Compare and Contrast Essay The structure of the archetypal story has been used since the beginning of civilizations. Archetypes are stories that use characters that are repeated throughout many cultures (Rice). The oldest example of an archetype is The Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic gives the layout of the different stages of an archetype. The story in comparison with Gilgamesh is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Gilgamesh is the archetypal hero in the epic and Santiago is the archetypal hero in The Alchemist. These two heroes are both archetypal heroes because they experience a birth and departure, an initiation, and a return. The birth and departure is the introduction of the archetypal story. In the beginning, the hero is introduced to his ordinary world. In Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is a king of Uruk. He is known by the people of Uruk to be a selfish and an arrogant king. In The Alchemist, Santiago is a poor shepherd in a city of Tarifa. He travels around to other villages to trade wool for other goods. Both of these characters are unlikely heroes. Gilgamesh is an unlikely hero because he is selfish and …show more content…
This place is known and the Belly of the Whale. This place is also the last dangerous place in the story. In Gilgamesh, the Belly of the whale is the bottom of the ocean. At the bottom, there is the flower of immortality. This is what Gilgamesh was looking for the whole time in his adventure. In The Alchemist, the Belly of the Whale is where Santiago speaks to the sun, the wind, and the desert. Although this is not where the treasure is, speaking to these elemental beings shows his reason to be on the adventure. This reason is to show that he can pursue his Personal Legend. This place is dangerous because to speak with them, he has to climb up a steep cliff and transform himself into wind. The Belly of the Whale shows what the hero is actually looking
In several ways, the story of Daniel Boone is both similar to and different from other myths associated with national leaders such as Gilgamesh. Similar to Gilgamesh and his conquest of Humbaba, Boone is a natural leader who sets out on a quest of sorts in order to better the lives of the folks back home by conquering the Native Americans who threatened those who were recently moving to Kentucky. Boone loses his son, reflecting how Gilgamesh’s best friend, Enkidu, died, which deeply affect both men and inspire them to undertake perilous journeys in search of meanings within nature. Both men’s legacies, to varying degrees, are based on historical facts, despite each of them being shrouded in some extent in fantasy. Boone’s story differs from
When watching movies or reading books, you may notice a pattern or similarity in the stories. This is called an archetype. The hero’s journey is one example. Authors have different ways of expressing their thoughts in their hero’s journey. The Hobbit is about the journey of Bilbo Baggins and 13 dwarves who journey to get their treasure back.
An archetype describes the function or role of a character in the story. The seven roles of an archetype are the hero, the mentor, the threshold guardian, the herald, the shapeshifter, the shadow and the trickster. Moreover, the third phase is
What is an archetype character? Well the definition of archetype character is in literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature, an archetype, also known as universal symbol, may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting. Well as it said on google so in my own definition i would define archetypal character in a hero's journey as someone who tries to save someone or acts as if the hero and that's just my understanding of it if I understood it well. While watching Guys and Dolls I thought I won’t be able to find a hero or someone who is even close to being the hero in the movie to write my pages for this assignment.
From the battles and fame to their leadership and loyalty both epic heroes gilgamesh and beowulf display the common characteristics of an epic hero. All throughout their journeys both heros come across situations that make them show who they really are and what they believe in. Although certain aspects of their leadership, journeys and personal beliefs are similar the way they display themselves in their personal and public lives make many of their characteristics differ from one another. The leadership styles and qualities of each character helps to define who they are as a person and what they believe in.
Deeper Analysis of Beowulf Many works of literature undoubtedly contain a surface story often attempting to lure readers into completing the work. Concealed beneath the story can be many connections to other literature. The widely known, ancient epic poem Beowulf is no exception, many archetypes are constantly displayed along with the traits of an epic hero and epic poem.
This is the story of two great men in two different eras. Joseph, a biblical man with great power and authority sold from the land of Canaan to the land of Egypt. The other, a man named Gilgamesh, a strong and handsome man from an epic story of the Ancient Babylonian time. These men were very different but, at some point very powerful times in their lives and then also had some challenging times. Gilgamesh starts off with a powerful live and then goes through some turbulence and Joseph start out with turbulence and becomes powerful.
Yet, after Enkidu passed away, Gilgamesh becomes so distraught, he becomes obsessed and fearful of death, and seeks the secret to immortality from there on. It is only after he learns the story of the flood from Utnapishtim, the epiphany that he becomes his most noble and wise self. Finally, he accepts his mortality on his way back to Uruk with the boatman alongside him: “O Ur-shanabi, climb Uruk’s wall and walk back and forth! Survey its foundations, examine the brickwork... A square mile is city, a square mile date-grove, a square mile is clay-pit, half a square mile the temple of Ishtar: three square miles and a half is Uruk’s expanse.”
Throughout history epic tales have been told about heroes attempting to explain various occurrences such as the ones in the Gilgamesh and Beowulf. Gilgamesh and Beowulf compare and contrast in beliefs, their leadership styles, and the journeys they go on. Although both Beowulf and Gilgamesh can be compared to each other, because of their opposing locations and personalities, they are contrasting to each other. Beowulf and Gilgamesh leaderships styles, although very different, do have some similarities. Both Beowulf and Gilgamesh possess great physical strength, and courageousness as leaders of their respective cultures.
In comparison, it’s always observed on how different scholars find the similarity of especially marital settings, characters, and as well as the wanderings of the mythological world. Different events within the life of these characters cover broadly a huge range of epic encounters that are heroic. The character, emotional and psychological development of Gilgamesh can be borrowed especially from the ancient heroic perspectives of mortality and death while comparing with Achilles. Mesopotamian civilization has had several phases in which hero Gilgamesh has been in existence, however having similar attributes. One of the earliest stories of Gilgamesh is developed from Sumerian texts, one of the most influential and well-known poems (Michelakis & Pantelis 2007).
Gilgamesh, on top of that, was the great king of Uruk. He defeated Humbaba. He defeated Ishtar. Then, he survived a deadly 6-day 6-night storm that flooded nearly all of the land. He just continues to execute all of these ‘hero like’ deeds.
“The Alchemist”, is a story of adventure, hope and lesson. As a shepherd, Santiago travels discovering more about himself and his surroundings as he goes. Different decisions and opportunities detour Santiago on his path to his Personal Legend. Qualities fulfill Santiago making all of his aspirations possible, some help him as others devere him from his ultimate goal.
The other similar characters in both the works are Patroclus and Enkidu, who were uncivilized and died for the fame of their leaders. The similarities between the themes of both these works like mortality, friendship and religion. The importance of the theme of friendship is seen in the relationship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh and Patroclus and Achilles. Another similarity is in the main theme of both these works. Both the characters of Gilgamesh and Achilles have the weakness of mortality.
The Epic of Gilgamesh: Relevant Truth for Today’s Society The Epic of Gilgamesh is set in Uruk, an ancient city of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer, now modern-day Iraq. The epic was said to be written by Sin-liqe-unninni, but it is based on five earlier Sumerian poems with no known author. The piece was difficult to translate, and there are two main version for the Epic of Gilgamesh. This is the result of the environment during the time the piece was being written.
Everybody likes rooting for a hero. And throughout the evolution of storytelling, from stories written in stone to those in tablets, heroes have always played a huge role in the stories we tell. As literature evolved, and more legends and tales began to appear in different cultures, the idea of a traditional epic hero was established. Stories like "The Epic of Gilgamesh," and "The Odyssey," set the mold for this type of heroes, an influence that can clearly be seen when analyzing literature. In fact, most of these characters, regardless of the time and place they were created in, shared similar characteristics to the two kings.