According to The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh quotes, “There dwells in the forest the fierce monster Humbaba, You and I shall kill him and wipe out something evil from the land” (48). Gilgamesh proves the role of the hero as he accepts to sacrifice his life for the people of Uruk and obstacles other could not or would not be capable of. Gilgamesh’s main quest is to understand and battle the life of a demigod, with superhuman capabilities, in order to rule Uruk…
Gilgamesh is called to adventure when he befriends the wild man Enkidu. He decides for them that they will venture to the Forest of Cedar and kill Humbaba. Humbaba is a terrible monster that has “speech [of] fire, and breath [of] death!” Enkidu has stopped Gilgamesh from harassing his people, so he needs to channel his cruel nature into the murder of Humbaba.…
In the epic of Gilgamesh, there are two main characters: Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Gilgamesh is the king of a massive city, and at the beginning of the book, he terrorizes his people. Enkidu is created by the overwatching gods and goddesses in the…
Gilgamesh and Enkidu were a great example of what loyalty in a friendship should be. Even though the story took a turn and showed a little bit of selfishness, the love of the friendship was still there. Gilgamesh was not in a good place before Enkidu came along. Gilgamesh was this miserable mean man with strength and size that overpowered many that needed to be stopped. Enkidu was a kind-hearted person with the same strength and size that Gilgamesh had, but Enkidu did not use his size and strength in a negative way, he used his gift to help others in need.…
Joseph Campbell’s definition of the hero’s journey can be directly applied to Gilgamesh’s story even though some may not consider him to be a hero. Gilgamesh proves to be unworthy of the title “hero” at the beginning of the story, but once Enkidu arrives, they perform heroic acts together. Departure, fulfillment, and return are the three steps that Joseph Campbell considers to be the hero’s act which is all part of the hero’s journey. In the epic Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Gilgamesh follow these steps by leaving to kill the infamous Humbaba; the enormous beast that terrorizes all of mankind and is considered to be an enemy. In a way, Enkidu makes Gilgamesh into a hero by taming his aggressive side and translating that aggression onto these quests…
However, when Gilgamesh is aroused from his sleep, Enkidu makes every effort to soothe and relax him. Meanwhile, Enkidu suffers from the pain in his hand and the knowledge that only one of them will emerge from this adventure alive and yet he finds no comfort in his so called friend. Gilgamesh is woefully unaware of Enkidu’s distress through the night as he wakes only to hear the interpretation of his dreams and then promptly rolls over and goes back to sleep. The narrator’s description of Humbaba could easily apply to Enkidu as well; “He was the slave who did the work for gods but whom the gods would never notice” (Gilgamesh/ Mason, p.40). Enkidu, though the spiritual other half of Gilgamesh, cannot operate as fully equal to Gilgamesh so long as Gilgamesh identifies himself as the king and Enkidu as the…
Enkidu is a huge part of 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.…
Enkidu’s death sent Gilgamesh on an adventure to fight death but he ultimately ended up learning his biggest lesson from Utnapishtim, who was granted immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh finds Utnapishtim and tells him that he wishes to attain immortality. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that immortality is only for the gods. Gilgamesh learns to appreciate life every day and mortals must learn to accept death.…
A story cannot be spoken of as the product of any individual, but must be treated as the product both of its author and the culture that embraced it. A piece of literature can, therefore, act as an almost living representation of a whole culture’s sense of identity. By analyzing the major themes in several pieces of literature, from ancient epics to those more modern, I will herein demonstrate a gradual change in human identity. I will present aspects of famous epics that show how the individual man has gradually superseded the community as the focal point of epic literature. These aspects are, namely, a humanization of the hero, and a shift in the hero’s benefactors.…
Humbaba’s den Gilgamesh says, “ I feel haunted. I am too afraid to go on.” (Gilgamesh, 123) Again, Enkidu has to supply the courage for Gilgamesh and goad him to continue. These examples from the journey to the forest show that Gilgamesh is definitely not a hero because his anxiety and dread are exposed more than…
Psychological triggers and their role in self-discovery as examined in The Epic of Gilgamesh Epics are most often characterized by a flawed hero’s journey or quest to fulfill a fleshly desire, but instead, fulfills the hero’s need for wisdom. Likewise, The Epic of Gilgamesh can be characterized by Gilgamesh’s self-realization of humanity and mortality, discovered by both Gilgamesh and the reader through his quests for fame and immortality. He embarks on two separate journeys. The first journey, the slaying of Humbaba for eternal fame, is the first step of his transformation from a divine and selfish ruler to a very much humbled and wise human one, setting off a series of events that lead him to his second journey, a quest for immortality,…
In the literary works, the book of Genesis and The Epic Of Gilgamesh it puts a focus on the use of character development. Through establishing a fundamental understanding of a characters journey for self worth. Two characters that compare and contrast these ideologies is Noah from the book of Genesis and Gilgamesh from its own epic story. Readers look at these two characters from their perspective roles as saviors for the greater good of people. However, readers may question if their fight for mere existence is just to please themselves or for the greater good of society?…
The Epic of Gilgamesh, explores the relationship between death and immortalization through the series of stories that Gilgamesh, King of Mesopotamia experiences. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh meets Enkidu, a powerful half man half beast hybrid whom is his equal in strength. Gilgamesh and Enkidu become close friends and one day, Gilgamesh mentions a demon monster named Humbaba whom “dwells in the forest” and suggests to Enkidu “you and I shall kill him and wipe out something evil from the land” (110). By causing Humbaba’s death, Gilgamesh and Enkidu successfully purge evil from the land, and in this case death functions completely as one initially expects it to function; by killing an evil being, its evil influence ends. Later in the…
The fantastic story of The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the world’s oldest known documents to ever have been written down. Its main character is that of a human-like god, named Gilgamesh, who goes on the greatest journey of his life. With help from the gods along the way, he battles and faces many challenges that are new and exhilarating to his normally posh lifestyle. The Historical context of The Epic of Gilgamesh dates all the way back to around 2000 BCE.…
If Enkidu and Gilgamesh had not challenge Humbaba and Enkidu had not died then Gilgamesh would have never learned the meaning of immortality and that it does not exist and there is no such thing as fate, just…