Comparative English Essay
Compare the Beowulf poet's presentation of the battles with Grendel and his mother with the Gilgamesh poet's depiction of Gilgamesh' battles with Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven.
Fame and glory have been the most admirable characteristics in the middle Ages and even before Christ in the ancient civilizations. The epics of Gilgamesh and Beowulf are stories of heroism and immortality gained through fame. The aim of the main characters, Beowulf and Gilgamesh, is to be a good warrior by being courageous, respectful and prudent, a protector and servant to their king (only in the beginning of Beowulf, as he later becomes king and Gilgamesh already is) and their country. In both poems the fights of the main characters with supernatural monsters and creatures in order to gain fame or to protect themselves are central scenes where Gilgamesh and Beowulf prove their heroism and the social codex of their society becomes perfectly clear. Therefore I will compare the battles of Gilgamesh with Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven, and Beowulf with Grendel and his mother and analyze the different meanings of the fights and their relevance for the whole epic.
First I will cover the fights in the Gilgamesh epic, beginning with Gilgamesh' and Enkidu's fight with Huwawa, the "guardian demon" (p. 25, line 14).
Gilgamesh sets out to kill Huwawa to "cut the Cedar down and win the glory" (p. 19, line 12). Huwawa is described as supernatural, as evil, and at the same time he is guarding a forest; he is nature. "Huwawa's mouth is fire [
] the demon hateful to the sun god." (p. 20, line 1-4). The gods hate Huwawa and to kill him is glorious and therefore Gilgamesh sets out to fight him. The monster lives in the "Cedar Forest that...
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...gh he offers himself as a servant) or using the same weapons (killing Grendel in a hand-to-hand fight), but they are in a social, civilized system and therefore win over their enemies. Gilgamesh also don't fight because they have to, but because they want to gain fame, which is a kind of immortality. The monster enter the hero's life "from the outside, accidentally, challenges which in other circumstances he [Beowulf] might not have taken up, enemies from whom he might have been distracted or deflected." (Beowulf, xix) Therefore the fights are tools to demonstrate the principle rules of the two somehow similar societies and to show the importance of the heroic code that guides their life, "For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark." (p. 46)
Many diverse cultures exist across the globe, differing in several aspects, such as beliefs, practices, and values. An example of two cultures that demonstrate dissimilar values are Ancient Anglo-Saxon and Ancient Mesopotamian. These two cultures are known to have expressed opposing heroic values. Two texts that can be accurately used in this comparison are Beowulf, an Ancient Anglo-Saxon text, and The Epic of Gilgamesh, an Ancient Mesopotamian text.
Both Beowulf and Gilgamesh make for great representatives of the term “epic hero” by showing near legendary levels of greatness, might, and strength. However, their differences are significant enough that one can clearly
Beowulf continues to fight even after his initial battle with his main opponent, like the main
sends the Bull of Heaven to destroy the city. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the bull,
Beowulf’s fight against the dragon shows Beowulf as a hero. Although Beowulf had previously defeated two other foes, he stands fast and fights his most formidable foe yet, the dragon. Dragons were notoriously difficult to kill, and the poem states that it was a great man, who could kill a dragon, even if it meant losing one's life. While others cower away Beowulf fights the dragon. Beowulf defeats the dragon but loses his life in the same instance. Like the classical hero Beowulf loses his special status in death. Beowulf sought no compensation for his services; the mere satisfaction of helping others was pay enough. Like his two previous battles Beowulf fights for those who could not fight for themselves.
This is the beginning of a vicious cycle that Gilgamesh goes through. He gets his hopes up. Then they are destroyed, only to be brought up again. The cycle continues when Gilgamesh finally reaches Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh thinks he is very close to eternal life, but Utnapishtim destroys that hope when he tells Urshanabi to bring Gilgamesh back across the sea of death. The final spin in the cycle starts when Gilgamesh gets the thorny plant from the river floor. To Gilgamesh, this plant is much more than hope. It symbolizes the purpose of his life: to resurrect Enkidu. At this point, Gilgamesh thinks he has finally won. He has the key to eternal life. When the serpent eats the flower, Gilgamesh is devastated. All that he worked so hard for is taken from him.
