Heros aren't prideful

Beowulf is strong, bold, courageous, and seemingly faithful. He goes into battle "trusting in the Lord's favour" and while the definition of a tragic hero is one who has some tragic flaw which in the end is his downfall, I struggle to give Beowulf the title of hero at all. His obvious flaw is his pride and though he saves many peoples lives by killing Grendel, is it really heroic if he only did it for himself and for his own glory? I find it interesting how He speaks more of God before he goes to fight but after he has won, there is little mention of how God is the reason he could defeat the evil. If nothing else, a sure sign to me of how shallow his faith is is how he requests to be buried with the treasure he wins when he slays that dragon. Does he think that that gold will make his after life more luxurious or is he just too greedy to allow someone else to reap the benefits of his hard work?

In my opinion, a hero is not just someone mighty, powerful, successful, and/or bold. A hero is one who sacrifices for the life of others regardless of the praise they might receive. Self preservation nor pride are admirable qualities. One is purely instinctual and both revolve entirely around one person getting all of the praise for their own accomplishments. If I am inside a burning house by myself and manage to escape and then put the fire out I am not a hero, I merely aimed to save myself and my stuff. Beowulf reminds me of a professional athlete, wanting and ready to fight the next opponent, but that athlete isn't a hero, they are looking to prove that they are the best so that they will receive praise from other people. To me, pride is a tragic flaw not because it eventually brings down a hero but because it keeps a mighty person from being heroic. 

I commented on Wendy's and Sierra's!