The Hero's Journey In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest tales, proves itself to be no exception to the hero’s journey. The story begins with a description of the city of Uruk, which is an ordinary world. The city is described in a fantastic manner, the beginning of Tablet 1 is almost completely dedicated to describing Uruk’s greatness. Despite the luxurious description, the city has nothing supernatural about it, so it is an ordinary place. Gilgamesh’s strength makes him be out of place in his society, which fits the monomyth. The call to adventure is initiated by Gilgamesh himself. He wants a worthy quest for himself and Enkidu, and Enkidu tells him about Humbaba, a powerful monster. Gilgamesh decides this is what he shall do, and begins his quest. Gilgamesh falls into the next part of the hero’s journey when he begins to doubt himself, and starts thinking about refusing his own quest. Gilgamesh begins having dreams that appear to be bad omens to himself. Enkidu reassures Gilgamesh each time he consults him about these omens, and the two move onwards to their destination. …show more content…
It of course contains the supernatural creature Humbaba and facing Humbaba is a true test of Gilgamesh’s strength. The supernatural aid in The Epic of Gilgamesh is difficult to miss, a most obvious example is the protection from the god Shamash that Gilgamesh has since his mother, Ninsun, prayed to Shamash to protect him in the fight against Humbaba. Ninsun herself is also a goddess. The talisman appears much later in the epic, it is the magical plant that grants immortality. Gilgamesh’s ally in the story is without a doubt Enkidu, his extremely close friend, without Enkidu, Gilgamesh would not be able to complete his quest. The duo are similar to Tucker and Chan from the 1998 film Rush Hour. They start off hating and fighting each other, but eventually become friends and take on a common