Adel Isa
Mrs. Timm
23/10/2011
12-B
Gilgamesh and Superman
I.
II.
Introduction
A.
Gilgamesh’s life and achievements
B.
Superman’s life and achievements
C.
Similarities between them
D.
Differences between them
Body
A.
Gilgamesh’s life and achievements
1.
Demi-god
2.
Battle with Humbaba
3.
Arrogant
B.
C.
D.
III.
Superman’s life and achievements
1.
He was born in Krypton and was transferred to Earth
2.
As he grew up he got his super abilities
3.
Helped save his city
Similarities between Gilgamesh and Superman
1.
Brave
2.
Wise
3.
Strong
4.
Savior of town/village
5.
Independent
Differences between Gilgamesh and Superman
1.
Gilgamesh was arrogant
2.
Superman is weak towards kryptonite
3.
Gilgamesh was a demi-god
4.
Superman is from an outer space
5.
Superman have the ability to fly
Conclusion
Adel Isa
Mrs. Timm
23/10/2011
12-B
Gilgamesh and Superman
“What I want to bring back to superheroes with this project is a sense of play. Things have
gotten so dreary. The heroes have gotten so ugly that even their muscles have muscles.” Frank Miller. For my compare and contrast essay, I chose an epic hero and a superhero. For
my epic hero I chose Gilgamesh, because throughout my attendance to my English class, I
have been learning about Gilgamesh and I like his epic story a lot. I also chose Gilgamesh
because my comic book interview was about him. As for my superhero, I chose Superman,
because superman is the person that I posses a lot of information about, and because a lot of
people love him. Therefore I would like to talk about the similarities and differences of
Gilgamesh and Superman to you.
Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, Mesopotamia, now known as Iraq. He is the strongest of
all men, and he has all the characteristics of human virtues. He is a brave warrior, and a fair
judge, although he is arrogant. He is also an ambitious builder; Gilgamesh surrounds the city
of Uruk with magnificent walls and temple towers. Gilgamesh is two-thirds god and one-third
mortal. The heroes enter the cedar forest and their fears return. Humbaba, the griffin-guardian
of the Cedar Forest, insults and threatens them. He accuses Enkidu of betrayal, and then vows
to kill Gilgamesh and feed his flesh to the birds. Gilgamesh is afraid, but with some
encouraging words from Enkidu the battle commences. The god Shamash sends his 13 winds
to blind Humbaba and he is captured. The monster pleads for his life, and Gilgamesh pities
him. Enkidu, however, is enraged and asks Gilgamesh to kill the beast. Humbaba curses them
both and Gilgamesh kills him with a blow to the neck. Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut down many
cedars, including a gigantic tree that Enkidu plans to fashion into a gate for the temple of
Enlil. They build a raft and return home along the Euphrates with the giant tree and the head
of Humbaba, and later Enkidu dies. So Gilgamesh felt undone by grief when his beloved
companion Enkidu dies, and by despair at the prospect of his own extinction. He travels to
the ends of the Earth in search of answers to the mysteries of life and death.
The original story of Superman relates that he was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton,
before being rocketed by a vessel to Earth as an infant, by his scientist father Jor-El, moments
before Krypton's destruction. Discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the
child is raised as Clark Kent and imbued with a strong moral compass. Very early he started
to display superhuman abilities, which upon reaching maturity he resolved to use for the
benefit of humanity. From that day of maturity, he has not stopped one day from doing his
duty to defeat villains. Though he never killed them, he just beats them until they are
unconscious, so that the police are able to capture them. Superman got himself involved in
more than just crime fighting, he also went to help citizens that would get beat up by family
members, although he focused on capturing the bank robbers, gangsters, and the mafia bosses
that plotted drug exchanges, or attacks on Superman.
The similarities between Gilgamesh and Superman are pretty obvious. They are both
strong, because they have perfect shaped bodies and they fight a lot. They are both brave,
because they go to the most dangerous places and face their fears. They are both wise,
because they chose their paths, and never back down. For example, Superman chose to
become a hero and save the world with his super powers, and he never backed down on that
choice, and he never wished to destroy the world. Gilgamesh and Superman are both
considered as saviours of their town/village because they help their citizens, by destroying the
people or beasts that the citizens are afraid of, and after the beast is killed or the person is
captured, the citizens would live in peace. Thought the main thing that these two heroes have
in common, is independence in their work. They never ask someone to help them, and they
never rely on someone to do their job for them, but sometimes they might need a little help to
accomplish something.
Although Gilgamesh and Superman have a lot of similarities, they do have some
differences that make them distinct from each other. For instance, Superman’s main
difference compared to Gilgamesh is that, Superman can fly, and Gilgamesh cannot fly.
Superman is weak towards a mineral called kryptonite, but Gilgamesh does not know what
kryptonite even is. Superman came from outer space, while Gilgamesh was created by the
Gods. Gilgamesh also has two differences that distinguish him from Superman like being a
demi-god (two third God, and one third mortal). Another one of his differences is his
arrogance that was destroying his reputation between him and his citizens.
This is how we learned about the similarities and differences of Gilgamesh and Superman.
We also learned a little background of both heroes. We learned about how they were born or
created. We got the chance to listen about the types of battles they fight. Therefore I have
talked to you about Gilgamesh and Superman.