“A good person is someone who displays love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, humility, patience and who is faithful and endures all things. It is someone who displays self control and considers others more important than self” an essay by UKessays.com states. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem focusing on a king of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, and Unfortunately Gilgamesh possesses none of these good traits. Though with the introduction of an equal, Gilgamesh’s character began to very. Gilgamesh changes throughout the poem, starting as a callous tyrant, to being altruistic, and finally progressing to being empathetic. Gilgamesh was a forceful ruler of Uruk. Before he met his equal, Enkidu, he was too concerned with being a masculine King than fulfilling his duties. In a society that valued testosterone, Gilgamesh was a front runner in being very powerful. While a strong man, “[a]s King, Gilgamesh was a tyrant …show more content…
All because Enkidu showed him a new perspective. After deciding that he and a small army would battle a local beast, Humbaba, Gilgamesh decided “[they] must prove/ [themselves] more powerful than he” (27). To some this quote seems an attempt to reassert his power, Gilgamesh does this to show a new side of him to his Kingdom. To give them hope that he was past his tyrannical ways. Enkidu introduced these concepts to Gilgamesh, he showed him the strength of the pack. Gilgamesh was beginning to see the error in his ways. After a hearty friendship Enkidu fell ill, while on his deathbed he told Gilgamesh that “[his] eyes… changed. [He was] crying. [He] never cried before”(50). Gilgamesh was emotional, pre-Enkidu Gilgamesh would never have blatantly showed his weakness, but Enkidu evoked all of these feelings in
Moreover, He deems himself an equal by establishing friendship with Enkidu who is just a commoner but calls him a ‘brother’ and grieves at his death. This shows that he has a human compassionate heart. However, Gilgamesh, who is more divine than human, uses his powers as if he was a god where his actions had no consequences. He turns into a tyranny more by the passing day, becomes abusive, exploits newly-weds sexually, insults the goddess, kills a forest guardian who is divinely appointed for the role, which is responsible for the death of Enkidu, his warrior
Gilgamesh can be viewed as a writing that describes the social scene of the times it was written in. The characters of Enkidu and Gilgamesh are strong males. The roles of women in Gilgamesh are submissive and subtle. Women in this ancient Sumerian tale tend to be passive, but capable of influencing the outcome of events. Enkidu is a mighty force to confront. He is so strong that he is seen as a wild animal in his first appearances in the book. Gilgamesh is as strong or even stronger than Enkidu. He is the king of Uruk and is part god and part man. These dominant male characters command the most attention of the reader.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, we see a significant transition or development of the main character as the story progresses. Throughout the epic, we see Gilgamesh act as a tyrant, fearless warrior, depressed man, a man filled with fear, and a man who has finally accepted his fate. The epic begins by describing Gilgamesh as a king who tyrannizes his people. “He will couple with the wife-to-be, he first of all, the bridegroom after” (pg 15). We see that Gilgamesh abuses his power as king and terrorizes the people. The people of Uruk plead the gods to ease Gilgamesh’s burden. The gods answered the prayers created an equal to match Gilgamesh. Enkidu a wild-born chimera, part animal and part man, would
Gilgamesh was a very self confident and at times that self confidence led to him to have little compassion for the people of Uruk at he beginning of the story. He was their king, but not their protector; he kills their sons and rapes their daughters. He felt like he was superior to others due to the fact that he was two-thirds god, his mother was a goddess Ninsun and one third human. This fact is the key to all of his actions. This is also what sets him apart from the hero Odysseus.
Gilgamesh is a character that evolves throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh. The lord of wisdom, Gilgamesh realized he did not know everything. He humbled himself to lessons of life. As Gilgamesh progresses he becomes less interested in worldly pleasure and more in tune with the value of life and the reality of death. Gilgamesh evolves into a better king because he allows all his challenges in life to make him better and more humbled. Gilgamesh says before his death, “For myself I have gained nothing; not I, but the beast of the earth has joy of it now.” (Gil.
The main character in the book The Epic of Gilgamesh, is Gilgamesh himself. In the beginning of the book one realizes that Gilgamesh is an arrogant person. Gilgamesh is full of himself and abuses his rights as king. He has sexual intercourse with the virgins of his town and acts as though he is a god. Throughout the story, many things cause Gilgamesh to change. He gains a friend, he makes a name for himself by killing Humbaba, and he tries to become immortal because of the death of Enkidu. Through these main actions his personality changes and he becomes a better person.
