was to retain his fame and bring himself the glory he lost their historic achievements in their careers. As an Epic hero, Beowulf’s through the long trial. accomplishments are numerous. As an epic hero, his feats of strength and Both made their last stands for themselves and wanted either fame, stamina are truly incredible. He is the ultimate warrior and defeated things no money, or both in a selfish attempt to gain themselves more prestige. man could ever wish to defeat. Whether it was the sea monsters that he fought for Both performed incredible acts, but they were done in by self-gain instead of for weeks in heavy armor, defeating Grendel who had terrorize the Danish warriors the people around them. Even though in the end they encouraged and helped for year, or defeating the dragon that terrorized his people when he was near the many people, it was not their intention. Selfish motives drove these men. Their end of his life, Beowulf’s accomplishments are easy to admire--they are truly attempts at fame inspired many people, but what they didn’t realize was that the extraordinary. On the other hand, I am sure Roger Clemens has never battled evil people they were looking up to were there for self-gain. These two far-from- sea monsters, but his accomplishments are almost equally impressive. He was perfect and somewhat selfish people have become idols just for their skills, and nicknamed “The Rocket.” This was because he had a blazing fastball and was this has happened many times with many different people. Our culture has come one of the hardest pitchers to hit in all of major league baseball for most of his to a point where all a person has to do to be looked to as a superstar is be good at career. He was elected an MLB All-Star 11 times, as well as winning 7 Cy what they do. Major flaws in our celebrities are overlooked and they make Young awards as the best pitcher in baseball. He also was one of the most millions from fans even though they are almost unanimously looked at as bad prolific pitchers ever in strikeouts, earned run average, completed games and people.</p>