The first example in the story where Gilgamesh has an interaction with the gods is when Enkidu and Gilgamesh decide to steal cedar trees that are forbidden to the mortals. The two of them fight with a demon by the name of Humbaba, who is a devoted servant to Enlil, the god of earth. The battle with the demon shows that Gilgamesh is fearless. Though the forest is forbidden to mortals, such as Gilgamesh and Enkidu, he still goes to the woods fearlessly and is willing to fight with the god. Gilgamesh does not believe that the gods have power over him and thus he is willing to go against the wishes of the gods. Gilgamesh and Enkidu require the help of Shamash the sun god for them to kill Humbaba (George
Beowulf is an epic poem that, above all, gives the reader an idea of a time long past; a time when the most important values were courage and integrity. The only factors that could bestow shower fame upon a person were heroic deeds and family lineage. Beowulf, as the paradigm of pagan heroes, exhibited his desire to amass fame and fortune; the only way to do so was to avenge the death of others. This theme of retribution that is ever present throughout the poem seems to color the identities of its characters.
They planned a trip to the forest of cedars to defeat the monster known as Humbaba so that Gilgamesh could show his power to the citizens of Uruk. However, Enkidu tried vainly to dissuade Gilgamesh from going to the forest. Despite Enkidu’s plea, the two continued on their adventure to the forest where Humbaba lives. Once they arrived, they found the monster and killed him. In Gilgamesh's youth, he was a ruler and praised by the people of the city of Uruk.
Beowulf is an epic poem telling the story of Beowulf, a legendary Geatish hero who later becomes king in the aforementioned epic poem. While the story in and of itself is quite interesting, for the purpose of this paper it is important to look at the character more so then his deeds, or rather why he did what he did.
Foster, Benjamin R. "The Epic of Gilgamesh." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. Ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. A. New York: Norton, 2012. 95-151. Print. 13 March 2014.
From the beginning of time, mythology has appeared to be one key method of understanding life’s confusions and battles. Within these myths lies a hero. From myth to myth and story to story, heroes experience what may be called a struggle or a journey, which lays down their plot line. Bearing tremendous strength, talent, and significant admiration, a hero holds what is precious to their audience, heroism. Over time however, no matter the hero, the hero’s role remains indistinguishable and identical to the position of every other hero.
The next time we see them, their friendship is concrete. "They kissed one another, And formed a friendship."(p.33, line 19-20) Gilgamesh seems to be the leader at the start of their relationship, and right away, he plans an adventure for them. "In the forest dwells the terrible Huwawa. Let us, me and thee, kill him, And let us destroy all the evil in the land."(p. 34, line 96-98) Here, Gilgamesh reveals one reason that he wants to kill Huwawa - to destroy the evil in the land.
Gilgamesh’s fear of death than leads him to go on a quest in search of immortality. Along the way Gilgamesh runs into Enkidu who was created to end Gilgamesh’s reign, but instead Gilgamesh and Enkidu begin to fight and some how a start of a new friendship emerges. “Gilgamesh and Enid have a furious and prolonged wrestling match but emerge from the contest as friends.” (Gilgamesh, 205) Enkidu Accompanies Gilgamesh on his quest in search of immortality but instead ponders off to slay an innocent servant, referred to as Humbaba, although Humbaba begged for his life. Gilgamesh and Enkidu still take his life, angering the gods. Ishter the goddess than falls in love with Gilgamesh but he rudely insults her making her rage with anger. “Ishter ask her father for Amu to make the Bull of Heaven, to destroy Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, and throws the thighbone of the Bull in Ishter’s face, a terrible form of disrespect.” Gilgamesh has no compassion nor does he have sympathy or respect, killing off spiritual servants and disrespecting the gods. The Actions of Gilgamesh and Enkidu Angered the god terribly. Enid was created to stop Gilgamesh but instead made the situation messier than it need to be, therefore the gods punish him with dead. “Ana, Enlil, Es and heavenly Shamash took counsel together, and Anu said to Enlil, ‘Because they have killed the Bull of Heaven, and because
The newfound friends gradually weaken and grow lazy living in the city, so Gilgamesh proposes a great adventure that entails cutting down a great cedar forest to build a great monument to the gods. However to accomplish this they must kill the Guardian of the Cedar Forest, the great demon, Humbaba the Terrible. Enkidu, along with the elders of the city, have serious reservations about such an undertaking but in the end Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the terrible demon.