This is a literary review of the epic poem Gilgamesh. This essay ties the story of Gilgamesh into the definition of heroism.

Essay by shroomybugCollege, UndergraduateA+, December 2003

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

Downloaded 134 times

What exactly is a hero? Is it defined as someone who rescues damsels in distress? Or by merely being there for a friend in their time of need? In the older days, before laws and technology, heroes were the men who fought off evil things. Heroes were a necessity for every society, they were universally important. After those times, heroes were the king's nights or the manly men who went out of their way to help others. In our more advanced times heroes are defined in so many ways. Anyone can be a hero, from fire fighters to absolute best friends. As criteria for any epic story a hero must be involved as some major part of the story. In the epic poem Gilgamesh, there are two main characters that are heroes at one time.

A hero is someone who tries to help everyone they can. A hero will do everything in his or her own power to help out another person.

Heroes do not need to be beautiful by looks because their beauty on the inside shows through any physical features. Examples of heroes recognized by modern society are fire fighters, and police officers. These are the men and women who risk their lives for other people as an occupation. Although these people are officially recognized as heroes many other people are heroes too. Men, women and children can all be heroes if they truly feel in their hearts the need to help others in even the smallest ways. Around the time that Gilgamesh was written heroes were only considered to be the men who helped or did virtuous deeds for many people. They were important to not only the communities they lived in but also to what seemed like the whole world. It is the heroes of...