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Gilgamesh As A Hero Essay

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In the novel, The Epic of Gilgamesh, one question that wanders though every reader’s mind is whether of not Gilgamesh is a hero? Through the course of the story, Gilgamesh commits some outlandish actions towards the citizens of his city, whom he is supposed to protect. But as the story progresses, Gilgamesh’s true identity is uncovered, and the traits that a hero possesses begin to show. A hero is someone who is noted for courageous acts or nobility of character. Many readers believe that Gilgamesh should not be able to hold the title of a hero, or the role of a king from the characters of the novel’s viewpoint, due to the immoral actions that he has committed, but this just means that he is an unusual hero. In addition, Gilgamesh has proven …show more content…

Gilgamesh mother is the goddess, Ninsun, and his father is a priest, making him two-thirds divine and one-third human. This type of ancestry is one that many others do not possess, and with such divine parents, his appearance and physical strength is like no other. Gilgamesh is described as “the tall, magnificent and terrible, who opened passes in the mountains, who dug wells on the slopes of the uplands, and crossed the ocean, the wide sea to the sunrise …” (George, 2). Along with this, he created the city of Uruk, building temple towers, surrounding his city with high walls for protection, as well as laying out fields filled with flowers, wheat, and much more. Gilgamesh abilities in a physical aspect are something that cannot be matches by any other person roaming the earth. In addition to this, Gilgamesh physical appearance is imposing, “his build was perfected by diving Nudimmud … six cubits was his stride … by earthly standards he was the most handsome” (George, 3) and that when he walks, the people of city portrayed him as a wild bull. Gilgamesh is like no other specimen, his physical characteristics and knowledge that he possesses is unlike no other than that of a hero. Along with this, the courageous acts that he portrays helps further drive the point that Gilgamesh is in fact, a

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Without a prior ordinary world, Gilgamesh was born one third human and two third god. The goddesses made Gilgamesh strong and near perfect in order to become the King of Uruk. Gilgamesh impresses his people with his unusual abilities and strengthens by predicting the coming flood and building a magnificent wall around Uruk. However, Gilgamesh was not a kind king, he used his status immorally to rape any women he liked. Gilgamesh had a lot of powers, but he was not wise as he was not content with what he had, and attempted to live forever.

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The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and the Bhagavad Gita are three of the most enduring ancient texts in the canon of global literature. All are heroic tales focusing on a strong male warrior protagonist, who endures a series of tests in order to achieve their goals and retain their status as leaders of their community. However, unlike Achilles, the hero of Homer’s Iliad, or Arjuna, hero of the Bhagavad Gita, Gilgamesh was an actual historical figure, evidence by the archaeological record as well as literary correspondences (Hansman). The historicity of its hero is not necessarily the reason to favor one of these epics over the other, but The Epic of Gilgamesh has the edge over its epic counterparts in other ways. For example, Gilgamesh’s character undergoes deep and meaningful transformations in ways that neither Achilles nor Arjuna experience.

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Since we have been talking about many mythological heroes and their courage and bravery action in their power to help out another person. And of course all of them are defined heroic in so many ways because they put themselves in the line for the sake of other, which is what hero does. Among all of them, Gilgamesh fascinated me the most throughout the epic. Gilgamesh was quite a different kind of beast. Even though Gilgamesh has posses some hero’s character traits but he was selfish, lack respect to others.

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Gilgamesh was a worrior through and through. It shows from the begining of his tale and throgh out. Not only is he a combatant but also a comes off very heroic. " Of him Gilgamesh, who underwent hardship. Surpassing all kings, for his sature renowed, Heroic offspring of Uruk, a charging wild bull, He leads the way in the vanguard, He marches at the rear, defender of hi comrades."

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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 was a story about a man that was a hero and wanted his youth back from a certain plant that gives, youth back. The ancient Gilgamesh was once thought as a hero in some cases he was. Now people looking at Gilgamesh and seeing if he was truly a hero or some random person posing as a hero or higher power. In this paper I will be talking about who Gilgamesh was as a hero, what he did as a hero, and when he thought he was a hero. Gilgamesh was a king a great king to be thought and he was righteous ruler.

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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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