Michael Vitek Honors English 11 Mrs. Linden 22 October, 1999 Hero Sandwich “Did you ever know that you’re my hero? You’re everything I wish I could be.” Bette Midler used these words to sing about her hero. When she says “everything I wish I could be,” it translates the idea that heroes should set examples that others can follow. Heroes are those who everyone looks up to, and idolize. In a way, they should be perfect, after all, everyone is trying to follow their lead. When this virtue of absolute goodness is compromised, so is the truth behind the term hero. In Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by Marie Borroff, the so-called heroes, Beowulf and Sir Gawain both have their heroic qualities put to the test. By the end of each story, they fail in accomplishing the feat of coming out as pure. When heroes show signs of weakness and lack of purity, their valor is discredited. One attribute all true heroes should have is modesty. They should not promote themselves Beowulf is conceited in the fact that he always talks about himself and how great he is. He states, "They have seen my strength for themselves, / . . . Dripping with my enemies' blood. I drove / Five great giants into chains, . . ." (Raffel 27). All of this pomp and circumstance about himself when all he is really saying is that his people told him he should go help the Danes. The mind of a hero must be pure, and free of foulness. As Beowulf is engaged in battle with Grendel, he torments Grendel by making him suffer. He evens as far as saying “Feel the wall: is it not hard? . . . Hard, yes! Observe the hardness, write it down in careful runes. Now sing of walls! Sing!” (Gardner 171) While it is true that enemies do not favor each other, Beowulf’s excessively foul demeanor towards Grendel shows his bloodthirsty attitude, which is unbecoming on an admired figure as himself. Sir Gawain as well has a tainted mind. When he arrives at the manor, he has somewhat impure thoughts about the lady. “More toothsome, to his taste, / Was the beauty by her side.” (Borroff 968-969) This is not what a gentleman, a knight in fact, should be thinking of a married woman. Beowulf’s torturous actions, and Gawain’s dirty thoughts make them figures which do not set good examples of strong minds for others to follow. Beowulf thinks that he is so strong of a warrior that he does not need a sword when fighting Grendel. Even though Beowulf knows Grendel is a destroyer of men, he refuses to use the advantage of a blade because, “… [Grendel] needs not weapons and fears none. / Nor will I” (Raffel 28). Gawain dresses all in gold to look good, even though it is not good for armor. It was a quite moronic to venture to an unfamiliar area, where one is to be voluntarily attacked, while wearing soft, malleable gold armor. Gawain, Gawain flinches when the Green Knight is about to swing the axe, this is because he is weak. Someone cannot truly be a hero if he cannot uphold a perfect image for others to follow.