Comparison of the Past and the Present Culture Values
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Comparison of the Past and the Present Culture Values
All values change over time. Some are slower than others. Cultural values that are learned behavior patterns can continue to change through time. Cultural values today differ from what they were centuries ago. In todays view a hero would be simply be a normal person. This modern day hero distinguished by nobility and passion towards others, which goes out of his way to help a person in need. He acts of some bravery towards a community. In the epic “Beowulf” the Anglo-Saxons cultural values reflect different views from our thoughts of a hero that seem too perfect to be true for a simple man to possess. Cultural values have changed from the 8th century Anglo-Saxon era to our thoughts of heroes and villains. Then the heroes were invincible with little to no flaws and now they are humanized with simple flaws.
Cultural values have changed from the 8th century when the Anglo-Saxons walked around and told their poems about heroes and monsters to our tales of modern day heroes and villains. In the epic “Beowulf” the Danes would boast in the victories of Beowulf and praise him for his noble deeds and slayings of monsters that plague the land. The noble Beowulf in the epic models a perfect hero that has the traits of bravery, strength, skill, honesty, compassion and loyalty. The heroes in our day and age are more likable than those of the Anglo-Saxons, which reveled in amongst their successes gained from their flawless traits. Two examples of a modern day super heroes that have been popular by our standards are Spiderman and Batman. They possess flaws like any other average human, Superman or any other superhero doesnt have to deal with simple human flaws due to their superhero attributes that have little human characteristics. Spiderman and Batman would be common people in the time of Anglo-Saxon tales of heroes such as Beowulf. Superman would fit in as a hero with the stories, stories like how he killed “Ninesea-huge monsters” (41) and how he tore Grendels arm with his bare hands. In the movie “Beowulf and Grendel,” Beowulf stands as an average hero with no god-like powers but with simple human traits like anyone else in the movie. Beowulf in the movie has much more a believable characteristics than the Beowulf in the epic. The epic “Beowulf” differ than the movie “Beowulf and Grendel.” The epic has more entertaining values than believable values in the movies point of view towards Beowulf and Grendel.
In the Epic “Beowulf” Beowulf is a warrior from Geatland, considered an epic hero with no flaws founded on his god like body where “Beowulf ruled in Geatland” (92). Beowulf represents a perfect hero in the eyes of the Anglo-Saxons boasting in his superhuman strength and attributes that conquer Grendel, Grendels mother and the dragon with his sheer strength alone. He did not care for the life of Grendel or try to find out why he and his mother committed the murders of the Danes but did what any hero would do and extinguish the darkness from the land without question. The hero in the movie “Beowulf and Grendel,” Beowulf represents an average warrior from the nation of Geatland and has no god like attributes like in the epic but flawed like any other human with a set of modern cultural values. Beowulf in the movie at first only cared to rid the troll of Daneland but he investigated into the reasoning why Grendel committed the murders of the people in Danish community. He soon feels pity for Grendel and trys to help his son from the Danes that would harm him and help him not to be a temple of hate and vengeance like his father to discontinue the vicious cycle of murders on anyone again. The Beowulf in the epic has no pity or sorrow