This presentation underscores the originality of The Epic of Gilgamesh and highlights the influence of its heroic themes on epic poetry through the ages, notably with respect to the character of Achilles in The Iliad by Homer. The presentation draws attention to the richness of the storyline in The Epic of Gilgamesh with respect to Booker's (2004) seven "basic stories".

1. Gilgamesh:
The Prototypical Epic Hero
Olivier Serrat
2023

2. Epic Poetry Through The Ages
Epic: from Latin epicus, which
itself comes from the Ancient
Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos),
from ἔπος (epos), meaning,
something spoken (speech, story,
song)
Rooted in oral tradition predating
the written word, epic poetry is
humanity's oldest literary genre
Epic: extending beyond the usual
or ordinary, especially in scope
The Epic of Gilgamesh—Anonymous
ca. 22nd Century BCE
The Iliad & The Odyssey—Homer
8th Century BCE
Ramayana—Maharishi Valmiki (Attributed)
8th Century BCE—3rd Century AD
The Argonautica—Apollonius of Rhodes
3rd Century BCE
Mahabharata—Vyāsa (Attributed)
3rd Century BCE—3rd Century AD
The Aeneid—Virgil
1st Century BCE
Beowulf—Anonymous
700s
The Divine Comedy—Dante
1300s
The Faerie Queen—Spenser
1500s
Paradise Lost—Milton
1600s
Don Juan—Byron
1800s

3. Mesopotamia: A Cradle of Civilization
• Mesopotamia ("Between the Rivers") is flanked by the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the northern part of
the Fertile Crescent. The region is part of modern-
day Iraq but also Syria, Turkey, and Koweit.
• Mesopotamia was a cradle of human civilization:
important inventions included the concept of time,
cuneiform writing, irrigation, maps, math, sails, the
wheel, mythology, and cult-based mythic poems.
• The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians
and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from
ca. 3100 BCE to the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE.

4. The Epic of Gilgamesh (ca. 2100–1200 BCE)
Date: • Composed ca. 2100–1200 BCE; the
oldest epic poem in the world
Source
Material:
• 11 clay tablets, discovered in the
1850s. (A 12th tablet tells of
Gilgamesh ruling the netherworld.)
Story:
• Adventures of a hero-king seeking
immortality (2,000 lines)
Principal
Characters:
• Gilgamesh, King of Uruk (2/3 god
& 1/3 human)
• Enkidu (A wild man)
Of Note:
• Contains the oldest account of the
Deluge
The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian
Note. Historians agree that Gilgamesh was a historical king who ruled Uruk ca. 2600 BCE.

5. The Epic of Gilgamesh: Summary
Gilgamesh rules the city of Uruk but he is lustful and
tyrannical. The gods create a wild man called Enkidu to
stop Gilgamesh from oppressing his people.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu are equally matched, become
friends, and embark on adventures. In the Cedar Forest,
they kill the monster who lives there. This angers the
gods because Humbaba was their monster.
Gilgamesh then rejects the goddess Ishtar, who calls on
her father the sky god to send the Bull of Heaven.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the bull. The gods sentence
Enkidu to death.
Gilgamesh mourns Enkidu and sets off to discover the
secret of eternal life. He is ferried across the waters of
death and finds Utnapishtim, who survived the great
flood by heeding the gods and building a boat.
Gilgamesh dives into the ocean to find a plant that makes
whoever possesses it young again. Gilgamesh brings the
plant to the surface but it is stolen by a snake.
Gilgamesh returns to Uruk having learned that even
though he is mighty and famous he will be equal in death
with other human beings.
In a Word. A headstrong ruler faces reality when his friend dies and ultimately realizes that immortality is the legacy one leaves behind.

6. Gilgamesh: The Prototypical Epic Hero
Uruk is a grand city and Gilgamesh is its king: he is two-thirds god and one-third man,
which implies adventures will follow.
A Noble Birth
Gilgamesh is arrogant: the gods create Enkidu, a wild man, to challenge him but they bond
and embark on adventures. They confront Humbaba, a monster guarding the Cedar Forest,
and also kill the Bull of Heaven sent against them by Ishtar, the goddess of war and
fertility. In retaliation, the gods strike down Enkidu; Gilgamesh mourns him deeply.
Adventures With Divine
Interference
Gilgamesh seeks eternal life: his journey takes him into the 12 leagues of darkness.
Gilgamesh meets Utnapishtim the Faraway, the only human to whom the gods have ever
granted eternal life. Utnapishtim reveals the existence of a secret herb of immortality.
The Quest for Immortality
A serpent steals the herb on Gilgamesh's journeys back to Uruk. Gilgamesh acknowledges
his own mortality, content that his achievements will be carved into stone.
The Return Home
Note. And yet, Gilgamesh is a tyrannical ruler who lacks moral purpose, is driven by fear of death, and does not achieve his quest.

