Superman, firefighters and nurses are just some of the modern heroes that people look up to and admire today. However, this phenomenon of heroes is not only a phenomenon of our time, people have always held heroes in high regard. Heroes are often those people who embody in their actions the ideals and good qualities of their people. Two great heroes of antiquity to whom two of the most famous poems "the Odyssey" and "Beowulf" are dedicated are Ulysses and Beowulf. Both of these famous figures reflect their people's concept of heroism, a concept, while slightly different from one people to another, is also extremely similar in many ways. A virtuous trait common among heroes of both modern and ancient times is that of courage. Resisting what is scary and overcoming it for a good cause has always been an applauded action. In the first lines of Beowulf, people's favorable feelings towards courage as a great heroic act are evident. The Danish Lancers of yesteryear...