Take one badly behaving king, add a faithful companion and a call to adventure, and we have the basic formula that leads to the transformation of Gilgamesh into a hero-king. While the outcome of his quest for immortality is uncertain (until you finish reading the myth), his transformation into an archetypal hero is clear.

Before we move on to an in-depth analysis of Gilgamesh, review your notes about the Hero’s Journey and the archetype of the hero. We see Gilgamesh follow the same path as Achilles, Hector, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo.

Remember the following dialogue from the movie Troy:

Messenger Boy: Are the stories true? They say your mother was an immortal goddess. They say you can’t be killed.

Achilles: I wouldn’t be bothering with the shield then, would I?

Messenger Boy: The Thessalonian you’re fighting… he’s the biggest man I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t want to fight him.

Achilles: That’s why no one will remember your name.

Achilles is part man and part god. We find this same combination in the character of Gilgamesh – two-thirds god and one-third mortal. Like the character of Achilles, Gilgamesh seeks immortality. Achilles knows that his immortality walks hand in hand with his death in battle. What leads to Gilgamesh’s immortality? Does he find a way to live forever? While he starts the epic off with behavior unfit for a hero-king, he ultimately redeems himself, and because of his actions as a hero-king, he lives eternally in the memory of his people. We still read about him today.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, we follow Gilgamesh through the elements of the Hero’s Journey. We see the struggles of the hero, and we find ourselves moving through the structure of the epic.

While you read about and take notes on the gods and goddesses present in Gilgamesh’s story, compare these to the presentation of the gods and goddesses in the classical Greek myths from Module 1.

We find several themes emerging in the Epic of Gilgamesh, both universal and particular:

The hero develops through both successes and failures. Think of the Hero’s Journey taken by Achilles and the one taken by Luke Skywalker.
Through his friendship with Enkidu, Gilgamesh becomes a worthy king.
In his quest to conquer Humbana, Gilgamesh leaves home, performs a significant deed, returns to his home, and is recognized for that deed. Think of Achilles and Hector and their reputations as great warriors. Think also of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and how they are recognized for completing their quest at the end of Star Wars IV.
The goddess Ishtar confronts him. Gilgamesh rejects her, and Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven. Gilgamesh kills the bull and then must make atonement for the transgression. Meeting the goddess, as you remember from your readings of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth theory, is part of the Hero’s Journey.
The epic is written in a cyclical pattern.
Lasting achievements are the only way to attain immortality. Again, think of Achilles and Agamemnon’s conversation in Troy. Achilles knew his fame came from battle and his death. Agamemnon believed he could write his name on the walls of the cities he conquered and that would make people remember and honor him.
Opposition between nature and culture, wilderness and civilization, is fundamental to Mesopotamian civilization. There are several examples of the conflict between nature and culture in the epic involving both Gilgamesh and Enkidu.
The king and the ruling class have very specific and serious responsibilities to the gods and society. Remember King Priam and Hector from Troy and how their actions were motivated by their responsibility to their subjects and to their gods.
Man has responsibilities to his family. Again, Priam and Hector are good examples of this. Their responsibilities for their families, especially their responsibility for Paris, motivate them to action, even leading them to perform acts that lead to their humiliation and death.
The Epic of Gilgamesh tells us several things about ancient Mesopotamian religion:

Kings were viewed as earthly parallels for the gods.
Kings were to set an example for their subjects as to how mortals should provide for the gods.
Kings were to carry out the divine will of the gods.
Mesopotamian kings act as intermediaries for divine messages.
Gods controlled all aspects of social and economic life.
The Divine was to be feared. Gods created humans to be their servants.
Gods were anthropomorphic (deities in human form).
As a result of the Mesopotamian view of religion, people felt they should not try to change their lives, but instead focus on succeeding in it.
People were not to seek heroism, but they were to look for happiness within the status quo of human existence.
Heroism is seen as a way to deal with limitations. Heroes are characterized by courage, wit, strength, physical beauty, virtue, and a willingness to take substantial risks to reach their goals. (The way that Gilgamesh deals with his limitations is what makes him heroic.)
Keeping these themes and Campbell’s Hero’s Journey in mind, let’s move on to a more in-depth discussion of the characteristics of Gilgamesh as we determine if he is a good fit for the hero archetype and how he compares, as a hero, with some of the other heroes we have met so far. Please move on to M3D1: The Hero Archetype and Gilgamesh.