What are the themes in The Iliad? Find here the answer to this question. This article by our experts analyzes rage, glory, honor in The Iliad, as well as other epic poem’s themes. Ancient people perceived the world differently than we do now. These cultural features are revealed in the...
Who is Patroclus in The Iliad? Why have Achilles and Agamemnon quarreled? Find the answers on The Iliad characters page prepared by Custom-Writing.org experts. The Achaeans, the Trojans, and Greek gods are described here. The quotes that you’ll find in the sections below are taken from the translation made by...
Looking for The Iliad summary? Need to quickly figure out the intricacies of the epic poem’s plot? You’re in the right place! In the article prepared by our experts, you’ll find The Iliad timeline of events, plot overview, and detailed summaries of the poem’s books. 🔰 The Iliad Plot Overview ...
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Partying with your buddies, checking out an art exhibition, catching the new episode of the hottest show—what do these things have in common? They are activities you probably don’t want to miss out on. If thinking about not doing these things is unbearable, you may be experiencing FOMO: the fear...
As a student, have you spent a fortune on textbooks? Or maybe you’ve had to search high and low for a specific text that was near impossible to find? We’ve got the solution: open educational resources. OER offer high-quality learning materials on a host of different subjects for free. Sounds...
Beowulf is the most ancient text in Old English that has been preserved till nowadays. Scientists still wrestle over many questions related to the manuscript. Did a single author write it? Why was the next unnamed? What is its literary value? This Beowulf Study Guide prepared by Custom-Writing.org experts answers...
Beowulf was too arrogant to admit he was too old for a hero’s role in the battle with the dragon. He wanted to achieve another feat and receive fame. He felt his death was near, but it did not stop him. After all, dying in a battle was the best...
The poem Beowulf and the novel Grendel have a similar plot. Both literary works characterize Grendel in the same way, with minor differences. In the poem, he is an angry man-eating creature with primitive human traits. In the novel, he is lonely and miserable. His inner world is emotionally complicated....
In Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon culture manifests itself in gift-giving, hospitality, feasts and celebrations, and the mixture of Pagan and Christian traditions. Such notions as lords, thanes, and warrior tribes were also typical for this culture. In the Anglo-Saxon culture, any achievement in a battle had to be rewarded. There were...
Beowulf was too old for the battle with the dragon. He sensed his death was soon. But he was a king, and kings are responsible for their people. The dragon attacked their homes, so Beowulf had to eliminate it. Besides, in Anglo-Saxon culture, dying in a battle was considered the...
At the time when Beowulf was written, and even more so when the described events took place, there was no such a country like Denmark. Beowulf took fifteen chosen companions with him to fight a man-eating monster who threatened the Danish tribe. There were several reasons why he decided to...
Apart from some other conflicts that mainly fall under the category “Person Vs. Person,” the central conflict is “Person Vs. Supernatural.” Accordingly, the poem describes three battles of Beowulf: with Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. All of them are evil supernatural creatures that kill people and threaten their mead-halls....
The epic poem tells the life story of a Geatish hero, his feats, and achievements. He sails to the land of the Danes to help them fight Grendel, a monster who ate people. This storyline is enframed with the lineage of the Danish kings and other historical or fictional events...
Beowulf came to fight the dragon with eleven warriors. Ten of them betrayed him in fear, but Wiglaf stayed. The two of them opposed the fire-breathing creature. When Beowulf’s sword broke, Wiglaf stabbed the dragon in its stomach. It gave the hero time to take out his knife, which he...
Grendel, the first monster that appears in the poem, came to Heorot by night. At that moment, Beowulf pretended he was asleep. Here the hero played the role of a sleeping monster whose lair was disturbed. He can defeat a monster only by acting like a monster. Grendel and his...
Grendel’s mother killed Aeschere, Hrothgar’s favorite thane. This loss was too personal to leave it unrevenged. He asked Beowulf to battle Grendel’s mother to bring an end to the monstrous breed. Besides, the hero was the only person Hrothgar believed was strong enough for the task. The next night after...
Beowulf takes place in Scandinavia around the 6th century AD. The Geats and the Scyldings (or Danes) were real tribal groups. They lived on the territory of modern southern Sweden and Denmark, respectively. We may suppose that Beowulf crossed the Baltic Sea. Still, it is impossible to define the exact...
