Gilgamesh As A Hero Essay

In the beginning Gilgamesh is said to be two-thirds god and one-third man. He was the king of Uruk. He was physically beautiful as well as strong. Gilgamesh was a brutal ruler to his kingdom though. Gilgamesh enjoyed proving he was worthy any chance he got. He also wanted to be immortal so he could defeat death and live forever.
He would force himself on women and was said to have raped several women. Gilgamesh’s affection had no specific type either. He went after many different types of women. He used forced labor on his people to build his kingdom. Gilgamesh would take on any man who challenged him without hardly any effort. The people in Uruk began to pray to the Gods for help. The Gods created a worthy match specifically for Gilgamesh. His name was Enkidu and he was a wild man. Enkidu sleeps with a woman causing his fellow animals to start rejecting him since he’s no longer considered an animal. After that he is told about Gilgamesh and his rulings.
In his final moments he told Gilgamesh the story about Utnapishtim and how the gods granted him immortality. Seeing Enkidu sick was very hard on Gilgamesh, but he couldn’t pull through the sickness. Enkidu was Gilgamesh’s weakness all along. He was this wild man whom Gilgamesh had taken under his wing to tame and now he was dead. Gilgamesh had grown quite fond of Enkidu and he mourned over this loss 7 days. It wasn’t until there were bugs coming out of the corpse that Gilgamesh finally left the body.
Once he’s done mourning, Gilgamesh sets out on his own quest to find Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim was gifted immortality by the gods and it’s something Gilgamesh also wants. After very long journey he finds Utnapishtim. Unfortunately, Utnapishtim gives Gilgamesh news that he does not wish to hear. Gilgamesh learns that he can’t have immortality just because he wants it. Immortality from the gods is a gift and it’s something that they don’t hand out to