Home » Reading & Literature » Mythology » Gilgamesh: The Hero's Journey

Gilgamesh: The Hero's Journey

© Linda Casselman

In the past weeks we have examined the ancient tale The Epic of Gilgamesh from several different angles. We looked a little at its history and discovery; we analyzed the serpent figure and the quest for immortality as well as the Great Flood myth; and we even drew parallels between the old story of Gilgamesh and the Bible. Now we are going to look again at The Epic of Gilgamesh, this time from the point of view of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.

Joseph Campbell was a teacher, a writer, a scholar, but most famously he was a world renowned leading interpreter of mythology. In his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces 1949, Campbell asserts that there is an archetypal hero figure in mythology. Though his story may vary in details, trials, and adventures, this hero is recognizable and he appears in various myths from all cultures around the world. In every Hero Myth the hero follows a standard path or journey which takes him from the mundane everyday world into the realm of the supernatural and then back again, but he returns with a special boon or sacred knowledge to share with his people.

To help explain the universality of the Hero Myth, Campbell envisioned a kind of diagram - the Circle of the Hero's Journey. In this circle we see that the hero passes through several stages on his journey:

He begins in ordinary life. He then receives the call to adventure and encounters a helper along the way. Next he crosses the Threshold of Adventure (brother-battle, dragon-battle, dismemberment, abduction, night/sea journey, wonder-journey, whale's belly, etc). Here the hero has entered into the other world where he undergoes tests (strength, courage, intellect, ability, faith, will, etc) and meets more helpers. Finally the hero realizes his peak experience (sacred marriage, father atonement, apotheosis, elixir theft, etc). Then he takes flight (rescue, threshold struggle, resurrection, etc) to return to his old life with a boon (wisdom, elixir, etc).

For a better idea of this Circle visit this site which uses a baseball analogy to represent The Hero's Journey.

Now how does The Epic of Gilgamesh fit into all this?

Indeed, Gilgamesh is one of the great heroes from world mythologies. In his adventure he passes through every stage of The Circle. Let's see:

Gilgamesh begins the tale at home as the restless king. He soon meets his helper Enkidu and the two of them go off on their adventure to the forest to defeat Humbaba. Enkidu dies. This prompts the grief stricken Gilgamesh to cross the Threshold of Adventure to seek the answer to immortality. While in the underworld/other world Gilgamesh passes many tests before he meets Utnapishtim and his wife (more helpers) who help him find the magical flower of everlasting life. But Gilgamesh loses the magic plant in his Peak Experience to the trickster snake who steals immortality for itself. So Gilgamesh returns home with the boon, the understanding that immortality is reserved for the gods and that he is human. He will experience death and he realizes that he must live his life and enjoy it. So he writes down his tale to spread the word to his people.