Humbaba

stretched, as the story progresses Enkidu starts doing things that he believes is right based on his worries/beliefs which shows Enikdu’s lack of faith with nature and/or the gods. For example, Enkidu takes it upon himself to help Gilgamesh conquer Humbaba because he does not believe Gilgamesh can do it by himself, nor does he think nature or “God” will help Gilgamesh in his quest (not believing they will provide). So by providing Gilgamesh with help and guidance, Enkidu believes that he is now…

periods as well as different religious viewpoints. In this chapter of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu tells Gilgamesh of the nightmares he has. In his first nightmare the gods were angry with him and Gilgamesh. The gods wanted to punish them for killing Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Enkidu is the one that must be punished and his punishment is death. Soon after the dreams start, Enkidu becomes ill. Gilgamesh is so upset that he tries to plead with the gods to let Enkidu live. One morning Enkidu…

Gilgamesh realizing that he is not immune to the human condition. In the beginning, he is somewhat reckless because he is two-thirds divine, one-third human. This put the idea in his head he is invincible. Gilgamesh and Enkidu embark on a journey to kill Humbaba, guardian of the forest. This happens to be one of their only adventures, for Enkidu falls ill and he eventually dies. This tears Gilgamesh apart. He leaves Uruk to walk the steppe alone. As he wonders he asks himself the questions…

Throughout our lives we are taught different stories that can affect us dramatically, either in a positive way or negative way. During our childhood we read the Tortoise and the Hare, which is a story that taught us the moral, “slow and steady wins the race”. We also read things such as: The Boy Who Cried Wolf, which taught us essentially not to lie, because if you lie enough, you won’t be believed when you tell the truth. These stories taught us valuable lessons growing up, but not only do…

Enkidu and Gilgamesh set out to the Land of Cedars to destroy the beast that guards it, Humbaba. He prays to the god Shamash, who was the judge and lawgiver, to help him in this endeavor. Shamash accepts and does a series of things that make Enkidu and Gilgamesh’s journey easier. Most of Gilgamesh’s journeys are for the purpose of being remembered…

Gilgamesh and the Enuma Elish is that of a hero’s journey. This theme in Gilgamesh is one of the most obvious ones. Enkidu becomes a man to assist Gilgamesh on his quests. The first place the couple travels to is the forest where they are to kill Humbaba. After Enkidu is sentenced to death Gilgamesh wants to memorialize him with statues that can preserve the memory of Enkidu and the wonderful friendship he brought. The epic describes the story of how Gilgamesh tried to become a better, more…

The Hero Epic is thought of to be one of the worlds first if not the first ever written form of a story. Filled with excitement, war, terror and extreme character change these stories have everything needed for a successfully plot even on todays standards. The Two famous stories The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Achilles in Homer’s Iliad will be compared mainly in terms of their main characters; Gilgamesh and Achilles. Initially giving background information on the texts themselves and then…

Heroes typically have the characteristics of being strong and fearless. The ancient hero Gilgamesh had these ideals in the story the Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Western Asia in 2000 B.C.E. Even though these ideals are present, they are not as evident in the hero Harry Potter from J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series written in the 21st century. However, in almost every book, no matter what the culture or time period are, the same basic themes of character traits, power and death recur. Even…

strength –before encountering Enkidu. Having power made Gilgamesh his own hero because he achieved adverse circumstances that were solely beneficial for him and usually costly for others. One example of this is when Gilgamesh decides he wants to kill Humbaba (lines 134-136). He does not wish to kill the monster to protect others or as a means to accomplish a quest but simply because he wants a tree from the monster’s forest and to obtain glory. He proves this point even further by justifying…

The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh are windows through which we are offered a glimpse of the ancient Greek and Sumerian views on life, its meaning, and how to live your own. Within each of these epic poems lie many lessons that transcend the ages, and most are still relevant to how we live out our lives today. One might expect the two to take completely different approaches to how they teach their lessons since they were written almost 2000 years apart. On the contrary, they display a…