Comparison of Ancient heroes Kwasi Benefo, Job, Gilgamesh
"What each must seek in his own life never was on land or sea. It is something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else.” This inspirational quote is one of many by the great American mythologist, Joseph Campbell. He did not believe that people go through life searching for its meaning, but they go through life looking to experience it. This is true for many hero myths from various cultural backgrounds. Even though these myths have this similarity, they also have very different journeys for their search or experience of life. A few of these ancient myths include the stories of Kwasi Benefo an African Myth, Job from the Old Testament, and Gilgamesh from the Mesopotamian myths. Since each of the stories come from different cultures, they have their own sense of presentation, which makes it easier to define their background. The different cultural journeys that each of the characters pursue are varying in their goals, but still ultimately attempt to teach a valuable lesson in each. By adhering to these journeys, each of the characters are, in essence, considered heroes in both the modern and ancient definitions, but to me only a hero that fulfills the storybook outlin
Gilgamesh ruled over the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk. Legend has it that he was two thirds man and one third mortal; the gods had made his beauty perfect, and endowed him with terrifying courage, like a great wild bull. He was also known as an unbeatable warrior and for building the great walls around Uruk. Since he was very lustful and would take any woman he wanted whether she was single or married, the people of Uruk asked the gods for Gilgamesh's equal so he would be overpowered and leave the women in peace. The result was Enkidu, a man with long hair like a woman's that roamed with the wild beasts. Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought to a standstill, and became best friends and brothers at arms. Since Gilgamesh wanted to make a name for himself, he set out with Enkidu to the Land of Cedars, an immense forest guarded by the ferocious giant Humbaba. They planned to vanquish the evil giant and cut the cedars to raise a monument to the gods. Unlike the two previous stories of Job and Kwasi Benefo, the story of Gilgamesh is based on a more ancient type hero. According to mythology studies, an ancient type hero is a person who is part god and part human and looks to heighten his fame and attain glory. Gilgamesh matched this definition perfectly. His travels consist of more a physical battle then that of a mental battle as in the two other stories, but they still all follow Joseph Campbell’s three stage process. e of being selfless, brave, and respectable, can be an ideal hero. When we read this great epic it touches so many people from all over and from different centuries because it brings up the issues of loss and death for human beings. To humans death is inevitable, but to Gilgamesh he never thought of such a thing and later realizes that he is part mortal and must die. This is the absolute difference between the gods and human beings because gods live forever and humans must die. Such gods are generally not kind and caring; they have their own immortal lives to pursue and generally give little regard to their human servants. This is so in most all Mesopotamian myths, including Gilgamesh, which is the underlined tone for this epic.
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Joseph Campbell,
Satan Job,
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Gilgamesh Mesopotamian,
Uruk Legend,
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Land Cedars,
Amokye African,
kwasi benefo,
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Approximate Word count = 2309
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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