The Successful Hero on a Path to Failure
What is a hero? Is a hero is a great individual with powers or qualities that
separate him from the rest of the society or world for that matter. In a sense, perhaps, I
think a hero can be much more than just having these particular qualities. In my opinion, a
hero is someone that also commands great respect. There must also have been a great
event or deed for someone to be deemed a hero.
In the heroic tale of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh himself is a hero. He has the qualities
required for being a hero, but he is lacking. He fails to exhibit self restraint and wise
decision making. That doesn't necessarily mean that a hero must be perfect in order to be
one. A hero is supposed to make mistakes and have downfalls. Heroism is a quality that
is present in every human being. It is a part of humanity. It is displayed more
prominently in a few such as Gilgamesh. A hero still remains human though and can never
be ideal.
Society in Gilgamesh's culture viewed their king as the ultimate warrior and
leader. The city was the most important part of life in the times of Gilgamesh. A ziggurat
was present in the city representing religious life. The gods resided in the temples of the
city. Society relied upon the presence of gods to determine how well the city would last
and prosper. The city was a place of patriotism and nationalism. Elaborate rituals were
commonplace. Unlike that of the culture described in the Bible, sexuality is part of the
worship of gods. Gilgamesh is a key factor in this way of life for the city of Uruk. He is
the priest king. His role in the city is important because he is depended upon by all of the
residents of his city. They look ...
... middle of paper ...
...nation of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face
of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for
I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of
the Lord.
Now, God spared Noah and his family because they were good. This doesn't
make Noah the hero either. Noah is not punished because he believed in God and did not
corrupt himself with evil ways. God has the power and people respect it. Noah is that
person.
Gilgamesh is a hero that will never succeed because it is impossible. The gods
would never allow his success and he makes mistakes that can never be overcome.
Heroes are admired, but will never accomplish the ultimate goal of perfection or
immortality.
Bibliography:
Gilgamesh
Bible
A hero is considered to be any man noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose;
a city for the Jews to restart in, but as a Pagan city sanctified to the Pagan
When asking people about what characteristics they think of when they think of a hero the most common answers would be doing good deeds and not allowing evil to flourish. This is what we have been made to believe. One of the first images that come to mind when the word hero is mentioned is a superhero. An image of Batman or Superman is likely, one who is good natured and conquers evil as it appears. Just doing good deeds or not committing evil sins is not enough. First you would have to distinguish the difference between an evil and a good action. The line between good and evil is so thin that specific attributes and certain actions are constantly being exchanged back and forth. We cannot decide as a society what is good and what is evil. A modern day example would be when the United States made the decision to bomb Japan during World War II. For Americans celebration ensued as it was thought to be a decisive moment of victory. Those who were involved in t...
The city-state Uruk is one of the backgrounds of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Uruk was established at the southern Mesopotamia by around 3200 B.C. (“Uruk: The First City”). Unfortunately, there are no certain records about a king Gilgamesh. Whether Gilgamesh was a real man in history or not, he had been told as the king of Uruk and described as the legendary king in Sumerian mythology. His father was Lagalband who was a king of Uruk, and his mother was Ninsus who was the wise cow goddess. In an era of the city-state Uruk, huge wall surrounded the Uruk probably because of the order of the King Gilgamesh. Thus, historians assume that if Gilgamesh was a real person and the king of Uruk and he would live around 2700 B.C. As Greeks and Romans did, Sumerians built the relationships with gods in each city-state as well, such as ranking the order of gods. For example, Anu who was the god of the sky and originally had been a god of the city-state Uruk was the greatest one among the others (“Gilgamesh”). According to these historical and cultural background of Sumerian, Gilgamesh had appeared in many epic or stories as a superhero. Then,
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 was two-thirds God and one-third human that had no regards for his subjects he ruled. He mostly did as he pleased by taking advantage of his subjects, especially abusing women; therefore, he was feared rather than respected by his subjects.
A hero is defined as "someone admired for his bravery, great deeds or noble qualities". There are three categories to which all heroes can be classified into, one of which is the anti-hero genre.
adventures. Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk. Gilgamesh allows his power to go to his head,
Who is a hero? In contemporary times, usage of the term has become somewhat of a cliché. Over the years, the term “hero” has become representative of a wide variety of individuals, each possessing differing traits. Some of the answers put forth by my colleagues (during our in-class discussion on heroism) as to whom they consider heroes pointed to celebrities, athletes, teachers and family members. Although the occupations differed, each of their heroes bore qualities that my classmates perceived as extraordinary, whether morally or physically. Nonetheless, Webster’s defines “hero” as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.” Thus, it is worth considering that individuals become heroes relative to the situation with which they’re faced.
Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, is the protagonist of The Epic of Gilgamesh, where the audience is brought through the story of a tyrannical king 's transformation to become a mature king. He would learn that his responsibilities as king come before any of his wishes for fame and acknowledgment. As a being who was two-thirds god and one-third human, he desperately tried to gain the attention and later on the immortality that only deities would have. In the Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Andrew George, Gilgamesh believed that in order to be a great king, he would have to complete heroic tasks such as killing Humbaba, the guardian of the Cedar Forest and going to the netherworlds to find the source of immortality.
The story starts off with Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, who is one third man and two thirds god. This story is about a man's quest for immortality in addition to the importance of boundaries between the realms of animal, man and gods. Women symbolize the importance of locative boundaries in the text. These boundaries are set by the harlot Shamhat, Ishtar, Siduri, the tavern keeper, Ninsun and Utanapishtim's wife. By giving women this role of wisdom and boundary enforcement, The Epic of Gilgamesh reflects how Mesopotamian society actually valued women.
Both ancient religions had various ideas how to worship their god or gods. In the Mesopotamian religion, worship was very straight forward and casual. They would give daily offerings of food and drink with sacrifices during special monthly and annual feasts. The most celebrated of these feasts was the New Year’s festival. These worship events were held by the priest and priestesses who also took care of the great wealth believed to be stored in the Mesopotamians temples. The director of the temple cults was the Sheshgallu: and all the sacrifices were performed by the Shangu priests. All other classes of priests dealt with the rest of the lesser rituals. The priestesses varied from the Entu, the consort of god, all the way down to the Temple Harlots (Garber, p204). The Greeks on the other hand, had done most of their worship in private. They also had festivals and rituals, but their worship was much less organized. If any individual wished to pray to a god, or invoke the god’s intervention, he would simply go to one of the shrines or temples to the god of their choice and leave a small gift. These gifts included such offerings such as frankincense, a cake, or even a large sacrifice of animals. There were also dedications of small statuettes or even large painted vases (Webster, p79). Unlike the Mesopotamians there was no class of priests nor any real religion teachings or texts. Also, no large gathering festivals took place; however small groups in recognition of the g...
Gilgamesh was the son of the King of Uruk and the goddess Ninsun, who was a minor goddess known
...teous. When you have Satan’s angels roaming the earth trying to cause all the violence possible we can say that Noah lived in very hard times. Noah was the only man that was righteous during his times and I think that was very, very hard to do when everyone around you is partying and doing whatever. God killed everyone on earth but had mercy on Noah because he understood that Noah faced tough times and God showed grace and mercy by saving him.