Beowulf is one of the first epic heroes that can be found in ancient literature. His brave and noble character helps him defeat evil monsters that killed the Danes and Geats. Beowulf is strong and loyal to his kings. He does everything possible to improve the life of the people...
The battle with Grendel finishes when Beowulf tears off his arm, and the monster runs away to die in the swamps. But Grendel’s mother was driven by vengeance. By night, she penetrated Heorot. She took away Hrothgar’s best advisor and Grendel’s hand. Later Beowulf found the advisor’s head near the...
In the battle with the dragon, Beowulf acts as a protagonist. He is the character with whom readers identify themselves. The dragon is the antagonist. It opposes Beowulf and kills him. A protagonist and an antagonist are antonyms. These opposing forces create a conflict in a story and move the...
Traditionally, epic literature is formed as a long and narrative poem. It also has such literary devices as kennings and rich imagery. Epic poems do not have a rhyme in the sense of modern poetry. Instead, their unique form is achieved by alliteration and rhythm. An indispensable criterion is the...
Unferth is one of the warriors under Hrothgar’s rule. Unferth questioned Beowulf’s ability to defeat Grendel because once Beowulf failed in a swimming competition. Unferth was jealous of the hero’s strength, bravery, and the way the king accepted him. This feeling highlights the difference between these two characters. When Beowulf...
When Hygelac died, Queen Hygd offered Beowulf to take the throne as Heardred, her son, was too young to rule the Geats. Beowulf refused but promised to serve the young king till his dying day. But Heardred was killed in a battle. Then Beowulf became the King of the Geats...
Unferth gave Hrunting to Beowulf as an infallible legendary sword that survived many battles. But when Beowulf fought Grendel’s mother, his sword could not penetrate her armored skin. It even did not scratch her. For this reason, Beowulf had to put aside this weapon and use the giant sword from...
Beowulf comes to help Hrothgar because the king helped Beowulf’s father once a long time ago. The heroic code dictated Beowulf to be loyal to the benefactors of his family. He had to repay for the good deed. Moreover, Beowulf strived for fame, and killing Grendel would bring him glory....
Beowulf fights Grendel’s mother in her deep underwater lair. It is located in a building with a high arch. An ancient sword made by giants hangs on the wall as if waiting for Beowulf to use it. All of these objects and details bear symbolic meaning. Many epic heroes had...
Heorot is a mead-hall and a critical location in Beowulf. The hall is situated in Denmark. It serves as a seat of rule for Hrothgar, a legendary Danish king. He built the hall to celebrate victories and protect his people from any invaders. So, the attack on Heorot was the...
The heroic code required equal terms in a battle for warriors. Beowulf knew that Grendel’s only weapon was his hands. For this reason, the warrior took off his armor and put away his sword. He caught Grendel by his hand and tore it off. The monster died from this mortal...
Beowulf killed Grendel’s mother using a sword he found in her cave. It was an ancient sword forged by giants, Cain’s descendants, like Grendel and his mother. When Beowulf killed the mother and decapitated Grendel, the sword melted away because of the mother’s poisonous blood. In that battle, Beowulf went...
When the night came, and Beowulf was getting ready for the battle, he took off all of his armor. He also put away the sword to fight Grendel barehanded. He motivated it by the fact that the monster was unarmed, so that they would be equal. Besides, Beowulf relied on...
Rising action features the conflicts and challenges of the characters in a fictional plot. The story escalates when all the characters start experiencing various negative things. In Beowulf, rising action takes place between Grendel’s attack on the mead-hall and Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s mother. The latter marks the climax of...
Hrothgar plays a father figure in Beowulf’s life, and their relationship is full of mutual respect and loyalty. These two words represent the message the author wanted to convey by describing these two characters’ communication. In the end, Beowulf becomes a wise king, just as Hrothgar was. The heroic code...
Beowulf is an epic poem by an unknown author. It was written between the 8th and 11th centuries, but the plot describes the events that date back to 500 AD. The original text is in Old English, so the general public studies the poem in a translation. This selection by...
