Gilgamesh Essay

      Gilgamesh Essay

      The most important goal for a hero is to learn how to embrace his or her own life. This is transforming because if they learn how to embrace their life, they will not only use their power to protect people, but also to thank society. From this, the people will remember the hero who works for the people.  In the Epic Of Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell, Gilgamesh and Enkidu do not at first accept their lives and fate were transformed to the true hero. However, they learned how to embrace their own life.

       Prior to his long journey, Gilgamesh was an anti-hero, because he went to find fame and immortality rather than helping his citizens in his city. He was the king of the Uruk. He had the supremest right. He could change the law. The epic reads, “He does whatever he wants/takes the son from his father and crushes him/ and takes the girl from her mother and uses her.” (72) This shows that Gilgamesh is a tyrant who does not care for his people but rather uses them for him. He should make the city greater and richer. He wanted to kill the Humbaba just because he wants to be famous but not really wanted to protect the citizens. He says to Enkidu, “I will kill Humbaba. I will be famous. People will know my name forever.” (17) Clearly, to be famous Gilgamesh was willing to kill innocent monsters and risk killing his own people because of angering the Gods. In the end, Gilgamesh killed the Humbaba, and returned to the city. Then, despite being king of the Uruk, he left the citizens to find immortality. Thus, he was more interested in himself and his own benefit than his citizens’ lives.

Enkidu also was an anti-hero at first time. He was a man who lived in the wild. Because of Shamhat, Enkidu tried the human’s food, human’s drink, and he tried everything that a human should know. Then he became fully a human and was the friends of Gilgamesh. He wanted to help Gilgamesh to kill the Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Enkidu said to Gilgamesh, ”Dear friend, don’t listen to anything that the monster says. Kill him before you become confused.” (26) It shows that Enkidu just wants to kill the Humbaba as fast as possible. He didn’t want to waste time on Humbaba and to think Humbaba was a good monster or not. After he killed the Humbaba, he had a terrible sick, and began to afraid of death, so he cursed wretched trapper and Shamhat. In the epic, Enkidu said to wretched trapper and Shamhat: ‘As for the wretched trapper who found me, when I was free in the wildness, he destroyed my life. Destroy his livelihood. May no animals ever enter his traps. May he starve for bringing me here./ Shamhat, I curse you with the ultimate curse. Never may you have a home and family. Never may you caress a child of your own...’ (35) Those sentences show that Enkidu hadn’t respect to the wretched trapper and Shamhat and he also very afraid to face his fate.  He cursed them to be very unlucky because he is afraid of death, he thought if he cursed them, they may give him immortal life. Even though Shamhat had been helped him to be a fully human.

      Gilgamesh and Enkidu transformed to the real hero, and finished their hero journey because they learned how to embrace their own life. Before Enkidu died, he cursed Shamhat, and god tell him that Shamhat gave your live, Shamhat help you everything, you shouldn’t to curse Shamhat. After he heard this, he thought of Shamhat and said: “Shamhat I give you a different fate. My mouth that cursed you will bless you now. May princes adore you. May you lover tremble with excitement when you are a mile away…” From that moment, Enkidu learned how to thank other people who had been helped you, and very regret the sentences to cursed Shamhat he said before. He was a ungratefulness person, and he transformed to a person who understand how to appreciate other people and how to embrace his own life. This is the transformation. In the end, Gilgamesh said:”What should I do now? All my hard work has been nothing.” From this sentence, like Enkidu, Gilgamesh gives up all hope and curses his life at that moment. However, when he saw his city again. He thought, “This is the wall of Uruk. No other city on earth can equal Uruk. See how the wall shines like copper in the sun. Climb the stone staircase. It is older than the mind can imagine. Approach the Eanna Temple. It is scared to Ishtar. No king has a temple as big or beautiful as this one.” Clearly, Gilgamesh didn’t know how to get immortal, but he learned how to embrace his own life. Especially from the last sentence “No king has a temple ass big or beautiful as this one.” it tells us Gilgamesh, the king of the Uruk, began to proud of his city, and began to learn how to embrace his life. Enkidu and Gilgamesh finished their hero trip finally, and they become to the true hero in the end.