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Antigone And The Epic Heroes In Gilgamesh And Enkidu

1560 Words7 Pages

When we think of heroes, often the first image that comes to mind is that of strength or power. However, most heroes also have another thing in common – they often act as intermediary figures between the human realm and the divine realm. In some cases, the hero is very close to the heavens, while in others he or she is completely mortal. However, that link almost always defines the hero in terms of what he or she wants to achieve and how he or she meets these goals. There is no better way to analyze this relationship than looking at heroes from different styles of literature – particularly the mythical hero in Prometheus, the tragic hero in Antigone and the epic heroes in Gilgamesh and Enkidu. While Prometheus is almost completely divine, Antigone is completely human. Gilgamesh and Enkidu both straddle the middle ground between these two characters, as they are both godly and mortal. The types of mediation that are present across these genres also differs. While Antigone acts as a mediator through her words and actions, Prometheus is an intermediary due to his principal action of stealing fire, and his personality. Enkidu acts as the ultimate intermediator, having been sent from the divine realm to directly affect the mortal one.

Prometheus is partially human and partially god, so physically he is already a link between the divine world and the mundane one. He mediates between the two realms both physically and as a character. As the protagonist of mythical literature, he

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