Liliana Magdaleno Ken Hiltner, Miss Russ English 122 LE October 27, 2011 Word Count number: ~1450 Leading man or Villain? In all epics, we read about the undertakings of characters who have to conquer a great evil organization in order to guarantee the tranquility of their constituencies. They demonstrate great benefits such as bravery, pride, intelligence, wit, patriotism, and love for the individuals of their area, among other things.
Those are typically the qualities that can come to mind once we think of a hero, yet , when we imagine the nasty force that compliments the hero, we believe of someone/something that causes injury onto the land, and therefore brings fear to everybody when the name of that business is used.
In the case of The parable of Gilgamesh, the differentiation of leading man or bad guy is distorted. There is significant evidence that suggests that not only is Gilgamesh a villain, but also he is an environmental danger. In the Fable of Gilgamesh, we are introduced to the alleged “hero and leader lurking behind the great walled city of Uruk.
Gilgamesh “had seen everything¦had journeyed to the edge with the world¦had carved his trial offers on rock tablets¦restored the holy Eanna Temple as well as the massive wall of Uruk¦Gilgamesh suffered most and accomplished all. (2-3) This introduction leads us to believe that Gilgamesh does possess some of the characteristics that would produce him be described as a hero, his soldiers refer to him while “the fortress and “protector of the persons, raging ton that ruins all defenses. (3) It is rather instinctual for the reader to experience an love towards the figure. However , one must not be thus quick to guage.
Words are only words, although actions is much louder. Precisely what is true of the statements that are said by simply his troops is that Gilgamesh destroys all defenses, inside the ecocritical point of view, he damages the protection of the Cedar Forest. While the story originates, we continue to see Gilgamesh more being a villain when compared to a hero. For example , Gilgamesh “does whatever this individual wants, takes the boy from his father and crushes him, takes the lady from her mother and uses her, the warrior’s daughter, the young male’s bride, he uses her, no one dares to go against sb/sth ? disobey him. (4) Gilgamesh abuses his role with the hero/ruler of Uruk so that he can rape women and command his soldiers.
He is inconsiderate from the feelings of others and only does as he delights without thinking with the well being of his persons. Gilgamesh feels as though he is above men, california king of nobleman. The people of his land don’t esteem him, they fear him, thus the people of Uruk beg the gods to bring a push strong enough to calm Gilgamesh. That is when were introduced to Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s dual. Enkidu is definitely the exact reverse of Gilgamesh, he is what epitomizes the specified ideal of your hero: this individual protects the animals by poachers, shields women in the lust of Gilgamesh, and it is sensible. He is strong, witty, and contains a love of nature.
Enkidu is everything the individuals of Uruk wished Gilgamesh to be. If Enkidu is the person that meets the part of the main character, it is good to say that Gilgamesh is usually not a hero at all. Gilgamesh is committed, and wants to be forever known by people of his property. Thus, this individual wants to maintain the great walled city of Uruk and set a relic for the great empire ruled by the greatest the Fertile New-moon had ever seen. This need for an unnecessary relic that will need heavy reference consumption (in this case lumber) is a great anachronism for any similar sensation that occurs within just industrialized countries, affluenza.
Affluenza is the suggestion that materials possessions brings joy for the individual. This really is detrimental to the environment because it causes resource excessive use and is incredibly unsustainable. The latter part of the fantasy begins to show environmental degradation due to Gilgamesh’s greed. The Cedar Forest is the unidentified and savage realm over and above the walled city of Uruk that is safeguarded by a great evil pressure named Humbaba. From a great ecocritical point of view, the wilds beyond Uruk is just nature or the environment.
It is individual anthropocentricism which makes it hard to comprehend that the backwoods is not something to be afraid just because we don’t have complete control over it. Man above nature is the cause of the Cedar Forest’s demise. The villain-disguised main character needs to opportunity into the wilds in order to face himself together with his enemy Humbaba, it is during this section of the misconception that another character downside is exposed: Gilgamesh is known as a coward internet marketing afraid of the force that may be Humbaba (nature manifested since the Planks Forest). He convinces his double, Enkidu, to attempt the same voyage and help him defeat the deity.
