In a struggle for freedom, a parallel between the tale of King Gilgamesh of Uruk from the story, The Epic of Gilgamesh and the legend of William Wallace of Scotland from the movie, Braveheart, begins to emerge. However, reflection and refraction in attitude and ability to attain freedom between the two heroes are notable when taking in the effects of their rivals, the inspiration of women in their lives and close friendships that help bring courage and success in their quests. Although, the two characters diverge from similarity as, Gilgamesh has a deep desire to be liberated from death’s grip while, Wallace aspires to release himself and the people of Scotland from the oppression brought forth by England, nonetheless, it is freedom they seek. The struggle for freedom that our two characters endure results from conflict with opposing personalities.
When reading The Epic of Gilgamesh we can find different examples of the six criteria for evaluating works of art. Therefore we are able to hone in on a few that really prevail throughout the story that persuades the reader to think critically about what exactly the author wants the reader to understand. Three main themes of the Christian critical tradition in The Epic of Gilgamesh are truth, righteousness, and beauty. When looking at the epic of Gilgamesh and accessing the literature for truth we see that an ultimate truth is death.
Have you ever found a movie that was similar to Gilgamesh? Well i have and the movie is Hercules the disney version. Gilgamesh and Hercules are very similar because of their personalities, goals, and actions. There personality was similar because they were both confident they both were brave and feared nothing because they were part god
The Parallel Stories Whether God is real or not, there’ve been many stories in ancient times concerning god. Especially stories about floods. For example “The Epic of Gilgamesh”, and “Noah and the Flood”. The Epic of Gilgamesh, is one of the oldest epics ever to be created. The sumerian story was composed before 2000 B.C.
In the second chapter of the epic, Gilgamesh and Enkidu set out on their journey to destroy Humbaba, the guardian of the forest. Gilgamesh felt a compulsion to fight Humbaba and take over the forest that Humbaba watched over. With this urge Gilgamesh prayed to Shamash in order to gain Shamash 's approval of this journey that he is about to do with Enkidu. Due to the approval and assistance gained by the prayer, Gilgamesh ordered the armourers to provide himself and Enkidu the strongest armor possible for their battle. When they left with their weaponry and assistance, Enkidu lead the way to the land of Humbaba.
In the “Epic of Gilgamesh” and “The Odyssey” by Homer, all the gods are portrayed as being very near, and having a very close relationship with the mortals. The authors showed this through their interactions, even though each epic portrayed a unique mode of interaction between the gods and the mortals. For instance, in the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” this interactions are mostly indirect, whereas in Homer’s Odyssey, they are direct. Another thing the authors tried to show is that the gods are limited in their powers, at least some of them. The authors portrayed this through the gods favoring or disfavoring certain mortals.
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.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception (Carl Sargon)”. According to The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis, unprecedented floods occurred in both stories. The exception fell on the kind men, Utnapishtim and Noah: they survived the powerful event of destruction. However, in the same theme of the stories, there are sources of similarity and differences.
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 and the Bible have a few similar events and historians think that they may refer to the same event. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible share a similar event, the flood, and a similar character, the serpent. Though there are still several distinctions between the two stories. The Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh both contain a serpent as one of the less significant characters.
During the era in which this short story was written, southern authors had a major influence on the way the culture was going to grow with racism, and also the way people loved each other. Kate Chopin, a traditional author who believed in southern ways, exemplifies how race and the characteristics of conditional love played a role in her story. In “Desiree’s Baby,” the author, Kate Chopin, provides an illustration of conditional love exemplified by the character, Armand, towards his wife and child; furthermore, Chopin provides instances of irony, elements of surprise, foreshadowing, and symbolism to prove that Armand’s love for both of them was not the unconditional love typically felt and portrayed by women, such as Desiree, during this era. Throughout the story, the readers notice different times where Chopin uses elements of surprise. One major surprise is when Armand opens the letter from his mother and finds out that he has African American in his bloodline.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest story known to mankind, being written on Sumerian clay almost five thousand years ago (Garone). Since the story was originally known orally, the culture and themes from The Epic of Gilgamesh must have existed long before it was finally inscribed (Mark 4). Having known this, the cultures and themes can be compared to today’s society, discovering about how they have shifted and evolved, and also observe how they are similar. The ancient days of Gilgamesh has brought culture that has greatly influenced today’s society. Because Gilgamesh was set around the time of late Babylonian or early Sumerian society, the Babylonian and Sumerian cultures also play a role in shaping the world into what is is today (Mark).
In the following readings, Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, women are perceived as subjects towards men. For example, in Genesis the first woman to be created by God is Eve and in The Epic of Gilgamesh the harlot Shamhat. Both characters are subjected to obey men in a point of their stories because it is the norm of the society of which these texts are written in. Even though both texts were written in the same part of the world, modern middle east, Genesis is the creation story of earth that was written in modern day middle east during Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BC, while The Epic of Gilgamesh was, however written in a different time, dating back to c. 2000 BC. Genesis was written before The Epic of Gilgamesh, which means that the norm of women being submissive towards men originated from Genesis to The Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first epic poem to be written in ancient West Asia. It was written around the third millennium BCE in Mesopotamia by Sumerian people (Spodek, 127). The epic is based on actual an historical figure, a Sumerian king who reigned the city-state of Uruk around third millennium BCE. Ashurbanipal, the last Neo-Assyrian king who was literate, built a great library in his capital and preserved 20,000 tablets including the earliest complete version of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Spodek, 128). Sumerian attitudes towards gods, friendship, and the story of the great flood are revealed throughout the epic.
Literature, art, and music have always found ways to transcend the physical barriers and borders humans put up. They influence cultures other than the ones of their origins. Similarities between religions, mythologies, and folk stories have been noted often throughout time by academics and historians. The holy texts of some major religions like The Old Testament and the Quran share many overlapping literary themes and events with older religions and folk tales, like the ancient Sumerian poem; “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. Many examples of overlapping themes is the presence and references to great floods, supernatural influences, otherworldly gardens, and battles between good and evil.
