Lincoln: The Ultimate Hero
The gaunt, 6’4” Lincoln looked aged and emaciated in his final portrait a month before his assassination. The photograph revealed a man aging faster than his 57 years, his face pale, wrinkled, and healthy. This is a complete opposite of how readers envision the young, massively-muscled Beowulf, who killed sea beasts, man-eating monsters, and a fire-breathing dragon. Yet Abraham Lincoln didn’t need physical prowess to be one of the greatest heroes of time immemorial, even more heroic than the Beowulf. All Lincoln needed was his mental strength, intelligence, and his greatest asset, compassion.
Beyond Physical Strength
In both classic literature to the modern comic books, strength is a key component of heroism. Beowulf’s physical strength is incomparable both then and today. He drove the entire race of giants from the face of the earth (Raffel 248–250), ripped a Grendel’s giant arm from his body with his bare hands (389–393), and carried Grendel’s mother’s head single-handedly — a feat that normally required four men (606–608). Granted, these claims are certainly exaggerated, but the reputation of physical strength is what causes many to view Beowulf as a hero.
Lincoln cannot compete with such accomplishments. What Lincoln can compete with, however, is the mental strength he possesses. Many Americans don’t realize the stress Lincoln endured in his personal life. During his first term in office, Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, lost their son Willie to typhoid fever. Mary Todd Lincoln was inconsolable, and in the months and years following would even hold seances in the White House in hopes of communicating with him. Lincoln, while deeply grieved by his son’s death, “gave no outward sign of his trouble, but kept about his work the same as ever,” according to Abraham Lincoln Online. His family burdens were doubled by the weight of the Civil War. For years, Lincoln carried the future of America on his mind, and the stress tortured his body and mind. After the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln was bedridden for three weeks and by 1865 had aged so much that friends who had not seen him recently were utterly shocked (Shutes.) Yet Lincoln, who suffered bouts of melancholia, what is now known as depression, throughout his life (Shenk), still forged onward, supervising the war efforts and heartily greeting everyone who worked with him (Shutes). Enduring the long-term stresses and pressures of an entire country requires the mental strength of a true hero. Lincoln is this hero. Granted, Beowulf needed mental strength to see him through the battles, but those were short-term affairs that lasted a few hours, not long drawn-out civil wars that spanned years.
Astounding Intelligence
Beowulf and Lincoln also possess intelligence, though evidence of Lincoln’s is far stronger than Beowulf’s. Historians may claim that Beowulf shows discretion and planning when lying in wait for Grendel in Herot, but his judgment can also be questioned since this decision cost the life of one of his soldiers. Since he reigned as king of Geatland for 50 years, he likely showed intelligence and wisdom, but perhaps his bravery and courage was so well known that no other warriors challenged him for the throne.
Meanwhile, evidence abounds proving Lincoln’s intelligence. As a child, he educated himself so well that he became a lawyer without any formal education. He also became an inventor and the only president to also have his own patent (to help steamboats that ran aground). According to University of California at Davis professor Dean Simonton, Lincoln’s IQ registered at approximately 148 — well above the average IQ of 100. Beyond IQ intelligence, Lincoln possessed something more important: emotional intelligence. Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, told the New York Times that Lincoln
“always looked upward and always called American citizens to a higher road and to a purpose bigger than themselves. He did this by listening carefully to those both inside and outside of his immediate circle and sphere of influence.”
More important than Lincoln’s knowledge was his wisdom in listening to both sides of any issue before making a final decision. Unlike Beowulf and so many politicians of today, Lincoln refused to believe that only he knew what was right; instead, he listened closely to people with an open mind.
Compassion: The Most Important Attribute
The final attribute, compassion, is an attribute both men have, and perhaps is their greatest attribute. Beowulf’s compassion prods him to Denmark to save Herot and its inhabitants from Grendel and Grendel’s mother. It’s also his compassion that prompts him, in his dying breath, to command Wiglaf to take care of the people of Geatland. What makes Lincoln’s compassion surpass Beowulf’s is Lincoln’s ability to have compassion for a population that others denigrated: the slaves. It’s easy to have compassion for your own people, such as Beowulf’s subjects in Geatland, or similar people in Herot. However, Lincoln had compassion for slaves, a group that so many Americans viewed as vastly different. Lincoln, instead, saw them as equal — a dangerous stance that prompted many death threats, assassination and kidnapping attempts, and eventually, his life. And this great president wasn’t ignorant of the cost of lives required to free the slaves. Lincoln often wrote letters on behalf of soldiers, as well as letters to family members of deceased soldiers (Giroux). When the Civil War was over, Lincoln demanded no repercussions for the leaders of the Confederacy, much to the dismay of many of his cabinet. Lincoln may not have agreed with all men, but he was compassionate to all.
Beowulf inarguably possessed heroic qualities if even a fraction of the stories of yesterday are true. However, the real heroes of today don’t require the muscled physique and overbearing confidence of a comic book-type hero. Sometimes, a gangly man with an aged face possesses enough mental strength, intelligence, and compassion to be one of the greatest heroes a nation has witnessed.