At their deepest level, the Rule of St. Benedict and Beowulf deal with the question of how one can use one's little of time on earth to reach a form of eternity in the face of a dangerous, threatening and unpredictable world. The Rule of Saint Benedict, for example, is a set of Christian rules introducing the “tools of the spiritual trade” which are intended to be “used continually, day and night” (Saint Benedict, 14) so ​​that on the Day of Last judgment, “our salary will be the reward that the Lord has promised” (Saint Benedict, 14). Alternatively, Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic that glorifies the heroic duties of warriors and warrior-kings such that reputation alone perpetuates a warrior's existence after death. Therefore, while St. Benedict proposed that the path to an eternal life is through a righteous and pious life, Beowulf suggests that the path to an eternal life is through the Germanic heroic code; Furthermore, the two texts reveal similarities and differences in the value systems of these societies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In the Rule of Saint Benedict, eternity is a place where those who have lived in holy obedience will be able to experience (Saint Benedict, 14), and those who have not will spend their life in the “torments of hell” (Saint Benedict, 5). The path to an eternal life is to live a life in the fear of God here and now; by renouncing one's own will, by doing "the will of him who sent me" (Saint Benedict, 15), by "humbling our hearts" (Saint Benedict, 16) and by aspiring "to eternal life with a holy desire” (Saint Benedict, 16). . Benedict, 13). While the abbots and monks of Saint Benedict spent every moment preparing – doing “good works” (Saint Benedict, 12) – for glory in the afterlife, the warrior-kings and warriors of Beowulf maintain that honor is acquired over the course of life through heroic good deeds. In Beowulf, eternity is memory and genealogy, achieved by living according to the principles of the Germanic heroic code: Beowulf says: "As we must all hope to leave our life on earth, we must earn some fame, if we can, before to die; boldness is the thing a fighter must remember” (Beowulf, lines 1385-1388). Beowulf's determination to honor his father's relationship with King Hrothgar by ridding his kingdom of Grendel's tyranny is a good example; a capable warrior must use his abilities to fight evil for the betterment of all, just as a warrior receives “glory in battle” (Beowulf, line 63). It is implied that, for the warriors and warrior-kings of Beowulf, "hell" means either not remembering a hero or not having valiant ancestors. Additionally, there are struggles along the way to attain eternal life. In Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the poisonous dragon best represent these struggles. Hrothgar fails as a warrior-king to protect his kingdom from Grendel and sees that each of his warriors then "stands at a safer distance" (Beowulf, line 142) until Grendel and his mother are killed, but Beowulf succeeds in protecting his own kingdom. as a warrior-king while fighting the poisonous dragon at the end of the story. In the Rule of Saint Benedict, on the other hand, these struggles are represented by sins, such as excessive indulgence, material possessiveness and “vulgarity, gossip and chatter” which lead to laughter (Saint Benedict, 18 ). If an abbot fails in his responsibility to teach the commandments of God and a monk walks awayof divine life, Saint Benedict believed that it is the abbot who “will bear the blame” (Saint Benedict, 8) and both the abbot and the monk guilty. jeopardize their chances of eternal life. Thus, one loses one's chance of eternity by giving in to the struggles of life, because achieving eternity requires a struggle; “every day with tears and sighs” (Saint Benedict, 13) for the abbots and monks of Saint Benedict, glory in battle for the warrior-kings and warriors of Beowulf. Even though the manner in which the subjects of these texts attaining eternal life are different, the underlying messages in these two texts reveal remarkably similar value systems. As Saint Benedict said: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Saint Benedict, 12), Beowulf adheres to this principle when he goes to Denmark to free Hrothgar and his kingdom from Grendel's tyranny. In addition to this, Saint Benedict affirmed, “excesses are avoided” (Saint Benedict, 41). If Grendel symbolizes gluttony through his excessive attacks on Hrothgar's men, then it is reasonable to conclude that Beowulf's society also adhered to this principle. Another value that these two texts speak of is revenge: “Do not repay one bad act with another” (Saint Benedict, 12). Since Grendel's mother comes to Heorot to avenge Grendel's death and Beowulf ultimately defeats her, it seems that Beowulf also shares the value that revenge is a fatal flaw. The treasure-hoarding dragon in Beowulf seems to represent St. Benedict's rule that "all things must be the common possession of all" (St. Benedict, 36) and that "distribution" is "made to each according as he" has " need ". » (Saint Benedict, 37), that is to say that the dragon does not need the treasure it hoards and that once killed, the treasure is distributed to the inhabitants of the kingdom. Finally, Saint Benedict's belief that the abbot is the "shepherd" who bears "the fault wherever the father of the family finds that the sheep have yielded to profit" (Saint Benedict, 8) is supported in Beowulf by the idea that Hrothgar's idea the warriors were loyal and obedient to him until he failed, as a warrior-king, to defend them against Grendel. In contrast, the fact that eternity is won through battle victories in Beowulf and through religious piety in the Rule of Saint Benedict suggests that there are some differences in their value systems as well. For example, although the death of Grendel's mother may represent vengeance as a fatal flaw, as noted above, it is also very evident that this society pursued the teaching of justice through vengeance: Beowulf says to Hrothgar: “It is better for a man to avenge his friend than to refresh his sorrow” (Beowulf, lines 1383-1384). Since Christian doctrine advocates a peaceful and forgiving attitude towards one's enemies (Saint Benedict, 12), it is possible that these contradictory interpretations can be explained by the fact that this pre-Christian story is told by a Christian author. Another inconsistency between the world values ​​of Saint Benedict and those of Beowulf is that of pride. Beowulf's warriors and warrior-kings are openly proud of their victories, while St. Benedict encourages his followers to attribute their accomplishments to God (St. Benedict, 13) and to humble themselves (St. Benedict, 16). Finally, the societies of St. Benedict and Beowulf both valued strength and courage, although their definitions of these characteristics differed. For Saint Benedict, strength and courage are “spiritual tools” (Saint Benedict, 14) that help Christians remain faithful to God and refrain from giving in to earthly temptations; for Beowulf's society, strength and courage are literally essential to the success of a battle.,=037570017