Gilgamesh And King Arthur Similarities

Kevin A. Miller
Marjorie Gibbs Bond
Engl Comp & Vocab GE 103-D1
October 15th, 2010

The Epic of Gilgamesh to The Legend of King Arthur

History has recorded many legends of archrivals, legends like Robin Hood vs. Prince John,
Joan of Arc vs. Charles VII , Prince Hector vs. Achilles, and the list goes on. Some are factual recordings while others are fictional folklore. The Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities to that of The Legend of King Arthur. Although Gilgamesh and King Arthur have comparisons, they also have differences. The main difference is that one is an Epic and the other is a Legend. To compare and contrast The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Legend of King Arthur, one must first know what the words "Epic"
and "Legend" mean. Primarily, "epic" is a long narrative poem about the deeds of a semi-god, also known as a superhuman hero who's actions are depended on as the fate of a nation, tribe or a human race. This usually consists of an adventure-filled plot and is concerned with human problems such as honor, jealousy, war, and hatred. These contain gods and goddesses and the setting is fixed in a far distant place at a time long past. Epics are based on legends and myths. Secondly, "legend" consists of a protagonist (superhuman) who manages to solve problems that a group of people have encountered. This too, consists of an adventure filled plot. In becoming familiar with the words epic and legend, there is now a better comprehension of these two stories.

The Legend of King Arthur has similarities to The Epic of Gilgames. King Arthur's closest companion was Merlin and Gilgamesh's closest companion was Enkidu. Neither Gilgamesh nor
Arthur forgot their friends. Enkidu only came in contact with Gilgamesh after becoming a man.
Enkidu released animals from the hunter's traps when they were caught, so to make him a man, the prostitute Shamhat slept with him, so that the animals would be ashamed of and reject
Enkidu. King Arthur became aware of Merlin when he was a young man. When Arthur was born, Merlin placed him in the care of Sir Ector. Throughout his boyhood, Arthur learned the ways of chivalry, knighthood and how to become a gentleman. At a tournament one time,
Arthur pulled the famous sword Excalibur from the stone.
This is what brought upon Arthur meeting Merlin once again. In The Legend of King Arthur, Merlin exclaimed, "It is the doom of men if they forget." Gilgamesh, along with Enkidu, together fought and killed The protector of the Cedar forest Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, who sent as punishment to Gilgamesh for killing Humbaba. King Arthur nor Gilgamesh forgot their faithful friends. King Arthur fought many battles with Merlin at his side. Merlin supported Arthur, using magic to help Arthur gain a better understanding of the world. After Enkidu died, Gilgamesh searched a long time before finding the secret of eternal life, but was unable to return it to Enkidu to restore his life. When
Merlin was frozen from Morganna's twisted magic, King Arthur thought that Merlin deserted, due to Merlin earlier confronting Arthur that he was not going to help him anymore. One day
Arthur needed Merlin's guidance, so Arthur called out Merlin's name. This in turn brought
Merlin to him. This is one way in which The Legend of King Arthur and The Epic of Gilgamesh are similar. Another substantial similarity is that Gilgamesh was part god and the people of
England considered King Arthur to be a god. This was believed as true because when Arthur became king, Camelot prospered and was born again.
Merlin said that Arthur and the land were one.
Arthur was like the land, for when he became king, the land was rich and good. When
Morganna in the form of Guinevere conceived a child with King Arthur, the land was practically dead. To replenish his strength and the land, Arthur needed to drink from the Holy Grail. When
Bevidere recovered the Holy Grail, he brought it to King Arthur to drink from.It nursed him back to health and the earth was prosperous once again. This is why King Arthur was considered a god. This resembles The Epic of Gilgamesh because Gilgamesh was one-third human and two-thirds god. Gilgamesh was able to do what no man could do. He traveled to Mashu, passed the
Scorpion people to see his spiritual father, and all this to find the secret to eternal life in order to try to bring Enkidu back to life. King Arthur was considered a god and Gilgamesh was part god. Although there are many similarities between The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Legend of King
Arthur, there are also many differences. One main difference is that Gilgamesh was a tyrant and
Arthur was a hero. Gilgamesh thought that he was better than everybody else for this he
did not allow the brides to sleep with their husbands until Gilgamesh was with them first.
Gilgamesh split his city Uruk up, the elders stayed at the marketplace, the animals were less than people, and there were not any hunting laws. Because Enkidu freed the animals from the hunter's traps, Gilgamesh sent a prostitute to make Enkidu a man so that the animals would not accept him. King Arthur was a hero because he believed in the equality of man. Instead of being at the head of the table he made all the knights sit at the round table so that there was an equivalency among the knights and their mistresses. King Arthur slept only with and what he thought to be his wife. This is one reason why The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Legend of King
Arthur are so distinct.

In conclusion, there are many distinct comparisons as well as contrasts that have been previously emphasized. Some of which include the diverse contrast of the type of literary writing and the correspondence of the faithful companions of both Gilgamesh and King Arthur.
This is why The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Legend of King Arthur are the same yet unlike.