Ryan Larson - Campbell and Gilgamesh

 I thought I'd try and analyze the Epic of Gilgamesh using Campbell's Hero's Journey archetypes.

First, we have Gilgamesh before his adventure. Campbell doesn't have a section dedicated to this in his book, but it is generally referred to as the Ordinary World or something similar. Here we are presented with the first problem that Gilgamesh has: his energy is overpowering the town.

Next, Gilgamesh meets his Guide: Enkidu, a god-made man of equal power to him designed to rival him. Unlike most guides that appear in fiction, Enkidu is actually less experienced in the world than Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to start their journey by venturing into the cedar forest to kill Humbaba. Interestingly, the refusal of the call comes not from Gilgamesh but from Enkidu, who is wary about killing the monster. If we are to assume that the hero is supposed to refuse the call, then perhaps by this point Gilgamesh and Enkidu share joint herodom in the story. 

After they kill Humbaba, Gilgamesh angers a goddess, who kills Enkidu. Here we see a common trope, the death or otherwise removal of the guide. It can be interpreted as a turning point in the hero's journey, where they can no longer rely on the guide and must do things completely on their own.

The death of Enkidu, along with the subsequent grief that Enkidu feels, compels Gilgamesh to begin his second journey: the quest for eternal life. His crossing into the underworld is a physical manifestation of the 'belly of the beast.' Unlike you might expect, however, most of the inhabitants of the underworld seem to want to help Gilgamesh-- even though they warn him that his quest is fruitless.

Gilgamesh's journey ends in a way that is not typical for heroes: failure. The man who has found eternal life tells Gilgamesh that he will never attain it, and he goes back in defeat. But while externally the quest was a failure, Gilgamesh has actually reached a breakthrough in his internal journey. He realizes that he never should have wanted to live forever, and he begins to accept the terminality of life.

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