7. Heroic Themes After Gilgamesh
Superhuman
Characteristics
The hero has
special powers (and
enjoys the help of a
god or goddess).
The hero is bolder,
braver, stronger,
and more clever
than others. The
hero often has a
divine parent but
human heritage
implies mortality.
An Unmatched
Ego
The hero seeks
fame, glory, and
honor: to the hero,
these are more
important than life
itself.
A Far Traveler
The hero is on a
quest, sometimes
with companions,
facing challenges
no mere mortal
could possibly
overcome.
A Flaw
The hero has a
shortcoming (e.g.,
excessive pride, a
raging temper).
Note. Leeming (2022) saw heroic acts as metaphors for the human condition: a hero rejects mortality and struggles against monsters in search of identity.

8. Achilles Meets Gilgamesh
Achilles
Lineage
• Divine mother (Thetis), mortal
father (King Peleus)
Character • The ultimate, proud warrior
Companion • Patroklos, brother in arms
Struggle
• Achilles puts aside his anger
towards Agamemnon and rejoins
the battle knowing he will die.
Finale
• Achilles returns Hektor's corpse to
Priam: his struggle ends with an act
of compassion, not violence.
Gilgamesh
Lineage
• Divine mother (Ninsun), mortal
father (Lugalbanda, King of Uruk)
Character • A brave warrior, at first very harsh
Companion • Enkidu, a savage man
Struggle
• After Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh
realizes he too is mortal; he sets out
on a quest to find eternal life.
Finale
• After losing the plant of
immortality, Gilgamesh finds
comfort in the magnificence of
Uruk.
Note. In Becker (1973), the "vital lie" is about how human beings develop heroic strategies to overlook their mortality. Becker (1973) accepted that the denial of
death was a necessary component of functioning in the world but contended that it obscures genuine self-knowledge.

9. Compare & Contrast: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Meets Booker (2004)
• Are there "basic
stories" (or themes) in
the world?
• Using ancient myths
and folk takes, the
plays and novels of
great literature, and
popular movies or TV
shows, Booker (2004)
demonstrated that
seven archetypal
themes recur in every
kind of storytelling.
• The protagonist sets out to defeat an antagonistic force that
threatens the homeland.
Overcoming the
Monster
• From dire circumstances, the protagonist acquires status and
wealth; a crisis takes place before completion and fulfilment.
Rags to Riches
• The protagonist sets out to acquire something of value and
faces dire obstacles along the way.
The Quest
• The protagonist travels far, overcomes threats, learns lessons,
and returns humbled but richer from experience.
Voyage &
Return
• The protagonist suffers confusing but lighthearted upsets that
culminate in a happy ending.
Comedy
• The protagonist is flawed or makes a mistake and is ultimately
undone.
Tragedy
• The protagonist undergoes a transformation to become a
better person.
Rebirth

10. Where's The Epic of Gilgamesh? Where's Homer?
Overcoming
the Monster
e.g., Alien, Beowulf, Dracula, Jaws, King Kong, Nicholas Nickleby, Star Wars, The Seven Samurai, The War of the
Worlds
Rags to
Riches
e.g., A Little Princess, Aladdin, Cinderella, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, The Gold Rush, The
Prince and the Pauper, The Ugly Duckling
The Quest
e.g., King Solomon's Mines, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, The Aeneid, The Divine Comedy, The Lord of the Rings, The Pilgrim's Progress, Treasure Island
Voyage &
Return
e.g., Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Back to the Future, Brideshead Revisited, Gone with the Wind, Gulliver's
Travels, Ramayana, The Hobbit, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Time Machine
Comedy
e.g., A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bridget Jones's Diary, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Jumanji, Much Ado
About Nothing, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Middle Class Gentleman, The Wasps, Twelfth Night
Tragedy
e.g., Anna Karenina, Hamlet, Macbeth, Madame Bovary, Oedipus Rex, Romeo and Juliet, The Bacchae, The Picture
of Dorian Gray
Rebirth
e.g., A Christmas Carol, Anne of Green Gables, Beauty and the Beast, Groundhog Day, Middlemarch, Pride and
Prejudice, The Frog Prince, The Secret Garden, The Snow Queen
Note. The Epic of Gilgamesh combines four basic plots: overcoming the monster, the quest, voyage and return, and rebirth. To Booker (2004), The Odyssey was the
quintessential quest. The Iliad could also be a quest: it involves a long campaign against Troy.

11. References
Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. The Free Press.
Booker, C. (2004). The seven basic plots: Why we tell stories. Bloomsbury.
George, A. (2003). The epic of Gilgamesh (A. George, Trans.). Penguin Classics.
Leeming, D. (2022). World mythology: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.

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