Some of Gilgamesh’s qualities are that he had a “beauty… surpassing all others” and was “two thirds… god and one third man” (13). Before Enkidu, Gilgamesh acted horribly. He was a terrible ruler and a terrible man. Gilgamesh was not all good, for example, “his lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior’s daughter nor the wife of the noble…” (13). He was a terrible ruler. Gilgamesh was arrogant, but very powerful in his country. His people had no choice but to listen to him. They were forced to go along with his unlawfulness and stubbornness.
The epic begins with the men of Uruk describing Gilgamesh as an overly aggressive ruler. "'Gilgamesh leaves no son to his father; day and night his outrageousness continues unrestrained; And he is the shepherd of Uruk, the enclosure; He is their shepherd, and yet he oppresses them. Strong, handsome, and wise. . . Gilgamesh leaves no virgin to her lover.'"(p.18, Line 23-27) The citizens respect him, but they resent his sexual and physical aggression, so they plead to the gods to alleviate some of their burden. The gods resolve to create an equal for Gilgamesh to tame him and keep him in line. This equal, Enkidu, has an immediate impact on Gilgamesh. When they first meet, both having never before met a man equal in stature, they brawl. "They grappled with each other, Snorting like bulls; They shattered the doorpost, that the wall shook."(p.32, lines 15-18) In giving Gilgamesh a real battle, Enkidu instantly changes him; having this equal gives Gilgamesh a sense of respect for another man. These two men fighting each other creates a serious mess, but they both end up without animosity toward the other.
The story itself reflects an image of the cultural situation in which it was conceived. One major difference between this ancient society and our own is the way in which we sustain our leaders. Gilgamesh's character, whether based on an actual person or not, is portrayed as a very powerful and proud person. He was created to be better and stronger than common man and he is favored by the gods. This portrayal of a super-human king indicates a deep respect for leadership by those who told this story. Likely, these people lived under the rule of a monarchy in which the King was the all powerful leader and lawmaker. In today's society though, it is not common for one person to have unlimited power. Our governments are designed to divide ruling power between numerous parties; in order to keep any one person from becoming all powerful. Today's society would not tolerate a king who could do as he pleases, even if he were a noble and just man. In the story, Gilgamesh's super-human strength and power are not always convenient to his subjects. "His arrogance has no bounds", and "his lust leaves no virgin to her lover," yet the people respect his authority. The supremacy of Gilgamesh in the story reflects the feelings toward leadership held by that society which created the story. The respect they had for an all powerful monarch is hard for us to understand today. Our society looks down on those who rule as dictators and labels them tyrants and enemies. It is odd to imagine living in a society where a king is to be respected.
In Gilgamesh, he fights Humbaba with Enkidu, his best friend. Humbaba is the guardian of the Cedar Forest who was assigned by the god Enlil. Gilgamesh doesn't fight for the world, but he has his own reasons. In the text, it states, “Even if I fail I will have made a lasting name for myself’’ (181). In other words, Gilgamesh's motivation to slaughter Humbaba is not just to get rid of evil but to let his people remember him. Gilgamesh is being selfish because if he's dead, Uruk won't have a ruler, which means Uruk will be out of control. The choice Gilgamesh makes causes him not to care about Uruk but only himself. However, the encounter of Enkidu's death has turned Gilgamesh into another person. He couldn't confront the truth that Enkidu has died. Enkidu was more than a best friend to him, he was a brother whom he loved. Because of his love for Enkidu, Gilgamesh builds a statue so everyone in Uruk will remember him. This demonstrates Gilgamesh changing from selfish to selfless. This change is part of Gilgamesh's transformations towards becoming a hero. Gilgamesh changes as a result of Enkidu's death. According to the text, it states, “Gilgamesh interferes in the lives of his subjects beyond his right as king”(175). This proves that Gilgamesh was bothering and annoying the people of Uruk. Gilgamesh is going to become king soon and he shouldn’t disregard or interfere with his subject’s private life.
Gilgamesh is a man with no equal, so he feels superior. Although Gilgamesh starts out cruel, he develops into a very kindhearted man. He is extremely supportive of Enkidu and encourages him in various situations. When the men are fighting, Humbaba Gilgamesh says, [you] will surpass all of them. a friend who knows battle understands fighting.
