Atonement In Gilgamesh

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Atonement with the father is the ninth step; it is a stage when the father figure challenges the hero to become a new person (Campbell 110). The hero is able to improve as a person through this step. The atonement with the father of Gilgamesh would be when he meets Utnapistim. When Gilgamesh tells the reason of his journey, Utnapistim teaches him a life of a person with an immoral life so that Gilgamesh could learn uselessness in immoral life. Utnapistim purposely tests Gilgamesh to send him home with lesson. Gilgamesh becomes a better person as he passes the test given by Utnaphistim. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus blames Creon and Tiresias for a treason. He claimed that Creon and Tiresias planned to overthrow him from his throne. This is the ninth …show more content…

Although the apotheosis is the ninth step, an event associated with the step occurred after an even associated with the tenth step. Oedipus gouges his eyes out during apotheosis. He could not see himself and others after he realizes all the actions he has done. He feels so shocked and ashamed that he makes himself a blind. After he blinds himself, he accepts his fate. For Beowulf, the apotheosis is when he is bitten by the dragon. The injury during the battle against the dragon is the deadly cause for his death. Unlike Gilgamesh and Oedipus whose apotheosis are symbolic deaths; Beowulf actually dies due to apotheosis. The ultimate boon is the eleventh step, which is the stage when the hero gains the prize of the adventure. The hero achieves the goal that he or she initially aimed. The goal of Gilgamesh’s journey is to acquire eternity. Unfortunately, he fails to achieve his goal as he loses the plant. He was able to find the plant, How-the-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-a-Young-Man, but it was stolen by the snake. Ultimately, he was unsuccessful with his …show more content…

Gilgamesh is a super-heroic hero who is born from the god and is necessary in the society. Gilgamesh is two-thirds god and one-third man. Although he is an awful king who overworks his servants and takes an advantage of his status as king to women, he is the King of Uruk. He is the ruler of one city-state. Oedipus is a transcendent hero as he faces a downfall due to his flaw, but ultimately learns a knowledge about his quest. Oedipus is born with a mournful fate: a son who would kill his father and later prophecy said that he would also marry his mother. Oedipus’s flaw is a hubris as he is too prideful for his fortune. His downfall is when he realizes that he has completed the prophecies that he thought he has destroyed and gouges his eyes out. His realization is that he unknowingly completed his prophecies. Beowulf is a hero as a warrior because he sacrifices himself to the enemies for safety of others. As the poem Beowulf is divided into three terms, Beowulf continuously battles against villains in the poem. Beowulf also has some physical traits as a warrior since he is muscular and strong. He is the only one who could fight against Grendel. After Beowulf kills Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon, he becomes the savior of the Danes and the