The theme of honor that can be reached through adventure and with the help of courage, and that presents wealth and glory to its hero is one of the most widely described themes, especially in the literature of the ancient period that is why in cooperation with interesting facts about plagiarism service I wrote this post. Iliad and Beowulf present two characters that are similar in their wish to become famous among their nation and all over the world as the greatest warriors and fighters for the good.

Beowulf is a story of one exceptional man named Beowulf who manages to save an ancient Danish kingdom from a terrible monster that destroyed villages and killed its inhabitants. After that, this legendary Viking of almost two meters of height, full of pride, confidence and amazing ambition ascends the throne. The country prays for their hero and composes songs to praise his valor and determination after he comes to give aid to King Hrothgar, whose kingdom is exposed by the treacherous attack of Grendel, a ruthless monster who tortures and devours people by forcing them to live in perpetual anticipation of fear and danger (Anonymous). Saving the kingdom from the merciless monster, Beowulf finds glory and success.

Untold riches are thrown to his legs, but irresistible temptation is in wait for him everywhere. His power and eternal wish for honor and glory determine his fate as a warrior, a winner, a leader, a hero and, what is more important, as a person.

Achilles, the eternal hero of Homer’s Iliad, is an example of a person who lives with one aim in his life – reaching the glory and honor among people all over the world. He repeatedly mentions that he would like to live forever in the songs and legends of his country. He kills the greatest warriors and helps the Greeks to win the war with Trojans and kills Hector, who is the most important and the strongest Trojan warrior (Homer 223). Achilles is charming and he conquers the hearts and mind of the society by his actions and his tremendous look. Achilles’ actions and his whole life are directed into one aim – to reach honor and glory and stay in people’s minds as the greatest warriors of all times. There were no other warriors that could stand his power and his art of leading a fight.

The king Agamemnon and his warriors believed that only the presence of Achilles could help them to conquer Troy. This man does not see his life as an ordinary man having a family and raising children. He is doomed to die of an arrow, and he has his weak spot, the Achilles’ heel. Despite the sad end for him, he would stay in the history of humanity as one of the strongest and courageous warriors of all times.

If to speak about the influence of society upon these two characters, it is important to mention that they both experienced fame and appreciation of people around them. Under the constant pressure, they were forced to lead a glorious life and direct all their actions into fights and save their people from the powers of evil and other foes.

The main difference between them is that the main powers opposing Beowulf were mystical creatures, while in case of Achilles’ situation they were real people. At the same time, the mystery of their powers differs significantly as Achilles got his immortality with the help of charms of the river Sticks with his mother’s help, while Beowulf acquired the forces of thirty people and led the lazy way of lifestyle while growing up.

The cultures of these two characters influence them by forcing them to need the glory and honor. Both characters have to live in a constant wait of dangerous adventures and fight with their enemies. Achilles has characteristics that were common for a hero during the era of Greek rule. Beowulf has the features of a person that obtained people and warriors during the ancient era of existence of monsters and dragons. Beowulf is a man who cares not for the salvation of souls, but approval in people’s memory of his earthly glory. The poem ends with the words of all earthly leaders all over Beowulf that he was generous, kind to his people, and hungry for glory and honor.

Achilles was a victim of people’s ideas that his place was at the field of war leading the Greek army to the victory and glory. Achilles’ aim was to become a leader and stay in that role forever.

Beowulf attains honor with the help of his tremendous power and his skills of a good warrior. He is protected with the charmed armor and is armed with the strongest sword. He kills the monster Grendel and later his mother since a number of years he wanted to kill the dragon that damages villages and kills people, but this becomes the last fight for the hero and he dies. His actions are depicted in the songs of honor and glory, and he becomes an eternal hero.

He becomes a legendary hero for his people and stays with them forever protecting them with his forces even after his death. He lives and thinks about the glory he attained through his heroic deeds, he understands that the honor is the most valuable pressure that can be gained by a person during life. It is not an easy task to attain glory and honor, but he manages to do that by sacrificing his life and personal interests dedicating them to honor and eternal memory.

Achilles becomes a hero to his people who embrace him with their love and glory, presenting the honor and memory for centuries in the Greek literature. His culture made him live and act for the honor, and the culture around him sees his way as a way of the greatest warrior that can be compared to god on the earth. He lived and acted, loved and fought with one aim – to become accepted by the society as an invincible warrior, a man of action and a man of word. He has very strong human feelings, he falls in love with a girl, he loves his best friend as his own brother, and he kills Hector for the sake of revenge.

The two characters present two epochs of heroes that were idolized by their cultures and chanted in the epos of their people during and after their death. They are the same in their wish to have the honor of the whole world by means of performing unbelievable actions and doing things that were impossible for an ordinary person. They dedicated their lives to people and to fights. Achilles as well as Beowulf died because of their weak spots – Achilles’ heel and Beowulf’s age. Their lives and their heroic deeds would stay in songs and stories forever making them both the greatest warriors and honored heroes of all times.