The Hero Archetype
The Hero Archetype
The hero archetype according to Carl Jung can be defined as road map that leads to “a successful assimilation of the conscious rational mind with the unconscious”. In the story Gilgamesh this hero has all of the aspects that makes a hero according to Jung. He has the support of supernatural beings, proves himself many times, leaves his land, and he also has a unusual circumstance of birth. These are all of the elements of a hero archetype.
Gilgamesh is told not to be 100 percent God. He is two-thirds God and one-third man. His mother Ninsun created him from clay and other Gods gave him his looks and personality. God of Storms gave him courage, and God of Wisdom gave him the ability to learn from his experiences. While he was created by God’s he was still human, and with this death was inevitable. As I was reading the story from the book, I asked myself why would the God’s make a part man part human? Maybe this was to humble Gilgamesh since he was a prideful being. In society today, people are blessed with certain talents such as being athletic and athletic sometimes think they are above the law. This is the same with Gilgamesh. He acts as if he is pure God, or above the law.
When the character Enkidu was introduced and sent to fight Gilgamesh, this fight surprisingly brought out another side of Gilgamesh. He saw that there was someone like him, just as strong, and blessed with some o the same talents. After the fight, which had no clear winner, Gilgamesh bins on one knee to show a sign of respect. He is showing for the first time humility and understanding he is not always going to be the best and someone could be like him. In today’s slang he was given a reality check.
While Gilgamesh is finding friendship in Enkidu, the fact that death will come to him begins to bother him. Another thought I had as I read the story was, why did it mean so much to him to be remembered by his people? Was it his thought that his legend would
The hero archetype according to Carl Jung can be defined as road map that leads to “a successful assimilation of the conscious rational mind with the unconscious”. In the story Gilgamesh this hero has all of the aspects that makes a hero according to Jung. He has the support of supernatural beings, proves himself many times, leaves his land, and he also has a unusual circumstance of birth. These are all of the elements of a hero archetype.
Gilgamesh is told not to be 100 percent God. He is two-thirds God and one-third man. His mother Ninsun created him from clay and other Gods gave him his looks and personality. God of Storms gave him courage, and God of Wisdom gave him the ability to learn from his experiences. While he was created by God’s he was still human, and with this death was inevitable. As I was reading the story from the book, I asked myself why would the God’s make a part man part human? Maybe this was to humble Gilgamesh since he was a prideful being. In society today, people are blessed with certain talents such as being athletic and athletic sometimes think they are above the law. This is the same with Gilgamesh. He acts as if he is pure God, or above the law.
When the character Enkidu was introduced and sent to fight Gilgamesh, this fight surprisingly brought out another side of Gilgamesh. He saw that there was someone like him, just as strong, and blessed with some o the same talents. After the fight, which had no clear winner, Gilgamesh bins on one knee to show a sign of respect. He is showing for the first time humility and understanding he is not always going to be the best and someone could be like him. In today’s slang he was given a reality check.
While Gilgamesh is finding friendship in Enkidu, the fact that death will come to him begins to bother him. Another thought I had as I read the story was, why did it mean so much to him to be remembered by his people? Was it his thought that his legend would