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Gilgamesh Hero

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A Look at the “Hero” Gilgamesh In all of the story of Gilgamesh, he is portrayed as a somewhat perfect being. Being able to boast of his physical and godlike prowess among his subjects. However, do these two qualities make him that much more of a hero than other ancient hero’s tales? Or even a hero at all? Gilgamesh’s tales may have qualities that make him like a hero, yet compared to other definitions of a hero he may not stand up to the test of those who, like him, have had their stories told for all ages. As we examine Gilgamesh’s story we will see that in physical, personal characteristics, and accomplishments, he might be more of a hero than most of us think he is.
First we will examine what the story of Gilgamesh provides us to show …show more content…

This may be the reason why in this modern era we may not see him as the hero that the ancients did. When we think of the modern hero we think of someone who is courageous, who fights evil for truth and justice. In the ancient times we see that your accomplishments where what made you a legendary hero not just what you fought for. We can see this especially in the first tablet of Gilgamesh. From the first few lines of the text we see that his accomplishments are praised rather than his ethics. The book says “Exploring the furthest reaches of the Earth … Reaching in his might Utanapishtim the Distant one, Restorer of holy places (Foster, tablet I).” Just by these few lines of the book we can see that one was judged by their actions and accomplishments not the way they carried themselves. In the modern age we like to see a hero who both has great accomplishments as well as a good moral stature. Which is why we may not see Gilgamesh as one of our true heroes.
Gilgamesh as a whole is one of ancient time’s classic heroes. He has all the qualities of the classic Roman and Greek heroes. His many accomplishments do hold some credit as being of heroic value, and even in our own time he does hold some heroic qualities. Heroes over time have had many qualities and held many beliefs, but Gilgamesh has stood the test of time and has continued to be one of the ancient world’s oldest

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