Before the coming of Enkidu, Gilgamesh was a man of great power. A being for which there was no equal match, Gilgamesh boasted about his overwhelming glory and power. However, his arrogance was accompanied with an extensive abuse of power, which pushed the city of Uruk into a state of rage. Still Gilgamesh felt no despair; he lived to display to others his majestic power. The first sign of a sincere change in Gilgamesh arises as a result of the birth of Enkidu. From the beginning, a powerful link developed between man and woman. The wise Ninsun said to Gilgamesh,"You will love him as a woman and he will never forsake you". Gilgamesh had finally met his match, a friend that would serve as his life-long companion. Upon the seal of this great friendship, Gilgamesh began to change his selfish ways. Nevertheless, he shared with Enkidu the luxuries of kindness. Setting aside his great pride and power, Gilgamesh had opened a place in his heart, and in his sumptuous life, for his beloved brother.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh were the main characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the city of Uruk, King Gilgamesh was a merciless ruler, a strong man, and had long, beautiful hair. Under Gilgamesh’s rule, the people asked the gods to generate their tyrannical king’s competitor. To cease Gilgamesh from dominating people, Enkidu was developed. Enkidu was a hairy-bodied man raised by animals. He was prepared to accept the challenge. The two men were almost iden-tical in their courage and physical abilities. Gilgamesh had a vision ...
Gilgamesh was two thirds of a god who possessed beauty, a gorgeous body, and great amounts of courage and strength that surpassed all other humans. His greatness was established through the wonderful walls he built around Uruk, a rampart, and a temple for Anu and Ishtar (Gilgamesh & Sandars, 61). Enkidu on the other hand was initially an uncivilized man created by the goddess of creation, Aruru. His appearance was strictly barbaric with his long hair and hairy body, whose innocent mind knew nothing of a civilized human culture (Gilgamesh et al., 62). He ate grass and lived among the other animals in the woods until a trapper spotted him while trying to catch his game and noted to his father that he “was the strongest man in the world [and] is like an immortal from heaven” (Gilgamesh et al., 62). The trapper indicated his feeling of inferiority to Enkidu in the woods as he says he is afraid of him. One could say that Enkidu rules the woods of the uncivilized just as Gilgamesh rules over the city of Uruk; over the civilized. Both men are characterized as powerful, strong men in their domain yet Gilgamesh is in fact stronger and more powerful than his brother, Enkidu whom he calls his servant, fore he is the king of Uruk and is two thirds god. Enkidu also dies halfway through the adventure the two have while Gilgamesh, who is afraid of death, goes on to find a way to live immortally. Though inferior to his king brother, Enkidu completes the other half of Gilgamesh: while Gilgamesh knows the ins and outs of the city he rules, he is not familiar with the woods or nature in the ways that Enkidu is. Though they are different from each other, they both hold parallels with one another by bringing out the best in each other, thus reasonabl...
Gilgamesh is an example of someone who had many flaws and faced many struggles but, in the end, changed his attitude and became a better person. In the beginning of Gilgamesh, he is described as doing whatever he wants and being juvenile in a way. For example, in the text it says, “he was their shepherd, yet powerful, superb, knowledgeable and expert, Gilgamesh would not leave young girls alone, the daughters of warriors, the brides of young men.” With his second half, Enkidu, they entered into the first step in becoming a hero according to Campbell, the separation, by going on an adventure. At this point in the story, Gilgamesh is very arrogant. While traveling to Cedar Forest, Gilgamesh tells Enkidu, “let me go in front of you, and your voice call out: ‘Go close, don’t be afraid!’ If I should fall, I should have won fame. People will say, Gilgamesh grappled in combat with ferocious Humbaba… ensure fame that will last forever.” Next is stage two, the initiation, of the Campbell’s hero journey. Gilgamesh undergoes a trail to begin his transformation, he must fight the Bull of Heaven. Gilgamesh’s supportive side is starting to show when he tells Enkidu that they will win if they fight together. After killing the Bull of Heaven, Gilgamesh’s confident attitude is shown once again. The next trial he faces is the death of Enkidu. He starts to show emotion when he says, “for you Enkidu, I, like your mother, your father, will weep on your plains… I will lay you to rest on a bed of loving care… and I myself will neglect my appearance after your death.” At this point his character has been greedy and then he showed his fear and supportive side. The last stage in the hero’s journey is the return. Enkidu’s death sent Gilgamesh on an adventure to fight death. From this adventure he learned his biggest lesson from Utnapishtim. He learns to appreciate life, and