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What Is The Epic Of Gilgamesh Hero's Journey

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A hero’s demeanor is as important as the storyline itself. The Epic of Gilgamesh a story that takes on the persona of the Hero Journey’s structure. Which states that there is a specified hero, sidekick, wise-old-man, and a villain and his army. Also, that the hero has a call to adventure which leads to a meet with supernatural forces, the hero beats the force, somehow, and comes back safe with an abundance of pride. The Epic of Gilgamesh follows the trek of Gilgamesh the king of Uruk during Sumerian rule. He meets his almost equal, Enkidu, this event gets him away from his erroneous ways. They enter the supernatural world together to defeat monsters terrorizing his city. And, somehow they defeat both monsters they were in conflict with. Then, Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh takes a journey of grief, where he meets a wise old man by the name of …show more content…

But, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, there is no clear hero. This subject is debatable. But, a hero as described in the Hero’s Journey is someone who saves the day against a supernatural challenge, treats his people nicely, and doesn’t come back empty handed. A hero’s characteristics are perceived by the people around him. Even though Gilgamesh is the main character, his treatment of people was unacceptable and made his people hate him. “ As king, Gilgamesh was a tyrant to his people... he had the privilege of sleeping with their brides.”(15). Gilgamesh was not a good person, even when he came back he was not seen as a hero by his people, the past hurt the present. Also, usually a hero comes back with pride and gifts but in the epic, “As the end of his journey. And returned to Uruk. Gilgamesh was alone again.”(86). There is no evidence that suggests he was a hero especially when he came back to Uruk. A hero is greeted with a warm welcome, but with Gilgamesh, he wasn’t greeted at all. There is no hero in the epic which does not coincide well with the Hero’s

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An epic hero is defined as “a larger-than-life character, traditionally a man, who pursues long and dangerous adventures. Alternately aided and blocked by the gods, he carries the fate of his people on his shoulders. The epic hero is an archetypal character found in works across time and cultures. Odysseus, one of the most famous heroes in Western culture, has shaped our ideas about the traits that a hero should have.” (Orange Literature Textbook Page 1103).

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In the beginning, Gilgamesh was seen as a strong ruler, but he was also seen as some what a selfish tyrant going around taking what he wanted, when he wanted it. Upon meeting, in some might say, his better half, these labels seemed to be replaced with more dignified ones, and his behaviors and intentions became more pure. Gilgamesh was in search for the secret of eternal life in which he believed Utnapishtim held.

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Gilgamesh does not accomplish his quest to become a hero by his initial definition, physical prowess, and physical immortality. Instead, through great suffering, grief, and disappointment, Gilgamesh recognizes

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The epic poem “The Epic of Gilgamesh” is about a ruler of a city-state who goes on a journey to find everlasting life after his close friend dies. First, you should know that the ruler's name is Gilgamesh, and that he was a tyrant and the gods wanted to kill him, but he ended up friends with the man sent to kill him. (Sandars). In my opinion, heroes should be courageous and strong. They should be able to fight off foes and be able to learn from their mistakes.

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He had many extraordinary qualities, and heroic characteristics. The most obvious being that he is a king, a man of highest level in society. He was also known and appreciated for building many walls and temples around his city, which no man who followed ever matched. However, after the presence of Enkidu was made, Gilgamesh started to become the more noble and favored ruler of Uruk. Since he finally knew what it was like to have a companion and someone of his level of greatness, he no longer terrorized his city as he did before, and is still aware that death is inevitable.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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The gods punish the two heroes by ending Enkidu’s life and leave Gilgamesh behind. After twelve days of suffering, he dies in a slow, inglorious death (62). Enkidu represents the wildness in humanity. After his journey with Gilgamesh, he becomes civilized, more mature and closer to humanity. Enkidu was afraid of confronting Humbaba, but because of their friendship he overcomes his fear (29).

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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.

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Everybody likes rooting for a hero. And throughout the evolution of storytelling, from stories written in stone to those in tablets, heroes have always played a huge role in the stories we tell. As literature evolved, and more legends and tales began to appear in different cultures, the idea of a traditional epic hero was established. Stories like "The Epic of Gilgamesh," and "The Odyssey," set the mold for this type of heroes, an influence that can clearly be seen when analyzing literature. In fact, most of these characters, regardless of the time and place they were created in, shared similar characteristics to the two kings.

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Gilgamesh is an epic that has been passed down for thousands of years. The epic narrates the legendary deeds of the main character Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is two-thirds immortal and one-third mortal; however, he cannot accept his fate that one day he too will die. The entire epic tells the story of Gilgamesh’s life and searche for immortality. Through his many trials and tribulations, Gilgamesh proves that he has great physical strength.

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