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A hero is a man who is uniquely courageous and with a special ability and bravely that wins him admiration and nobility status from many. In my Opinion, a hero has qualities and characters that make him a true society model. Heroic in this case means the state of often displaying unique characters of courage and bravely associated with a hero.
The journey to heroic nature was very tough and dangerous for Gilgamesh King of Uruk. This paper examines the verse narrative Gilgamesh by Herbert Mason in an attempt to provide a personal opinion on the challenges that Gilgamesh faces in his pursuit for recognition as a hero by his followers in Uruk.
In the first mentioning of Gilgamesh’s immoral life with the women of Uruk, I feel that he does not qualify to be bestowed with the honor of a hero. However, the step that he takes to face the monster Humbaba in the cedar forest makes my opinion change towards recognizing this great man as a hero. The hesitation of Enkidu, who lived in the wilderness all his life, seems not to bother the determined Gilgamesh. I could have expected Gilgamesh to give up from the entry to the cedar forest after what befell Enkidu at the gate “Enkidu’s hand is paralyzed when he touches the cedar forest gate…,” (Sanders 19), or after the wild dreams, but he kept focused. His struggle to acquire a heroic title by facing the forest monster was a brave move and from the success of it all, I regard him as a true hero.
I count the death of Enkidu as one of the most unfortunate instances in the book. According to my Enkidu was not supposed to die. First, his conversion to civilization was not out of his own free will. Secondly, the refusal of Gilgamesh to marry Ishtar the daughter of Anu did not concern him in any way. Finally, he did not choose to be born partly human and partly animal. Therefore the decision of the gods to have him sacrificed for the “wrongs” of his friend who was in his search for heroism was according to me, not justified.
Gilgamesh seems to associate heroism and eternity. He struggled successfully to acquire the heroic title by killing Humbaba the monster and went ahead to look for a chance to live forever. Siduri’s advice to him was, “You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping” (Sanders 33). He could have been contented with this and stop the search for Utnapishtim. I feel that the king was too ambitious.
I see the story of the flood however to have changed the king’s heart to contend with the earlier advice that, “as for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is a lot of men.” (Sanders 34).
Gilgamesh had a rough journey that was full of challenges in acquiring recognition as a hero but according to me his morals in society did not model a character for others to emulate. It is proper that his search to live forever was not rewarded for I feel like he could have misused the chance based on his moral background. The Conversion of Enkidu to civilization was a good idea but unfortunately, it consequently earned his untimely death that I think was misplaced.
References
Sanders Nancy, Trans. “Gilgamesh.” In The Norton Anthology: World Masterpieces, Expanded Edition, Volume I: 10-41, 1981.
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