Gilgamesh is quick to talk about how he would like to be kept in mind for his glory and ensure that every inhabitant of Uruk will bear in mind the great leader he was. However, he is this kind of a coward that he cannot do that alone. He has nightmares about going into the forest are a internal indication that he is quite a bit less mighty as he thinks he is. These disturbing dreams are also important of the environment, Humbaba can be portrayed as being a ruthless list that will “tear [Gilgamesh] via limb to limb, and “crush [him] keep him “bloody and mangled on the ground. (29) This perspective of the environment as ruthless and constant is the driving force for Gilgamesh to want to destroy that, to eliminate himself with the fears of what nature bestows. Nature is usually not a intimidating nor evil as this kind of classic literary works suggests, in modern modern times and even in the pastoral times, characteristics is giving and gorgeous, once the worth of the environment is known, it becomes less distressing. Gilgamesh a new fear intended for the unknown and a thirst intended for power, in essence, destroying characteristics would be the simply way to comprehend how important nature truly is.
After the fall of Humbaba, Gilgamesh stripped the forest of its tall and luscious trees and shrubs. Not only performed Gilgamesh rape the women of his soldiers, but he raped the forest too. This was the best goal of the villain’s pursuit: Gilgamesh received full use of the Cedar Forest in order to create the relic that he therefore desired. Gilgamesh needs to think that he is in charge of everything, which include nature. For the night of the attack, the weapons Gilgamesh used to combat Humbaba had been axes, rather than swords or perhaps other typical weapons. This kind of story is a wonderful metaphor pertaining to deforestation.
Gilgamesh is the current day logger in thirsty intended for virgin gets to satiate his thirst for common pool resources. At the moment, Giligamesh only likes you the reputation and beauty, not about how much destruction he is creating to the area. This harm turned out to be one of the biggest environmental mishaps of all time. The Myth of Gilgamesh took place in ancient Mesopotomia. This area was previously referred as the Fertile Crescent. After this large-scale deforestation, there wasn’t really anything fertile regarding it. In A Forest Journey by simply John Perlin, we purchase technologies created within the era of Gilgamesh.
It is obvious that while human genius kept rising, environmental wreckage followed. The folks of the Third Dynasty for Ur, 2100 B. C. harnessed the potency of lumber to produce “axes, hammers, hoes, and sickles [to] facilitate job. (37) Tragedy of the Commons, another anachronism, come up as the people of the property began the exploitation in the common pool resource of the Euphrates poplar. With the increasing demand of wood, plan and trade became instituted and present day problems just like selling resources at low prices, not including environmentally friendly impact, moreover to moving these methods long miles.
The physical environment as well changed with excessive silt and high salinity. Silt was a big problem because the “Euphrates, Tirgis, and Karun rivers started to be full of silt and salt (38), water levels declined which made it difficult for irrigation and transportation by simply ship. Large salinity as well damaged the agriculture sector as excessive amounts of saline minerals inhibited successful plant yields. Throughout history we certainly have read about great civilizations with great kingdoms and feats, majestic countries with gorgeous relics to preserve their lifestyle forever. Studying their rise is as amazing as learning about their fall season.
In the case of Mesopotamia, greedy leaders such as Gilgamesh who wish to protect his time by means of environmental degradation not simply make him an incompetent leader due to not being very humble and insufficient desired characteristics, but likewise one of the important reasons this great world became a barren terrain. Works Cited Mitchell, Sophie. “Book Person to Book five. ” Gilgamesh: a new English version. New York: Free Press, 2004. 1-32. Print. Perlin, John. A forest quest: the function of wooden in the development of civilization. Ny: W. W. Norton, 1989. Print.
