The Good Behind the Clouds of Sin

While thinking about Gilamesh and the interesting hero he is, I stumbled on a thought of a similar character from a category of story-telling I normally wouldn't reference: A video game. In Prototype, a game released on the Play Station 3 and X-Box 360 earlier this year, a man named Alex Mercer helps create a human-enhancing virus that goes wrong. After news of the virus is spread to the public, the scientist responcible for the public outburst, Mercer, is ordered to be executed. In his defense, Mercer steals a vial of the virus and threatens to unleash it upon the city if anyone attepts to subdue him. His pursuers do not restrain and Mercer drops the vial as he is shot to death. However the virus flows into his bloodstream, and essentially heals him. However, when he wakes up he notices he has super strength and has the ability to shift his body into many different shapes. In retrospect, the game is about Mercer fending off all the infected people the virus gets to in the city and seeing himslef turn into a true hero. Now Gilgamesh didn't unleash a virus on his people of Uruk, but he did treat them arbitrarily and have unconsensual sex with mass amounts of women. Gilgamesh and Alex Mercer are both heroes, and although they both did bad things of different magnitudes, they both appear to me as flawed heroes, and in the end, they both come to find peace and improve their qualities as people. Gilgamesh went on a long journey that involved fighting a demon and overcoming the loss of a true friend. Through that journey he came to find himself. Alex Mercer came to find himself through fighting off the havoc he caused in the city, and becoming a protector rather than destroyer. I believe the flawed hero is always the most interesting because one can relate to him or her. It seems to me that we all have a hero inside of us waiting to get out and do some good, but many times the good is outmatched by the clouds of sin we are born with.

Is Gilgamesh a Hero?

In my opinion Gilgamesh is not a hero for many reasons. First off, a hero should not cower in fear from demons like Huwawa, and fail to fight the Bull of Heaven until Enkidu had taken control of the fight. A hero should not take all of the credit for something that he really didn't do. Gilgamesh did just that, he took all of the credit for killing Huwawa and for killing the Bull of Heaven even though he couldn't have killed either of them without the help of Enkidu.

Last week I was watching the movie Beowulf and realized how Gilgamesh and Beowulf are polar opposites. Beowulf didn't take credit for actions that he didn't do and he didn't gloat about victories that he had mad. He also wouldn't say that he was "the perfect, or the terror" like Gilgamesh would. Beowulf was modest, and that is what a hero should be. Beowulf also didn't cry all of the time like Gilgamesh did. Beowulf fought without fear of anything, he would go into battle without worry about the result. He also didn't have a companion who was equally as powerful as he is like Gilgamesh had Enkidu.

So, Beowulf is an example of an epic hero with all of the attributes a hero should have, while Gilgamesh is lacking in those attributes.

why we still need religion

In class this week someone brought up the point that many religion is slowly loosing its place in society because of scientific advancements. Now that people are provided an explanation for earthquakes, hurricanes, and other previously mysterious occurrences, there is less need for a belief in God, gods and goddesses, and other higher powers. In my opinion however, there will always be a need for these beliefs. Although we may know how an earthquake happens and how a tornado forms, we will never know what caused those plates to move or why a it the wind blew it to that town. In the modern world we may have a scientific diagnosis for dying but that does not bring the peace of mind that religion does. Two weeks ago on my sixteenth birthday, I received a text from my dad telling  me my grandfather had stage four pancreatic cancer and probably only had a few weeks to live. My grandparents are Episcopalians and therefore belief in heaven and hell so my grandfather is comforted by the though of spending eternal life in the heavenly kingdom. To be able to believe that you are going to heaven or whatever, regardless if it is true or not, is comforting and allows us to be able to accept the thought of mortality.

What makes a Hero? Gilgamesh vs. Enkidu

If you were to look up the word Hero in the dictionary it would read: a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Some might argue that Gilgamesh has the characteristics of a hero, but I would disagree. As the definition states a hero is one "who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities." The people abhorred the great King Gilgamesh, distrusting him and are just completely disgusted by him. Now Enkidu has the characteristics of a hero. He destroys the demon Huwawa, stands up to Istar, and dies for his noble actions. Gilgamesh cowards in fear in the face of danger and seeks immortality for himself.

I think this epic tale can be related to the movie Spider Man 3. The Hero Peter Parker as Spider Man and his arch nemesis Green Goblin Jr. have to put their differences aside and team up to kill Venom. Just as Gilgamesh had to cope with the idea that their is someone as equally strong as he is. They team up and destroy the evil demon Huwawa. Each one completes the other; Enkidu and Gilgamesh equals one super hero and if one falls the hero is broken.

Written by Bryan Tonti right at the deadline!

Journey

This year i recently joined crew. It seemed like a lot of fun at the time I was asked to join by a junior. They said that they needed 1 more girl to make a quad, so I was like why not! As the first practice came around I was nervous, but I gave it a shot. I did not realize that it would be such a difficult sport. It was going to be a very long journey, just to get in good enough shape for our first regatta. Gilgamesh never gave up when he was on his way to find the flower of immortality. We have practices 6 days a week from 4 to 6, but in the end it all works out. We work hard for a reward that is worth it all. It also relates to Gilgamesh because Gilgamesh and Enkidu, were better together, than they were apart. They were able to defeat the monsters when the worked together. In crew you are in a boat with 3 other people. If someone is lazy and does not want to work, then your whole boat goes slower, and you get nothing accomplished. You all have to work as a team and then everything will be okay. Today when i was rowing, i got sick on the water so i had to go in. I left my team behind, but they still finished their piece. Like Gilgamesh, when Enkidu dies wants to finish to find the flower of immortality. He succeeds, but in the end it is stolen from him. This makes him such a better person, he has learned so much from Enkidu, and through his journeys. He is a hero.

In the 2008 movie, Hancock, Will Smith portrays a superhero that is not always on some people's good side. At the beginning of the move he stops the bad guy's car but then takes it too far and flies to the top of a building and drops the car on a spike at the top of the building. We can pull from the movie that he has done something like this many times before. Gilgamesh is like Hancock because he is a guy that does not always appeal to the people. He, also like Hancock, is a questionable hero. In the beginning we know that he was sleeping with the most of the women in Uruk and no one could stop him just as Hancock was alone and everyone thought that he was the only one of his kind. One other similarity is the companion that each of the characters has but they have an opposite reaction. In Gilgamesh, Enkidu was Gilgamesh's counterpart and his only match. He and Gilgamesh were apparent best friends after their fight and were by each other until Enkidu's death. In the movie, Hancock's opposite was his only weakness. The longer they stayed together, the weaker he got. They are the only two of their kind on the planet and somehow always seem to find each other. Both of these stories have a questionable main character that ends up being the good hero.

The Long Journey

Throughout the cross country season, I have 2 friends that I can always count on to never let me fall behind and push me to be stronger. Last weekend was my first race with out them. I found myself, without even thinking about it, going slower than usual. They give me my mental strength to get through the pain after a mile and a half. This was different, I didn't have anyone beside me telling me to keep going. This reminded me of how Gilgamesh had Enkidu to help him carry on in his journey and when he got tired Enkidu would help him win his battle. I know have a small idea of the lonely journey Gilgamesh had to take without Enkidu. Gilgamesh made it through the journey and I finished strong in my race but it still didn't compare to the journeys with friends at our side. Friends are there to help and make you stronger when you feel weak.