Gilgamesh Character Characteristics

Published works of art are always found to have similarities with other published pieces. Whether they may be visual or audio, one is bound to find similarities that match their criteria of misery or happiness. This paper is about the similarities found in Mulan that relate to and are applicable to Gilgamesh. The story of Mulan is originally a Ballad. Published by an anonymous author, people assume that Mulan lived in the Northern Wei (386- 534) in the Northern Dynasties Period (386- 581) C.E. in China. Mulan is a girl that grew up in Ancient China. She took it upon herself to disguise herself as a man, and take her father's position in the army due to his advancement of age and fragility. She is accepted into the military as a male warrior.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was an example of the character archetype, “The Sidekick,” because he was a faithful and supportive companion of Gilgamesh. Although Enkidu and Gilgamesh initially fought, a strong friendship was sealed between them.

Great leaders embody a paradox. They develop strength and wisdom through failure and ignorance. The activist Gandhi recognizes this contradiction, noting that both strength and weakness and wisdom and folly are close companions: “it is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” Gilgamesh proves this truth in The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Herbert Mason. In this tale, a godly man, Gilgamesh, develops a friendship with beast-turned-man, Enkidu, who begins to teach Gilgamesh about the world and helps him to grapple with challenges. After one challenge in particular, a battle with the giant Humbaba, Enkidu dies abruptly, leaving Gilgamesh alone again, and forcing him to overcome adversities by himself. Gilgamesh is initially despondent, but these adversities eventually give him the strength to grow in wisdom and appreciation. Gilgamesh flourishes from his failures because he can finally understand the meanings of life and death, accept

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, undertakes a quest to become the ultimate hero, a perpetual legend to his people and superior to the gods. Gilgamesh initially defines superiority by physical feats and conquests. When he finds that the gods can undermine his personal power by causing him tragedy and elucidating his eventual death, Gilgamesh, out of fear, shifts his quest to the achievement of immortality. He fails in his effort to achieve eternal life as well. Gilgamesh does not accomplish his quest to become a hero by his initial definition, physical prowess, and physical immortality. Instead, through great suffering, grief, and disappointment, Gilgamesh recognizes

Gilgamesh's ordinary world was his selfish and arrogant reign in Uruk. For example, the statement, “He mates with the lawful wife, he first, the groom after,” reveals his abuse of power (Foster 46). Gilgamesh’s call to adventure begins with the creation of Enkidu due to his poor use of power. The pair venture to battle in the Cedar Forest, which ended with the death of Enkidu. Gilgamesh cries out, “Shall I not die too? Am I not like Enkidu? Oh woe has entered my vitals!” (Foster 72). Such a phrase shows the beginning stages of Gilgamesh’s journey to discover immortality. Upon approaching the inmost cave, Gilgamesh meets his mentor, Utnapishtim, to find the reason for his immortality. Gilgamesh’s road back consisted of finding the plant of immortality. Gilgamesh has yet to learn his lesson regarding immortality as evidenced by his doubts, “I will take it to ramparted Uruk, I will have an old man eat some and so test the plant...I myself will eat it and so return to my carefree youth” (Foster 88). Subsequently, he loses the plant to a snake and begins to learn the lesson that being a worthy king is much more valuable than

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem that was written on stone tablets. It tells the tales of a demigod Gilgamesh who was physically strong and good-looking but he terrorized the people of Uruk. His people were unhappy and thus they asked the gods to make another man name ‘Enkidu’ to rival Gilgamesh. Enkidu and Gilgamesh became best of friends but they were encountered by trouble wherever they went (George). The poem depicts one of the greatest early pieces of literature ever composed and survived. Therefore, its themes relate to those of the modern world as the reflection portrays.

