What is a hero? Is a hero someone most people adore and love? What makes one person better than anyone else? Is it their characteristics or morals? Or is it their story from rags to riches, or from a bad king to a good one? Is it admirable that one person could change from a vastly evil to an immensely good person? A hero is someone who is idealized and recognized for courage, outstanding achievements, and noble qualities. Even in ancient texts, society picks special people to lift up and admire. These characters are the ones that have been passed around through oral stories and eventually written down and translated into the characters we know and love today. These heroic stories were often shared for teaching a moral, entertainment, or
…show more content…
“Gilgamesh was weeping bitterly for Enkidu, his friend, as he roamed the steppe: ‘Shall I not die too? Am I not like Enkidu?’” (72).
Gilgamesh was a tyrant and horrible King. But here we see a glimpse of what it was like for him to truly grieve over his best friend. No matter how bad of a king he was, he was still the king. Here we see him take off his crown and become “normal” just for a little while. He grieves like a human, walks, and talks like one. It shows us that even his kingly persona was just a mirage for what was truly underneath. Gilgamesh is struggling with simple human emotion, and this makes him relatable in society today. Despite Gilgamesh’s primary concerns regarding Ancient Mesopotamian culture, it is still relevant today because the central theme – coming to terms with mortality – is still an issue today. Everyone still struggles with describing their own emotions. Today we see the result of emotional disconnect when we see conflict and miscommunication, it is often a physical result of a feeling not being properly discussed or handled. Often, people will fight and be afraid to deal with feelings in the moment, and therefore causing difficulties later. Gilgamesh had to sit and recognize that his human emotions were valid for the circumstance, and then decide how to handle them through the process of grief. Gilgamesh teaches wisdom through leading example- becoming a better king by being real and honest with his kingdom. Because he took his pride off and wept as a peasant would, he was able to relate to a feeling he had caused a majority of his kingdom to have. Gilgamesh understood how the family members of those he had killed felt. Gilgamesh is evidence that while yes he was a hero, it was because of his human qualities and the way he carried out his noble actions that made him
“Gilgamesh was weeping bitterly for Enkidu, his friend, as he roamed the steppe: ‘Shall I not die too? Am I not like Enkidu?’” (72).
Gilgamesh was a tyrant and horrible King. But here we see a glimpse of what it was like for him to truly grieve over his best friend. No matter how bad of a king he was, he was still the king. Here we see him take off his crown and become “normal” just for a little while. He grieves like a human, walks, and talks like one. It shows us that even his kingly persona was just a mirage for what was truly underneath. Gilgamesh is struggling with simple human emotion, and this makes him relatable in society today. Despite Gilgamesh’s primary concerns regarding Ancient Mesopotamian culture, it is still relevant today because the central theme – coming to terms with mortality – is still an issue today. Everyone still struggles with describing their own emotions. Today we see the result of emotional disconnect when we see conflict and miscommunication, it is often a physical result of a feeling not being properly discussed or handled. Often, people will fight and be afraid to deal with feelings in the moment, and therefore causing difficulties later. Gilgamesh had to sit and recognize that his human emotions were valid for the circumstance, and then decide how to handle them through the process of grief. Gilgamesh teaches wisdom through leading example- becoming a better king by being real and honest with his kingdom. Because he took his pride off and wept as a peasant would, he was able to relate to a feeling he had caused a majority of his kingdom to have. Gilgamesh understood how the family members of those he had killed felt. Gilgamesh is evidence that while yes he was a hero, it was because of his human qualities and the way he carried out his noble actions that made him