Comparing Hero's Journey In The Epic Of Beowulf And Gilgamesh

Beowulf and Gilgamesh are similar; they both experience a hero’s journey. Beowulf hears of Grendel and how he harasses Hrothgar’s kingdom. Beowulf then travels to Hrothgar’s kingdom and says he will defeat the monster with his bare hands. "I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend" (Beowulf 433-440). Beowulf shows great strength and skill when he says this, there is no man that could defeat Grendel. This was shocking to some of Hrothgar’s men because Beowulf didn’t use any weapons. Beowulf tears Grendel’s arm from his body and Grendel flees to his mother. Grendel’s mother then attacks the hall and slaughters many men. Beowulf seeks out to kill Grendel’s mother. Unferth whom gives Beowulf his undefeated sword Hrunting accompanies him. Beowulf dives into the acidic lake and finds Grendel’s Mother. He strikes her with the sword and it shatters; he then sees a giant sword on the wall and grabs it. He strikes Grendel’s Mother and it takes her head clean off. He returns to Hrothgar and shows that he has killed Grendel’s Mother. Beowulf then returns to the land of the Geats. He becomes king after Queen Hygd’s son Heardred dies and successfully rules for 50 years. Then a Dragon harasses Beowulf’s hall where Beowulf challenges the Dragon to a duel. The Dragon bites Beowulf’s neck and

Wiglaf stabs the Dragon and gets his hand burned. Beowulf then strikes a fatal blow to the Dragon. Beowulf realizes that the Dragon’s bite is venomous and that he is dying. He asks Wiglaf to get a portion of the Dragon’s treasure and bring it to him. He then thanks God for the treasure he just acquired, and tells Wiglaf to look after his kingdom, and finally he asks that a barrow be built in his name and that it be called “Beowulf’s Barrow.” He then dies, leaving Wiglaf the collar from his neck.
Beowulf had a choice to either be the hero or the husband several times.

He could have settled down before he went out to fight Grendel, he could have settled down after he killed Grendel and his mother but he continued to choose the life of a hero. Beowulf was the person who would rather have his name remembered for all of eternity than to have a family. He was goal oriented and wanted to leave his legacy so that many people could hear his

story.
The same goes for Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was the King of Uruk, His mother was one of the minor goddesses of wisdom, Lady Wildcow Ninsun and his father was Lugulbanda. Gilgamesh built great walls around his kingdom, he built great temples for the god of the heavens Anu, and for Ishtar he laid out orchards, ponds and irrigated fields. All that aside Gilgamesh was a terrifying king. He raped any woman he fancied, sacrificed warriors, and trampled anyone that got in his way. The elders of Uruk prayed to the gods and told them of what Gilgamesh was doing. Then Aruru, the goddess of creation made a man strong enough to finally challenge Gilgamesh. His name was Enkidu and he lived in the wilderness with all the animals. A hunter saw Enkidu one day and rushed back to his father to say that this man had unset all his traps and filled in all of his pits. The hunter’s father told him to go to Gilgamesh and see if he could lend him a temple prostitute. The hunter takes his fathers advice and travels back into the wilderness with the prostitute. He tells the prostitute to show Enkidu her breasts and they copulate for six days and seven nights. Enkidu returns to the animals, but they did not consider him to be their kin. Enkidu later goes to Uruk to meet Gilgamesh and to challenge him because he heard of his strength. Enkidu and Gilgamesh end up becoming great friends and adventure together where they defeat several monsters that the gods send their way. That is until the gods decide that one of the two has to die due to their transgressions. Enkidu becomes very ill and tells Gilgamesh about the underworld, and when Enkidu eventually dies Gilgamesh is destroyed. Gilgamesh can’t stop grieving and seeks out to find Utnapishtim who, by the gods, was granted eternal. Gilgamesh is hopeful that he would tell him how to avoid death. He is then challenged several times on his journey to Utnapishtim. He failed both tests that Utnapishtim gave to him and had to return to his kingdom. On his journey home, he realized that his city Uruk was a brilliant, lifelong achievement and will last for eternity. Gilgamesh’s legacy was created from his greatest accomplishment; the city of Uruk. Gilgamesh could have been just like every other king with a wife and children; but he aspired for greatness he could create. He had created a legacy without even realizing it. Beowulf and Gilgamesh both left great legacies for their name. The only thing distinguishes the two is that Gilgamesh lives on to watch his legacy come to life, where Beowulf died before his greatness could be spread.