For centuries, society and literature have revered and idolized extraordinary individuals called ‘heroes.’ The word hero brings to mind several images: strength, bravery, determination. Heroes have been part of human cultures for thousands of years. Gilgamesh is recognized as the original superhero, followed by many others including Hercules and Odysseus, Spiderman and Rambo, George Patton and Todd Beamer. Heroes in “The Iliad” by Homer such as Agamemnon, Achilles, and Hector, all exhibit courage, strength, and perseverance. Our history books are filled with accounts of heroic actions. Daily newscasts report stories about heroes in all walks of life. Students often question why study ancient works of literature. One reason is that readers of ancient literature are treated to some of the greatest superhero stories ever written. What makes the stories even more fascinating is that the most enduring epic, “Gilgamesh,” is nearly 4,800 years old. (Lawall, “Gilgamesh” 10). No matter which era, our heroes have these and other certain traits in common. The most unexplained quality is that of being a “common person” or “regular guy.” These qualities expl

This leads to the relevance of religious structures and dynamics. Whenever there is stress, suffering, or hopelessness, or when we feel that there is no way out, we humans hope there is a God available to help us. Our prayers ask for supernatural intervention. In “The Iliad,” Achilles asks his mother to intervene. Thetis faces Zeus and asks him to “grant the Trojans victory after victory till the Achaen armies pay my dear son back, building higher the honor he deserves!” (Homer 133) In the United States, the principle of individualism is as strong as it was among the Greeks. We have built folk legends around independent self-sufficient frontiersmen like Davy Crockett, Johnny Appleseed, and Paul Bunyan.

Heroes are ordinary people who find themselves faced with an emergency and boldly respond to the need. Often, heroism and fame are awarded to whoever makes the best news coverage. Contemporary heroes could include Martin Luther King, Elvis Presley, or Bill Gates. Sports figures, soldiers, and rescue personnel are often considered heroes.

Heroes live among us. Most of the world’s population, whether Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Islam, Muslim, Buddhist, or even atheist, lives by the principles that tell us not to steal, murder, covet, commit adultery, and to honor a higher power [god] and our parents. The founding fathers of the United States, fleeing religious persecution, created a system of checks and balances, incorporating doctrine, laws, and enforcement. In recent years, the Legislative Branch of our government has modified and revised some of those prevailing doctrines, laws, and enforcements. Separation of church and state is daily news, adultery has been dismissed as no one's business, and persuading us to covet is the name of the advertising game. We are in a state of flux. Are we individuals or communities? Religious or secular? If the Ten Commandments are too religious for us, what will replace them? Does it matter? It does matter because we need a standard code in order to have commonly accepted heroes. We need heroes to have people to look up to, to compare ourselves with, to provide incentive for us to improve, and criteria for what we mean by improvement. Long live the hero.

Gilgamesh appears around 2700B.C., as the ruler of Uruk, a city in ancient Mesopotamia. (Lawall, “Gilgamesh,” 10). Although the first view of Gilgamesh is the “epitome of a bad ruler: arrogant, oppressive and brutal,” the story emphasizes “the wisdom he acquire[s] and the monuments he construct[s] at the end of his epic journey.” (Lawall,“Gilgamesh,”11). According to Seth L. Schein, one theory supports the idea that most ancient gods such as Zeus, Athena, and Aphrodite, were

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