Hamlet vs. Epic Heroes

     Hamlet is not a hero like those in epic poems. He differs in many ways from the epic heroes, but when it comes to use of language, Hamlet couldn’t be any different from them. In the epics, the antagonists don’t use their words as much as they use their actions to show what it is they are thinking or feeling. In Hamlet, however, all Hamlet has is his words to show the audience, or readers, everything. Hamlet’s use of language is a much more prominent factor of the story than the language of the heroes in the classic Epics.
     In epic poems such as Beowulf, and The Odyssey, the heroes are less talk, and more action. “Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.” Beowulf believes in acting on emotion, rather than talking it out and dwelling on it. This was after Grendel’s mother killed Hrothgar’s advisor, and Beowulf was addressing Hrothgar, telling him that his what he does has more power than just what he feels. “I know well how to handle the polished bow, and would be first to strike any man with an arrow aimed at a company of hostile men, even though many companions were standing close beside me, and all shooting with bows at the enemies.” In The Odyssey, Odysseus doesn’t talk about his feelings or ponder his thoughts out loud. He says what he means and talks more about doing than thinking. The heroes of the epics don’t use language to portray their feelings, but in order to tell what they are going to do.
     Hamlet uses language in order to express everything, but isn’t one for immediate action as a result of those thoughts, unlike the epic heroes. “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!” Hamlet is all talk and no action. He talks about his desire to kill himself and his thoughts on his inner controversy. His language serves to tell the audience what is going on inside his head, as opposed to what he is actually going to do. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.” Hamlet doesn’t only use language to tell the audience what he’s feeling, but also to tell the audience how his thought process works. In this part of his soliloquy in Act three, Hamlet is explaining how his internal conflicts cause him to be indecisive and jumbled. “I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is
southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.” Hamlet uses language to explain his thoughts and his actions. He tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that, although he’s been acting mad, he really is completely sane and knows what he’s doing. In doing so, he is also enlightening the audience on how his mind works and reveals to the audience that he’s been sane all along.
     The use of language by the epic heroes and by Hamlet could not be any different. In Beowulf and The Oddysey, the heroes use language to provoke action from other characters as well as themselves. In Hamlet, Hamlet uses language to provide insight into his mind. Through his language, the audience further understands him as a character, whereas in the epics, the heroes’ use of language assists the reader in understanding the plot.