Gilgamesh is the son of a goddess and a mortal king, Ninsun and Lugalbanda. For this reason, Gilgamesh is two-thirds god and one-third man. Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, a country which he created. As king of the city-state of Uruk he builds a monumental wall around the city, but in doing so he overworks the city’s inhabitants unmercifully, to the point where they pray to the gods for relief. The people of Uruk pray to the gods to make another man who could challenge Gilgamesh. The gods create a man named Enkidu, he resides in the wilderness with the animals, knowing nothing of the civilized world. Here he annoys a trapper by taking the animals from his traps. The trapper asks his father for advice. In turn, the father sends him to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh recommends taking a woman, Shamhat, to the wild man and have

Gilgamesh was a king who started out neglectful, and selfish in his kingship. It was later on in the story that Gilgamesh turned his ways around and became noble, and good.

The story of Gilgamesh has been around for 1000s of years. It has been adapted and changed multiple times. There have been multiple stories with Gilgamesh's companion, Enkidu. One thing that was always constant in the writings was that Gilgamesh was always some type of hero. His bravery, inspiring actions, and change in character make him a hero to the Mesopotamian people.

Is Enkidu’s life better before or after he leaves animal life and enters the human world? In the story Gilgamesh translated by N. K. Sandars, Gilgamesh is the main character and the king of Uruk. The gods think he is too powerful, so they make is equal and name him Enkidu. The gods let Enkidu loose in the forest, and he lives among the animals for most of his life. He is like a wild beast until a harlot comes along and seduces him. After six days with the harlot, Enkidu realizes he lost his strength. The harlot gets him to join civilization, so he becomes a normal human. He is treated like a royal until Gilgamesh defeats him in battle. After that Gilgamesh and Enkidu become friends and fight in battles together until Enkidu suddenly dies. Gilgamesh does not want the same fate, so he goes looking for eternal life but dies anyway. Enkidu “must die in shame” and not a “man who falls in battle” when he lives in the human world (Gilgamesh 28). Enkidu is better staying in the forest among the animals because he is stronger and at peace with the animals, even though he becomes more intelligent and civilized when he joins the human world.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “civilize” as “To bring…to a stage of social development considered to be more advanced, esp. by bringing to conformity with the social norms of a developed society.” The transition from going from living in the wild to civilization is very complex as we have seen in The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Benjamin R. Foster. Enkidu learns to be more civilized through Shamhats seduction, role reversal, and his encounter with Gilgamesh, but in the end he regrets even becoming civilized. Was it worth it to become civilized just to die in the end?

The Epic of Gilgamesh conveys numerous themes. Among those are the inevitability of death, the eminence of the gods, and strikingly the importance of love as an impetus. Love, defined in a consummate sense is intimacy, passion, and commitment. These traits are exemplified in Gilgamesh and Enkidu's relationship, and they are also implied between Enkidu and Sham hat. Despite the violent and abrasive nature of the happenings of this text, love is displayed blatantly throughout. From Enkidu's introduction to civilization, to the defeat of Humpback, love is the driving force in many salient events.

“Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the wild animals of the earth…I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.” Nature plays a pivotal role in our world, it is an obstacle to many of us but we can still benefit from it. Linking back to the epic of Gilgamesh, if nature weren’t there would have Gilgamesh still faced the same obstacles? In this essay I will discuss the interactions of nature relating to Enkidu, dreams and gods. As in the epic they are portrayed as obstacles for Gilgamesh.

The epic of Gilgamesh was civilization’s first piece of literature discovered by the modern world. Gilgamesh is the tyrannic king of Uruk. He makes his citizens work almost to the death to keep up the city and build it’s walls, then allows years of decay follow. He keeps the right of the king to sleep with the brides before their husbands do. No one challenges Gilgamesh’s ways, until Enkidu, a man who lived among the animals for most of his life comes to Uruk. He doesn’t understand how the people let Gilgamesh live the way he does. One night he stands in the way of Gilgamesh. The two fight, until they both are too tired to continue. From here they call a truce, as each has won the other’s trust, and from here a lifelong friendship stems. Throughout

Before I started reading this book I did not think I would like it. As soon as I started reading it I felt relieved that I was actually interested in it. Themes that are throughout the book by Herbert Mason are friendship and arrogance.