The Journey of Two Archetypal Heroes The hero’s quest is a literary spectacle that proved to be versatile in its key ideas, as the plot has shown up in ancient texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, and continues to form the basis of the literary works of international writers. In Mesopotamia, the first literary work that represented the hero’s quest was established and the scripture read about a conceited king, Gilgamesh, ultimately facing and escaping the perils of death for the time being only to be reborn, in a mental sense, as a new ruler that finally understands why the gods would grant him absolute supremacy over the people of Mesopotamia. Joseph Campbell’s, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, allowed him to intertwine his own hero to the …show more content…
Gilgamesh and Enkidu decided to hunt down an ancient evil in the cedar forest, Humbaba. This would be the first moment that this king with absolute power would leave his ordinary life behind in order to begin his destiny in the cedar forest. Gilgamesh, as well as everyone else, has never dared to even cross the outskirts of the cedar forest; it is unknown territory for the king to cross. In the cedar forest, Gilgamesh and Enkidu encountered and slayed the monster guarding it known as Humbaba, but this task proved difficult if it was not for the aid of the god Shamash. The first instant where Mulan crosses into an unknown world is when she heads off to the camp to join the other men in the army. A mental barrier first occurs within Mulan; she does not believe that her disguise as a man will fool anyone in the army, but she strides on with her destiny, which she thinks is to protect her father and family. In the army, it is difficult for Mulan to adapt to the strict rules in the beginning because her life at home was completely different, especially what her family expected of her. Mulan persevered through the arduous army training and became even more cunning than the other male soldiers. Towards the end of each story, both archetypal hero must face the death of others. Mulan’s identity was revealed, so her army left her alone in the snow, but even after the elite of the Chinese army perished, she raced towards the Imperial City to warn the remaining soldiers. At this point, Mulan is shunned by the army for her lies, so they do not believe her when she warns the army of the approaching Huns. Here, Mulan understood that she would enter a dark place where death could possibly await her, but she continued with her
After Campbell studied a lot of the great myths and realized this pattern, he published his findings in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ever since then, authors have used “The Hero’s Journey” as an outline to tell their stories. “It is important to note that not all of these individual steps are present in every hero’s tale, nor is it important that they be in this exact order” (Vogler 20). The Hero with a Thousand Faces gives a sense of significance as it looks into the inner mind and soul. The author, Joseph Campbell, performs two extraordinary accomplishments: compelling his readers that myth and dream, those are the most effective and everlasting forces in life and a unification of mythology and psychoanalysis with a gripping narrative.
Throughout history, there have been countless stories, legends, myths, and tales featuring larger-than-life heroes that metaphorically or even physically go to the ends of the earth achieving heroic feats and gathering companions along the way, each playing their own role in the hero's story. Many of these epics have the same plot structure and similar character archetypes that make these stories stand out from the rest, giving them a distinct and unique style. The story The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by N.K. Sandars and the film Mel Gibson's Braveheart are two classic sagas that are alike in many ways such as their similar plots, their general character archetypes, and finally their central theme.
