Gilgamesh Paper

Essay Final draft 

Helen Hu

            Essay Final draft (Helen hu)

            It is difficult to determine whether a person is a hero or not. The problem is if a person wants to be hero, they may have deep desire for fame. This will break the balance of themselves. They may desire fame more than helping others. This will cause the incorrect actions. In The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell, there is a conflict about whether Gilgamesh and Enkidu are heroes or antiheroes. Hero journey is a way to test if they are true heroes. Heroes need to experience challenges so that at last they are transformed. In the epic, Enkidu and Gilgamesh do follow the hero journey, and are transformed at last. They fulfill the hero journey by learning to embrace their own life.    

     In the epic, Gilgamesh was a tyrant and was out of balance because he only sought fame. It shows us he was an antihero at first. He was careless about his citizens. He only used his right to do what he wanted to do. For instance, “he takes the son from his father and makes him fight. He takes the daughter from his mother and uses her the way he wants to” (book I). It clearly shows that Gilgamesh does not think for the children’s parents, and his invasion of children’s liberty makes him a tyrant. Because of his desire for fame, he did wrong things to be famous. He knows that Humbaba is the strongest man in cedar forest, so he wants to kill him to be known all over the world. “I will kill Humbaba. The whole world will know how great I am. I will be famous. I will stamp my name on men’s mind forever.”(Book III) Thus, he killed an innocent person, Humbaba, just because he wanted everyone sees how strong he is. It also puts his people at risk because he’s off adventuring and angering the Gods instead of protecting them. It claims that Gilgamesh can do everything for his fame which shows he is a tyrant.

     After he lost everything including the hope for immortal life, Gilgamesh is transformed. He realized what he has possessed. He shows his city, “see how the wall shines like copper in the sun. Climb the stone staircase. It is older than the mind can imagine.”(Book XI) Clearly, he is satisfied now and thus contented. Gilgamesh now enjoys his beautiful city. He says: “Observe the land inside. Look at palm trees, the gardens, the orchards, the glorious palaces and temples, the shops.” We can tell that he loves his cities, so that he will have the thought to protect his city. Thus, he also does good things to his city which shows his transformation at last. “He had fixed the holy Eanna Temple. He had fixed the massive wall of Uruk.” Instead of leaving his citizens to find immortality, he contributed to his country and citizens.

     Like Gilgamesh, Enkidu acted wrongly at first. However, then he realized his mistakes and changed. When he was afraid to die, he cursed Shamhat for bringing him to Uruk. He said, “May young men jeer and the crowds mock you as you walk the streets. Shamhat, May all this be your reward for seducing me in the wilderness when I was strong and innocent and free.” It states a fact that Enkidu does not appreciate her action to bring him to Uruk. He blames her for his death. After Enkidu heard the voice from heaven telling him that how lucky he is for being here, he transformed and accepted the protector’s words. He changed his curse into good ones, “Shamhat I give you a different fate. My mouth that cursed you will bless you now.” It clearly shows that he transformed finally and learned to appreciate people who had ever helped him. He does not think things in a negative way anymore. He feels fortunate enough for staying in such beautiful city and accepted his fate for being a fully human that needs to face death calmly.