Is Grendel Really a monster!?

I myself dont think Grendel is a monster. He has just grown up with a harsh mother and is continuously being pushed around by the king. There are moments where he does barbaric things, but there is always a sence of humanity in his actions. This is not to say that he didnt deserve to die. Grendel was not perfect. But who in this epic poem was? In my opinion every major chacter was a monster, at some point. For example, The privous king was a monster for having sex with grendels mom and liying to his towns people about it. Beowulf was a monster for having an alternate motive in mind for killing Grendel. Grendel was a monster for killing donzens of soliders as they slept. This poem although filled with heros and villains is not so much writen in black and white like most people would think.