Literary Archetypes
Hero/Antihero- Gilgamesh is both the hero and the antihero. He is a hero because he shoes lots of courage and strength. He kills Humbaba which take a lot of courage to stand up against such a powerful person. He is a hero also because his people think that he is an amazing king. They see that everything he does is never wrong. They agree with his actions toward everything. He also has a lot of determination. He so badly wants to find quest for immorality that he goes a on very long journey and he doesn't care what he has to do to get there.
Gilgamesh also though can be a antihero as well. He is an antihero because after Enkidu died he lost everything. His hope, faith, and views. He was a complete mess. On his journey alls he did was stumble along. He would greive and sleep. He just walked around.
Wise Fool- The wise fool in this book is Utnapishtim. It tells us that he is very wise and smart. Only Utnapishtim knows the quest for immorality. He shares these views with Gilgamesh. He says that being immortal or like the gods is not so great. Basically hes saying its not what you all expect it to be.
The Devil Figure- The devil figure is Ishtar. I think this because she seems as if she has very mean characteristics. First she wants to wipe out all of mankind with The Bull of Heaven (a drought) by having her father send it. She also wants Gilgamesh to die because he rufused to marry her. I think she goes off her emotions. When shes mad; she wants people to pay for it. She wants mankind gone, forever.
The Outcast- The outcast here is Enkidu. During the whole story, he is outcasted a lot, even when he was with the animals. The town, Uruk, outcasts him because he runs with the animals, and also because he's a man, but a wild man.
After the hunter tells gilgamesh to send a prostitute to sleep with Enkidu; the animals now make Enkidu and outcast. They make him feel shameful for what he has done. Enkidu dies early in the book, but when he dies, its the only place where he fitted in, with Gilgamesh.
The Double- I think immorality is the double. It has its good and its bad. Immorality is good for some reasons. It can bring back people from the dead and also it can give people to live forever! But once you have immorality it's not as great as you think. It can cause lonlieness, as Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that he is so lonly because all his people were wiped out in the Great Flood. Immorality lets you live forever, theres no going back to it. You can never be laid at rest.
The Scapegoat-Enkidu in the books shows as a sacrifice. The gods say that either Gilgamesh or Enkidu has to die because they killed the Bull of Heaven and also Humbaba. They say that Enkidu as to die because Gilgamesh is a king and also two thirds god. So that makes Enkidu die, he is the sacrifice. Enkidu knows that he is the one that is going to die. He puts up with it. He accepts it. While is taking final last breaths of air, he talks about how he is sad that the prostitute took away his innecence and how he actually fit in with the animals.
The Temptress- The temptress i think is the prostitute. She's beautiful and she draws people in, she drew Enkidu in and he slept with her. She's an evil person because she took Enkidu's innoncence away. She made him become a man and made him become a man in the socitiey. If she hadn't slept with him, he would probably still be alive.
The Good Mother- There could be two woman figures that could be the good mother role. First is Ninsun. She is the the real mother of Gilgamesh. She is there mentaly, but she isn't there physicaly for her son. The barmaid, Siduri, is there physically for Gilgamesh she rubs his back, bathes him, clothes him, feeds him, and lets him sleep and grieve for Enkidu. She is just like a mother.