Similarities Between The Monkey King And Gilgamesh

It is quite evident that through stories and literature we learn a lot about different cultures as well as about the great civilizations in different parts of the globe. Gilgamesh and the Monkey King are two different stories from different background settings and they are in one way or the other similar and at the same time they have distinctive features as the narrators try to put across their points to the readers of these stories. This essay will examine some of the things which are common between the Handsome Monkey King and Gilgamesh. In addition to, this essay will try to explain the reasons which are making these two characters untypical heroes. Typically Gilgamesh comes from western civilization and he believes that he has one†¦show more content†¦From the tablet, Gilgamesh is described as â€Å"two-thirds god and one-third human, is the greatest king on earth and the strongest super-human that ever existed; however, he is young and oppresses his people harshly† This is also evident in the description that has been given to the Handsome Monkey King for instance he has been described as a ‘stone monkey’ with extraordinary skills. â€Å"This stone monkey is an extraordinary creature of boundless energy and â€Å"steely eyes† that shoot â€Å"golden light.† These character traits given to the Handsome Monkey King attracts the attention of the divine forces of intelligence, which the author of the story calls â€Å"Thousand-League-Eye and Wind-Knowing-Ears† (Study). From these two comparisons, Gilgamesh and the Handsome Monkey king have been given extraordinary powers, for ex ample, at one hand both are at the same level with other human beings and on the other hand both are at the level of God or at the same level with supernatural beings In addition to this, Gilgamesh and the Handsome Monkey King are on constant journey and as leaders we can describe this journey as the daily human experiences taking place as we try to meet our daily needs. It is quite evident from the two stories that these two characters start their journey by oppressing those who are under them however as time goes, they turnShow MoreRelatedEssay on Popol Vuh vs. Gilgamesh861 Words   |  4 PagesVuh vs. Gilgamesh While the two texts Gilgamesh and Popol Vuh have many similarities, themes characters ect. I personally would not call the two texts similar. In my opinion for two texts to be similar they must poses similar general themes that apply to the entire text, not small themes that only apply to portions of the text. In other words I believe that two texts can have similar events, yet have completely different meanings. Popol Vuh and Gilgamesh actually had more similarities than dissimilaritiesRead MoreThe Creation of Enkidu Essay2336 Words   |  10 Pagesstory, and the Sumerian story of the Creation of Enkidu are examples of these and the similarities are interesting. As Dennis Bratcher states, â€Å"Because of many parallels with the Genesis account, some historians concluded that the Genesis account was simply a rewriting of the Babylonian Story. As a reaction, many who wanted to maintain the uniqueness of the Bible argues either that there were no real parallels between the accounts or that the Genesis narratives were written first and the Babylonian