Sir Orfeo And Degare Research Paper

Creating the Hero in Sire Degare and Sir Orfeo
The characteristics that make a hero differ between Sire Degare and Sir Orfeo. Although there are many similarities in their roles, how they perform as heroes varies because of their skills and levels of experience. Degare’s role requires much more physical and traditional heroism while Orfeo’s skills are musical and cunning. The other main aspect that differentiates the two heroes is their amount of experience. Sir Degare has to establish himself in the world and find his identity. Sir Orfeo has everything Degare does not starting out, and loses it all. As the heroes of their respective stories, Degare and Orfeo are expected to be the very best at everything. It is their skills that make them respected as heroes by their peers and why they are the best choice for king. In his story, Sir Ofero is considered to be the best harpist in the land. His skill is shown to be supernatural as his melodies have the power to tame wild animals which keeps him safe in the wilderness. His talent not only helps him to win over the Faerie King and rescue his wife Herodus, but to prove his identity at the end of the story. Degare meanwhile is lorded as being the strongest man in his land, and, especially in the first half of his journey, relies on his strength to overcome his obstacles. Degare is established early on in his journey as having good physical strength. At twenty years he is said to be the strongest in the land and that a single blow from him was enough to defeat any opponent. Degare proves himself through traditional knightly adventures. At the beginning of his journey he defeats a dragon with just a wooden club, bashing its skull in with his strength alone. He similarly battles a giant, which also shows his progression in becoming a knight as he shows off his bravery and skill at arms. Rather than winning through physical might, Orfeo defeats his enemies through subterfuge. He does not challenge the Faeries he meets in the woods, but follows them back to their hidden kingdom. Once there, he does not fight his way inside but claims to be a bard invited to perform, and sneaks his way into the court. Orfeo does not even physically battle his great foe, the Faerie King, but cunningly charms him into making a rash boon. Unlike Orfeo, Degare’s wit is not shown as much in his battles, though he is not by any means ignorant. Degare is educated, having been given a proper schooling by the hermit. Degare’s only ignorance is of his identity, and his parentage. In order to find his place he has to solve these mysteries as well as establish himself as a heroic knight. Degare knows nothing of his parentage until the end of his adventure. Orfeo not only knows his family line, but is descended from two major gods of the Greek pantheon. In one way, both Degare and Orfeo have non-human heritage. Although Degare does not know it, his heritage is actually what drives his fate. Because he is his mother’s son he is destined …show more content…
Sire Degare searches for and creates his identity throughout his adventures. Sir Orfeo loses his identity when he forsakes his title as king and becomes a hermit. Throughout his story he employs disguises until he is no longer recognizable. In order to take back his role as king, Orfeo has to prove his identity to his faithful steward by displaying his musical ability. Both heroes have to re-establish their identities in order to claim their kingdoms, however, Degare is beginning with much more of a blank slate. Sire Degare and Sir Orfeo are two very different kinds of heroes, but both succeed in accomplishing their goals of rescuing their love and claiming their kingdoms. Sire Degare does this through showing off his knightly strength and bravery while Sir Orfeo approaches his problems with a more tactical method. Both men grapple with their identities and battle faerie opponents, but have different starting points to work from. Each story exhibits heroic characteristics, showing that a hero can take many