Gilgamesh As A Hero Essay

Human suffering is one of the major themes in The Epic of Gilgamesh. When confronted with painful situations in our lives, we often ask ourselves why is life so difficult and wonder if suffering is necessary. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the two heroes, Gilgamesh and Enkidu both go through suffering either physically and mentally. There are many beliefs to the reason of why suffering is inevitable. In this epic, it is portrayed that the two heroes’ s sufferings are results of their fundamental flaws, such as their hubris and their attachments of being remembered.

‘The Epic of Gilgamesh’ takes place in ancient Mesopotamia, which is a Greek for “between two rivers” because it is located between the river of Tigris and the Euphrates River. Mesopotamia is where one the earliest urban civilizations, so the inhabitants of that area are sophisticated and enterprising. The story in the Epic starts in Uruk, which is a very vividly described in the 17 lines that follow the first 8 lines of the Epic. “In Uruk he built walls, a great rampart, and the temple of blessed Eanna for the god of the firmament Anu, and for Ishtar the goddess of love. Look at it still today: the outer wall where the cornice runs, it shines with the brilliance of copper; and the inner wall, it has no equal.

Hubristic to Humble Great leaders embody a paradox. They develop strength and wisdom through failure and ignorance. The activist Gandhi recognizes this contradiction, noting that both strength and weakness and wisdom and folly are close companions: “it is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” Gilgamesh proves this truth in The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Herbert Mason.

The Rise and Fall of Hubris In essence, many of Mesopotamia’s tales focus on Gilgamesh’s epic. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem that portrays Gilgamesh’s journey, and ultimate aspiration for immortality despite the inevitability of death. The poem reveals his quest for a purpose and identity, which in turn can be perceived from many different aspects, ultimately molding his character in the epic. He perceives himself as two-thirds divine and one third man at the start of the tale, and progressively gains wisdom on his quest to conquer his aspirations of immortality, until he comes face to face with reality. His state of mind at the beginning of the epic, along with how it changes and matures, reveals the true heroes and villains of the story.

Gilgamesh, the story of a tyrannical god-king of Uruk, is dense with symbolism and motifs. The motif of journeys and the symbolism of thresholds are a key element as Enkidu and, eventually, Gilgamesh, change and mature. The epic depicts one primary quest taken on by Gilgamesh, that challenges him physically and mentally; this journey is also broken up into multiple quests that start with a threshold of some sort, like a door to a family house or the entrance to the Cedar Forest. Throughout the entire epic, there are journeys where choices must be made as Gilgamesh matures.

A modern hero is someone of supernatural ability's of someone with great intelligence. In this epic Gilgamesh shows more of what it takes to be a epic hero. A epic hero is of nobility, integrity, strength, wisdom and many other great quality's. One of the great quality's that make Gilgamesh a epic hero is his willingness to put others before himself. He care more about others then himself and this made him a true warrior and not only bond but at mind.

The Epic of Gilgamesh shows and describe the journey of a successful hero. Throughout his quest, Gilgamesh goes through a departure, initiation, and a return stage. When Gilgamesh and Enkidu sets out to go on the heroic journey to defeat Humbaba he experiences the first departure stage. The initiation stage occurred when Enkidu died and Gilgamesh started the second heroic journey searching for immortality. Gilgamesh search for immortality was beyond the initiation stage he searched for it through every quest and journey he encountered.

In comparison, it’s always observed on how different scholars find the similarity of especially marital settings, characters, and as well as the wanderings of the mythological world. Different events within the life of these characters cover broadly a huge range of epic encounters that are heroic. The character, emotional and psychological development of Gilgamesh can be borrowed especially from the ancient heroic perspectives of mortality and death while comparing with Achilles. Mesopotamian civilization has had several phases in which hero Gilgamesh has been in existence, however having similar attributes. One of the earliest stories of Gilgamesh is developed from Sumerian texts, one of the most influential and well-known poems (Michelakis & Pantelis 2007).

Though Gilgamesh and Odysseus possess great strength and sharp minds, their own flaws of visionless are similar, and this does not help them with their journeys; like the duty of killing supernatural enemies like Humbaba and Polyphemus. These heroes are both men who have been granted certain strengths, Odysseus with physical, while Gilgamesh has been granted mental strength. We see Gilgamesh’s mental strength used to get over his fears of living life without his dear friend. In these two epic tale we see our heroes being lead by the gods to reach their outcome.

In my opinion Gilgamesh story was an awful story because it tell about a man who is a hero, but in reality thats a lie. Gilgamesh was a king that didn’t really appreciate the people and thing in his life; into horrible thing had to happen to made him see want he had lost. Gilgamesh as king treated people with disrespect and cruelty and no-matter-what that and that is no hero in my book. I believe that the adventure he went out with his friend, Enkidu are only benefit to himself and his selfish reason. Through is quest for trying to defeat a lion and go through mountains and other meracouse adventure he find common sense in all of it.

Gilgamesh is an epic hero because, he part divine, interacts with gods and his story has a series of adventures and superhuman victories. Gilgamesh is a king that shows off his power and enviably shows his weak side in most altercations. Most scholars see him as a historical figure, but I myself think he is definitely an epic hero. He oppresses people who call out to the gods, this is not very heroic, but his other actions will show the truth. Gilgamesh IS an epic hero.

The Epic of Gilgamesh gives a lot of insight to what was happening and what was expected in ancient Mesopotamia. The epic poem which revolves around a king, includes many details in to the civilization, beliefs, and values of the Mesopotamians. The king thrives to be remembered and many of his actions reflect that. The Epic of Gilgamesh show how an ideal heroic king should be in ancient Mesopotamia. The first thing it shows us is that hero kings should be strong.

Early Mesopotamian people are bilingual, and since there was no unified form of writing, the text is written in Akkadian and Sumerian. It is considered an epic due to the nature of the poem revolving a hero, his deeds, conquests, and history. The epic of Gilgamesh revolves around Gilgamesh or the Sumerians calls him, Bilgamesh. Gilgamesh was said to be the fifth king of Uruk, who was one-third man and two-third god.

Gilgamesh, the king of the city-state Uruk, was born as two-thirds of a god. He, a beautiful and ambitious man, always won wars

“The Epic of Gilgamesh” by N.K. Sandars teaches the reader that the epic hero cycle is a heroic person’s journey throughout a piece of literature by illustrating concepts that fit into the series of events. For example, the article states, “Gilgamesh laments Enkidu’s death for seven days and nights… Then the grieving Gilgamesh leaves Uruk” (25) to demonstrate Gilgamesh’s call to adventure. The call to adventure is a part of the epic hero cycle where a person is given a reason to set out on an expedition. In Gilgamesh’s case, he ventures out to find immortality after the somber death of Enkidu (X). To further exemplify the epic hero cycle, the article describes, “So at length Gilgamesh came to Mashu, the great mountains about which he had heard