Beowulf is a story about a man named Beowulf who desired fame and fortune in life. The Iliad had a character named Achilles who is similar to Beowulf because he also desired glory. But they are two completely different stories written at different times and different places by different people. Both stories have unique qualities such as dragons in one and multi-gods in the other and that is what makes fictitious stories like these classics. Since achieving fame is a goal of these two characters, and since these are great works of literature, people can relate to wanting to be famous in life. So this essay is about Beowulf and Achilles and what they went through to be famous and also what they went through to keep their fame.The Iliad, written by Homer, is about a few weeks of a ten-year war between the Trojans and the Acheans. Achilles is one of the main characters of The Iliad and he is a great man. All he wants is blood. His friend Patroclus was killed and he fights to avenge his friend and earn glory in the process. He would not have achieved glory if his friend hadnt died though because Achilles knew that when he fought he would die (Iliad, p. 117). His friends death is what led Achilles to the fame and glory he received even though he couldnt really enjoy it since Achilles died in the war.Achilles key to fame was not only in killing hordes of Trojans but also killing one of their beloved icons Hector. ...Brilliant Achilles drove his spear and the point went stabbing clean through the tender neck... (The Iliad, ln 385 386, p 195). He killed Hector as revenge for Hector killing Patroclus. Hector was the first Trojan icon to go down in The Iliad although the next ones went down later on in the war, perhaps not in The Iliad but in the Aenid. Aeneas speaks of the war in Aenid and he describes how Hectors father, Priam, met his death.After Hectors death, Achilles would drag the body every morning around his army base thr...
