What is a hero? Perhaps it should be reformulated: who is a hero? Of course now it becomes easy to answer: we can say Odysseus, since he not only contributed to the victory at Troy, but fought against the gods with the desire for his home; or Beowulf, who fought the terrible monsters in Hrothgar's kingdom as well as in his own; or Byrhtnoth, who died defending the land he loved. Clearly it is easy to list the heroes of these ancient poems. But why is this so, why can we so easily identify heroes without consciously recognizing the clues that lead us to those conclusions? While this question may remain unanswered without understanding psychology, it is still possible to understand what makes a hero special: his characteristics that immediately reveal his identity. In this sense, it becomes important to discuss the two types of heroes introduced: mythological heroes, including characters like Sigurd and Beowulf, and realistic heroes, including characters like Byrhtnoth. In literary works such as Beowulf, The Volsung Saga, and The Battle of Maldon, we can see that while realistic heroes are portrayed in a more positive light, both realistic and mythological heroes possess dark and sinister qualities that audiences can identify with. and this is how characters become associated with heroism. Mythological heroes are unique because they can accomplish feats unattainable for normal humans, simply for practical reasons. Beowulf, the central character of the epic poem Beowulf, clearly classifies himself as a mythological hero because he fights mythical creatures – Grendel is “the brutal demon who lived in the darkness” (Beowulf, p. 76), Grendel's mother is “a monster of a woman” (p. 105), and obviously, a dragon cannot be a real… middle of paper……ks Quoted “The Battle of Maldon”. The Anglo-Saxon world: an anthology. Trans. Kevin Crossley-Holland. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. 11-19. Print."Beowulf." The Anglo-Saxon world: an anthology. Trans. Kevin Crossley-Holland. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. 74-154. Print. Byock, Jesse L., trans. The Volsung Saga: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1990. Print.Crossley-Holland, Kevin. "Heroic Poems". Introduction. The Anglo-Saxon world: an anthology. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. 2-6. Print.Fajardo-Acosta, Fidel. The condemnation of heroism in the tragedy of Beowulf: a study in the characterization of the epic. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1989. Print.Gneuss, Helmut. "The Battle of Maldon 89: Ofermod of Byrhtnoð once again." Language and history in ancient England. Brookfield, Vermont: Variorum, 1996. Page no. Press.