...When reading Gilgamesh, it is not uncommon for many to relate the tale's protagonist to John Campbell's theory on the twelve steps of a Hero's journey, which characterizes the typical progression of most epic stories. However, I make the claim that, as per Campbell's theory, it is not Gilgamesh himself who is the hero of the tale. Rather, Gilgamesh and his ally Enkindu combine to form the single hero of the story, with Enkindu actually meeting most of Campbell's criteria. Together, both characters symbolize one hero who embodies mankind's yearning to “incarnate unearthly covenants” (Campbell, 1968, p. 3), consistent with Campbell's views on mythology. The tale begins with an exposition describing Gilgamesh and Enkindu's daily life. According the first step in Campbell's theory, a Hero's journey must begin in an ordinary world. Enkindu fits this description perfectly. As far as a natural living is concerned, every aspect of Enkindu's life is ordinary; he lives completely off the land, his whole body was “shaggy with hair”, and he satisfies his thirst with “mere water” (Anonymous, n.d.). Gilgamesh, in contrast, does not have a conventional life. Not only is he royalty, he is “supreme over other kings”, he is the offspring of deities, and he is described as being “awesome to perfection” (Anonymous, n.d.). It is clear that the story begins with two starkly different lives, with Enkidu truly fitting Campbell's primary criteria as a Hero. Indeed, when the plot begins, Enkindu fulfills...
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...Genieva Subic HIST – 1110 WESTERN CIVILIZATION I E Journal #1 Chapter one of our text covers a broad range of history beginning with the legend of Babel. (1) The story tells us how spoken communication has been lost over the years and it also creates a foundation for spoken history. (1) The text then moves on to the city of Çatalhöyük, which was established around nine thousand years ago in south central Turkey. (2) This city had eight thousand occupants living in two thousand homes, which is an average of four occupants per home, that’s not so different from how we live today. The people of Çatalhöyük were an organized and technologically sophisticated society that practiced religion, and had domesticated plants and animals. (2) This is just another example of how even though these people lived nine thousand years ago people today are still living in the same ways. I think that has been the most interesting part of the beginning of chapter one; our society still has many of the same values and practices of our ancient ancestors. The next section of chapter one focuses on the Old Stone Age or Paleolithic era. (3) The people of this era lived before written history existed, around 3000 B.C.E. However, they were tool-makers and artists. The cave paintings at Lascaux act as a type of history as do the finely made tools and jewelry that historians have discovered. (3) The Paleolithic people were known to be hunters and gatherers, they did not have domesticated animals, they had...
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