What is a hero? To our understanding, a hero is a person who is admired for great or brave acts. Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist, and writer wrote The Odyssey. In this novel he talks about The Heroes Journey which are twelve different stages of adventure known as the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Meeting the Mentor, Crossing the Threshold, Test/Allies/Enemies, Approach to the Inmost Cave, Ordeal, Reward, the Road Back, Resurrection, and the Return With The Elixir. The Odyssey is about a legendary hero named Odysseus, who fought among the Greeks in the battle of Troy and went through the stages of The Heroes Journey. Odysseus lived in Ithaca, Northwest of Greece, with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
Often, literature is based on several heroes and their adventures. Most especially, the epic stories symbolize different countries, nations, and cultures. The authors usually shape the characteristics of these stars and profile their unique techniques of writing as well as their imaginative power. Gilgamesh is one of the most known heroes, whose character was developed in the famous “Epic of Gilgamesh” as the strongest of men, a fair judge, a brave warrior, and an ambitious builder who built the magnificent walls of Uruk to protect its people. On the other hand, there are some undesirable characteristics that he possesses such as selfishness, and arrogance mostly brought about by the fact that he is part human and part god. He is characterized
(200)This mythic study will define the first ten stages of the hero’s journey as defined by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell defines the various stages of the hero’s journey within the context of a universal mythic "cycle” found in world ligature. These similar events define the universal stages of the hero’s journey in (1) the call to adventure, (2) refusal of the call, (3) supernatural aid, (4) the first threshold, (5) challenges, (6)revelation (7) abyss (rebirth), (8) transformation, (9) atonement, and (10) the return in the gift of the goddess. These ten stages define the cycle of the heroic journey, which
In our world today, we are lucky to know thousands and thousands of languages and their cultures. The first language ever recorded is Sumerian. This time period consists of 3300 to 3000 BC. During this time, records are purely logographic with not much dialectal content. Different cultures have many very different archetypes that clearly show what their their literature follows, and in Sumerian culture, the major archetype is the hero’s journey and its different stages. The Sumerians believed in their fair share of gods and supernatural forces and that reflects in their pieces of literature.In The Epic of Gilgamesh, which was translated by N.K. Sandars and based on Sumerian culture, the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh overcomes many stages of a hero’s journey when he begins his long quest to find immortality. Gilgamesh
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.
Everyone knows the famous Herakles also known as Hercules the hero. I believe Hercules is a great hero for many reasons. Let me sum up his history, Hercules is the son of Zeus and Alcmene. However, Zeus has a wife named Hera & he cheated on her with Alcmene who got pregnant with his baby. So Hera found out & was very angry, she vowed to make Hercules life dreadful since she couldn't make Zeus's life horrid. Hercules that married a beautiful woman of the name Megara they had two children, Hera took advantage of that & sent him a fit of rage in which he murdered his wife & children. He wanted forgiveness from Apollo to get rid of his pollution. Apollo told him to do 12 request for 12 years I which he will assist an
Thorkild Jacobsen, "'And Death the Journey's End': The Gilgamesh Epic" “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” trans. and ed. Benjamin R. Foster, A Norton Critical Edition, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001
Che was a hero. Many people debate whether or not Che was a hero or villain, but it seems to come down to more people viewing him as a hero. Yes, before Che left to Cuba, he had a very rough background of jail time and criminal charges. Yet he did many outstanding acts, making him appear to be a caring-respectful hero. Che became a doctor at an early age and already was on the track of being a hero by saving and taking care of many people’s lives. Being a doctor is a hard job because you have someone’s life in your own hands and if you mess up or don’t take plenty of care of them, you will be the reason they died, so Che was already stepping out of many peoples comfort zones and risking himself already early on. When Che was still in Argentina he visited people in hospitals who had leprosy, “Their appreciation stemmed from the fact that we didn’t wear overalls or gloves, that we shook hands with them as we would with the next man, sat with them chatting about this and that, and played football with them.” (Che, 131-132) this shows how much respect Che...
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.
Gilgamesh is an epic of great love, followed by lingering grief that causes a significant change in character. It is the story of a person who is feared and honored, a person who loves and hates, a person who wins and loses and a person who lives life. Gilgamesh's journey is larger than life, yet ends so commonly with death. Through Gilgamesh, the fate of mankind is revealed, and the inevitable factor of change is expressed.
The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.
In this essay I will examine how Gilgamesh would be an example of Campbell’s hero. I will first introduce Joseph Campbell and his “hero”. By summarizing and analyzing the story, I came to the conclusion that Gilgamesh is a good example of a hero. I will point out in the text what lead me to that realization and explain the journey of the hero.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the storyline follows the stages of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. According to Chegg, an epic poem is defined as a long and serious, poetic narrative, in reference to a significant event, which typically features a hero. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the hero faces trials and tribulations that teach him humility, kindness, and graciousness. These lessons are taught in serious approaches, just as the definition states. A monomyth is described as “the typical adventure of the archetype known as the hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization” (Vogler). The Epic follows the call to adventure, the refusal of the call,