Lizbetth Bribiesca
Dr. Bonnie Harris
History 100
27 September 2014
Primary Document Literature Essay
Epic of Gilgamesh vs. Heracles
Introduction
This essay will examine the great stories of the Epic of Gilgamesh and Heracles. While both the stories of the Epic of Gilgamesh and Heracles explore the themes of love, death, the dangerous Gods, and the journeys to name a few, they also differ in other ways as in seductions, and love as a motivating force. The similarities and difference in their setting and the common elements between them will show how the Epic of Gilgamesh took on different issues than in the story of Heracles but also show how they were similar in other elements as well to appeal to the Greek people of that time.
Identification…show more content… The Epic of Gilgamesh was an actual historical figure, a king who reined over the Sumerian city-state of Uruk around 2700 B.C. Sin-Leqi-Unninni, the author, must have completed his work sometime before 612 B.C., when the Persians conquered the Assyrian Empire and destroyed Nineveh. Gilgamesh’s honor did not get to see Assyria’s collapse. He had been worships and a historical figure for around two millennia but after they had forgotten about him, until he was recently discovered again in the Victorian times, nearly 2,000 years later in 1839 by an English traveler named Austen Henry Layard. This tablet is very similar to the story of Noah and the Ark. It could be possible that both of these stories date back to an even older tell but there are no proven facts. The epic tell of Gilgamesh in history is very important; it shares a story of the old world and the times in that era. It helps connect some dots in history and the present day in America. It is an unfamiliar theory about the creation of the universe. It looks at the attractions of earthly fame and describes the struggle of a man trying to figure out life’s meaning after