Beowulf is an epic poem and the oldest known written artifact in Old English. It reveals the life, traditions, and culture of the people who lived a millennium ago. At the same time, Beowulf explores such themes as loyalty, courage, generosity, hospitality, honor, and heroism. Modern readers can relate to...
Beowulf is the first text written in Old English. The described events date back to the 6th century, but the manuscript appeared between the 8th and 11th century AD. It explains why the poem needs a translation to Modern English for an unprepared reader to understand it. Moreover, some literary...
The themes and motifs of the poem indicate which models of behavior were favored and criticized in the Middle Ages. Generosity, loyalty, strength, heroism, and courage made up a respected personality. On the contrary, envy, greed, betrayal, and cowardice characterized a negative character. The unknown author looks for these motifs...
Is Beowulf a hero? ️Where is he from? How he dies? Find all the answers in this article on Beowulf characters prepared by Custom-Writing.org experts. Grendel, Hrothgar, Grendel’s mother, Unferth, and others are described below. There is also a Beowulf character map that presents the main characters and their connections....
Looking for Beowulf summary and analysis? Need to quickly figure out the intricacies of the poem’s plot? You’re in the right place! In the article prepared by our experts, you’ll find Beowulf plot overview, an illustrated timeline, as well as chapter summaries of the classic tale. ✍️ Beowulf Short Summary...
The long-standing debate surrounding abortion has many opponents and advocates. Groups known as Pro-Choice and Pro-Life argue which approach is better, with no easy solution in sight. This ethical complexity is what makes abortion a popular topic for argumentative writing. As a student, you need to tackle it appropriately. If...
Imagine that since childhood you have been told that you live in the best of all houses. The world around you is the best of all possible ones. But suddenly, the miracle dissipates, and you find yourself in the street without any means for existence. You will doubt the optimistic...
Voltaire’s philosophy is too multilateral to be described in a single sentence. But his principal postulate was that the government should be separate from religion. He was a Deist, meaning that he believed in God but thought that He was not interested in human problems. Thus, there was no point...
Voltaire rebelled against the Church and most state institutions (aristocracy, monarchy, and bureaucrats). He advocated for social reform and equality. His writings gave the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers critical concepts to build a new form of government. Voltaire’s ideas inspired many statements of the first American Constitution. More...
Voltaire was an ardent advocate of the freedom of speech. He criticized aristocracy, clergy, and the government. He stood for tolerance, reason, and limited government or an enlightened monarch. In a word, he pushed for social reformation in all its forms, leading to a more educated, tolerant, and cultured society....
The easiest way to differentiate one personality from another is the same thing we do with our fellow Americans. Rousseau is a Republican and Voltaire is a Democrat. Both of them drew inspiration from the philosophy of John Locke. But Rousseau focused on emotions, while Voltaire gave the principal importance...
Voltaire was twice imprisoned during his lifetime. The second time, he was released on the condition that he would leave the country. Voltaire’s prison terms and exile were the results of his satire, which got him into trouble since he was a young man. More Information Voltaire composed his first...
Candide’s adventures and misfortunes begin when he is expelled from the castle for his kiss with Cunégonde, the Baron’s beautiful daughter. In order not to starve to death, Candide is recruited into the Bulgarian army. There he is beaten ruthlessly for a desertion attempt. Later, he barely escapes death in...
Pangloss taught Candide in the Baron’s castle. He was a philosopher whose beliefs were limited to optimism in every aspect of life. He thought that humans lived in the best possible world. In particular, every event was for the better, even the most horrible or deplorable one. More Information Pangloss...
Candide is a long novella or a short novel that has about 36,000 words. You can read it in two hours or listen to an audio version in four hours. The book’s uncommon length caused many-year scholarly debates on its genre. Still, most people agree that it is a novella....
The novella is about a naïve young man who wanders the world. He starts off believing that he lives on the best of the planets. But everything he sees and everyone he meets tells a story of poverty, hardships, and abuse. In the end, he settles on a farm and...
The sentence to run the gauntlet was a punishment for Candide’s desertion. The protagonist chose this penalty because the other variant was to be shot to death. Thus, he had to run among the military men thirty-six times while they whipped him. He endured the running only twice. More Information ...