Long ago, every nation had its own hero, who they admired and respected their hero’s accomplishments that they have done to get to the top of the mountain. Gilgamesh was a once- in-a-lifetime warrior in Mesopotamia during his time. The importance of Gilgamesh, the great searches he made, how similar he was to other characters, and his association to future sacred writings defined Gilgamesh, who held a lot of qualities of a grand hero for having great accomplishments and authority.
Gilgamesh was wise, strong, a ruler of Uruk, and a phenomenon. Gilgamesh was known to be half God and half human. In addition, Gilgamesh made a beautiful pyramid-shaped temple that was around his city and had humungous walls. The start of his reign as a ruler saw Gilgamesh fulfilled his scheme of building his city through people. According to the Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative by Herbert Mason, Gilgamesh did not take it easy on his people: “As king, Gilgamesh was a tyrant to his people” and “Sometimes he pushed his people half to death With work rebuilding Uruk’s walls”.
Gilgamesh approached a living beast named Enkidu and both creatures became friends. Enkidu got to witness civilizations that were introduced by Gilgamesh and both enjoyed their time together. At one point of time, Gilgamesh found out that his friend Enkidu passed away and mourned for the loss of his friend. Afterwards, Gilgamesh moved forward and started to search for immortality. The death of Enkidu drove Gilgamesh into feelings that there was no hope and forced him to recognize his own ability to live forever. Horror, not sadness about death, was the main idea why Gilgamesh looked to find out about immortality. Gilgamesh refused not to leave Enkidu and was afraid of his own death. This type of vision was important because Gilgamesh had to realize that since Enkidu passed away, he must also face the same unavoidable future.
Gilgamesh can be compared to other heroic characters, such as Hercules, Odysseus and Iliad. Hercules was one of the Ancient Greek heroes and was the son of Zeus. According to Hercules the Hero: Understanding the Myth by Christine House, Hercules was an archer and ferocious warrior. Gilgamesh was half god and half human, but Hercules was viewed as a God. Both Gilgamesh and Hercules went through obstacles to become idols. Odysseus is another character similar to Gilgamesh in strength and power. Odysseus was very smart, wanted fame and victory for himself. Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh were victorious and wanted acclamation that lasted forever. However, both characters offended God and suffered repercussions, where Odysseus had to face Poseidon and Gilgamesh had to face Ishtar. Homer’s Iliad is a character similar to Gilgamesh. The word Iliad means lion. In addition, Iliad was a strong and brave warrior. Both characters were mortal, had good friends and experienced the demise of their friends, where Enkidu was a friend of Gilgamesh and Patroclus was a friend of Iliad. Both had to go through war to become phenomenal.
Gilgamesh can be related to sacred writings, such as Noah in the Bible, in which the flood occurred. As stated by “Gilgamesh and the Bible” by Shawna Dolnsky, the story of the flood in the Bible, in Genesis 6:9, informs us that the flood was sent by God to show why the people should follow God’s command. Also, God informed Noah and ordered him to build an ark made from wood and covered by waterproof roofing material. The ark was humungous and had medical samples for all people and animals onboard. The doves that flew in the air were a sign that a flood was going to occur. As the residents of the ark were free, God blessed Noah when Noah, who was known as a hero, made a sacrifice to God.
In conclusion, Gilgamesh, who holds a lot of qualities of an amazing hero for having great accomplishments and authority, shows how important he is in the world of humanities through similarities to other heroic characters of the past, his search for immortality through obstacles and how his story is related to the sacred writings, such as Noah in the Bible. Gilgamesh was brave, strong, and a phenomenal warrior; he is an important figure in the History of Mesopotamia and in the world of Humanities.
