Myth of Gilgamesh Analysis

Liliana Magdaleno Ken Hiltner, Miss Russ English 122 LE October 27, 2011 Word Count 1450 Hero or Villain? In ever soy(prenominal) epics, we read ab step to the fore the endeavors of wedgees who have to conquer an offense entity in vow to ensure the peace of their constituencies. They exhibit colossal virtues such as courage, p unloosee, intelligence, wit, patriotism, and eff for the mountain of their drop off, among separate things.Those atomic number 18 typically the qualities that come to mind when we intend of a hero however, when we depend of the evil force that compliments the hero, we think of somevirtuoso/something that causes harm onto the land, and thus brings fear to everyone when the name of that entity is spoken. In the effort of The Myth of Gilgamesh, the distinction of hero or villain is distorted. There is large evidence that suggests that not scarce is Gilgamesh a villain, but similarly he is an environsal hazard. In the Myth of Gilgamesh, we are int roduced to the so-called hero and draw behind the great walled city of Uruk.Gilgamesh had seen everythinghad journeyed to the edge of the worldhad carved his trials on stone tabletsrestored the holy Eanna Temple and the massive wall of UrukGilgamesh suffered all and staring(a) all. (2-3) This introduction leads us to believe that Gilgamesh does possess some of the qualities that would make him be considered a hero his soldiers refer to him as the fortress and protector of the wad, maddened flood that destroys all defenses. (3) It is rather instinctual for the reader to feel an admiration towards the character. However, one must not be so quick to judge.Words are scantily words, but actions are far louder. What is true of the statements that are said by his soldiers is that Gilgamesh destroys all defenses, in the ecocritical perspective he destroys the defenses of the Cedar Forest. As the narration unfolds, we pauperismin to see Gilgamesh more as a villain than a hero. For example, Gilgamesh does whatever he wants, takes the son from his father and scramblees him, takes the girl from her mother and uses her, the warriors daughter, the young mans bride, he uses her, no one dares to crusade him. (4) Gilgamesh abuses his role of the hero/ruler of Uruk so that he can go against women and command his soldiers.He is inconsiderate of the feelings of others and only does as he pleases without thinking of the soundly world of his people. Gilgamesh feels like he is above men, king of kings. The people of his land get dressedt respect him, they fear him thus the people of Uruk beg the gods to bring a force strong enough to calm Gilgamesh. That is when we are introduced to Enkidu, Gilgameshs double. Enkidu is the exact opposite of Gilgamesh, he is what epitomizes the desired ideal of a hero he protects the animals from poachers, protects women from the lust of Gilgamesh, and is sensible. He is strong, witty, and has a love of nature.Enkidu is everything t he people of Uruk wished Gilgamesh to be. If Enkidu is the person that suits the role of the hero, it is fair to say that Gilgamesh is not a hero at all. Gilgamesh is ambitious, and wants to be forever known by the people of his land. Thus, he wants to cover the great walled city of Uruk and make it a keepsake for the great empire ruled by the greatest the Fertile Crescent had ever seen. This need for an unnecessary relic that will require heavy imagination consumption (in this case lumber) is an anachronism for a similar phenomenon that occurs within industrialised countries, affluenza.Affluenza is the suggestion that material possessions will bring joy to the individual. This is detrimental to the environs because it causes resource overuse and is very unsustainable. The latter part of the myth begins to carry environmental degradation due to Gilgameshs greed. The Cedar Forest is the unknown quantity and savage realm beyond the walled city of Uruk that is protected by an evi l force named Humbaba. From an ecocritical perspective, the wilderness beyond Uruk is just nature or the environment.It is gentle anthropocentricism that makes it hard to realize that the wilderness is not something to fear just because we dont have complete nurse over it. Man above nature is the cause of the Cedar Forests demise. Our villain-disguised hero necessarily to venture into the wilderness in order to face himself with his enemy Humbaba it is during this atom of the myth that another character flaw is revealed Gilgamesh is a coward for being triskaidekaphobic of the force that is Humbaba (nature manifested as the Cedar Forest). He convinces his double, Enkidu, to embark on the like journey and help him defeat the deity.Gilgamesh is quick to talk virtually how he wants to be mobiliseed for his glory and ensure that every inhabitant of Uruk will remember the great ruler he was. Yet, he is such a coward that he cannot do this alone. He has nightmares active entering the lumber are a psychological indication that he is not as mighty as he thinks he is. These nightmares are also critical of the environment, Humbaba is portrayed as a ruthless monster that will tear Gilgamesh from limb to limb, and crush him leave him bloody and mangled on the ground. (29) This perspective of the environment as ruthless and relentless is the driving force for Gilgamesh to want to destroy it, to rid himself of the fears of what nature bestows. Nature is not a scary nor evil as this classic literature suggests, in modern contemporary times and rase in the pastoral times, nature is giving and beautiful, once the value of the environment is known, it becomes less frightening. Gilgamesh had a fear for the unknown and a thirst for precedent in essence, destroying nature would be the only way to realize how authorized nature truly is. afterwards the fall of Humbaba, Gilgamesh stripped the forest of its tall and busty trees. Not only did Gilgamesh rape the women of hi s soldiers, but he raped the forest as well. This was the ultimate goal of our villains quest Gilgamesh gained practiced access to the Cedar Forest in order to create the relic that he so desired. Gilgamesh needs to feel that he is in control of everything, including nature. On the night of the attack, the weapons Gilgamesh used to combat Humbaba were axes, instead of swords or other conventional weapons. This story is a great metaphor for deforestation.Gilgamesh is the modern solar day logger in thirsty for virgin lands to satiate his thirst for parking area pool resources. At the moment, Giligamesh only cares near the reputation and glory, not about how much damage he is causing to the land. This damage turned out to be one of the greatest environmental mishaps of all time. The Myth of Gilgamesh took broadcast in ancient Mesopotomia. This area was previously referred as the Fertile Crescent. After this large-scale deforestation, there wasnt really anything fertile about it. I n A Forest Journey by John Perlin, we learn about the technologies created within the era of Gilgamesh.It is evident that as human ingenuity unploughed rising, environmental degradation followed. The people of the Third Dynasty at Ur, 2100 B. C. harnessed the power of lumber to create axes, hammers, hoes, and sickles to facilitate work. (37) Tragedy of the Commons, another anachronism, surfaced as the people of the land began the exploitation of the common pool resource of the Euphrates poplar. With the rising demand of wood, policy and trade became instituted and modern day problems such as marketing resources at low prices, not including the environmental impact, in addition to transporting these resources massive distances.The physical environment also changed with excessive silt and high salinity. silt up was a huge problem because the Euphrates, Tirgis, and Karun rivers became full of silt and salt (38) piddle levels declined which made it difficult for irrigation and tra nsportation by ship. High salinity also damaged the agriculture industry as high amounts of salty minerals subdue successful crop yields. Throughout history we have read about marvelous civilizations with great empires and feats, majestic lands with beautiful relics to preserve their culture forever. skill about their rise is as amazing as learning about their fall.In the case of Mesopotamia, greedy leaders such as Gilgamesh who wish to preserve his era by means of environmental degradation not only make him an incompetent leader by virtue of not being humble and lack of desired qualities, but also one of the disclose reasons that this great civilization became a barren land. Works Cited Mitchell, Stephen. Book single to Book 5. Gilgamesh a new English version. recent York Free Press, 2004. 1-32. Print. Perlin, John. A forest journey the role of wood in the development of civilization. New York W. W. Norton, 1989. Print.