Beowulf-Hero

Everybody has a hero someone they look up to, but what makes up a hero? By definition a hero distinguishes him or herself by exceptional courage, nobility and strength. In “Beowulf,” an epic poem, Beowulf, the embodiment of a perfect hero, possesses bravery, loyalty, responsibility, thoughtfulness, generousness, and fearlessness.   Beowulf, the prince of Geats, fights the monster Grendel. Grendel escapes, but dies soon afterwards. Beowulf then offers to dive into the lake and find and destroy Grendel’s mother. Beowulf also goes into the cave where the dragon lives vowing to destroy it single-handedly, but in the end the dragon kills Beowulf. Beowulf is a great hero, but in our day and age many great heroes exist who demonstrate the same characteristics that Beowulf does.
To me a hero isn’t a celebrity or someone famous but an American soldier. A soldier demonstrates many heroic qualities that Beowulf does. First what they do isn’t glamorous but brutal. They don’t risk their live for the recognizition, but for the good of the people. Beowulf and soldiers both protect people first before themselves. They put their lives on the line everyday, Beowulf for a chest of gold, but is that enough? Can we pay off someone to risk his or her life no matter how willing or brave? It takes a real hero to stand up for what they believe in to fight for their cause. To know your payment won’t be enough, but continue to fight for the innocent, those things set heroes apart from us.  
Heroes today still possess many of the heroic qualities Beowulf possess. Bravery, loyalty, and fearlessness are just some of the qualities that heroes posses. So can someone call you a hero? Can you put others before yourself like Beowulf and many heroes today do?