Comparing the Epic of Gilgamesh to Hercules the Disney Movie
By: Jessica Munguia
The Disney movie Hercules and Gilgamesh are super similar. The story of Gilgamesh, translated by Stephen Mitchell, is about a demigod that abused his power against others. The gods saw this and needed to fix it, and decided to create someone (Enkidu) to balance each other out. When Enkidu and Gilgamesh meet they see that they go hand in hand. Gilgamesh decides to fix his bad decisions by defeating Humbaba, the creature that lives in the cedar forest. Then after they kill Humbaba they kill the Bull of Heaven and Enkidu becomes ill and dies. The movie Hercules is about a god that turned mortal and has to find a way to get back to his family at Olympus. But his Uncle Hades wants to kill him before he can get back to Olympus and become a god again so he can be next in line for the throne. The only way Hercules can turn into a god again is to become a mighty hero. Gilgamesh and Hercules are similar in their plot points and characters while they differ in the essential theme.
The characters in both mediums have very similar qualities. For Gilgamesh, he had to become a nice person to be liked by others because of the way he treated people. He treated them as lower beings than him. There were also some similarities in the side characters like Enkidu; he was the brother and close friend to Gilgamesh, and he was there to help him through tough times. Mitchell translates the description of Gilgamesh,“The people suffer tyranny, the people cry out that he takes the son from his father and crushes him, and takes the girl from her mother and uses her... No one dares to oppose him” (pg 73). For Hercules, he had to deal with people thinking he was so destructive due to his super strength he got from his father Zeus. They were always scared he would ruin their stuff. And for the side characters he had Philoctetes(in the movie they called him Phill). Phil and Hercules were best friends, and Phil helped Hercules in tough situations by helping him with what he could do. Most of the time he would help Hercules in battles, specifically telling him what to do because he had no clue. For the characters Gilgamesh and Hercules are considered huge and strong heroes to others in the town.They also reached an early turning point in the movie/book, they both went through being disliked by others in different ways. They also both had a side character that was there for them through thick and thin. Enkidu and Phil both have a similar job or goal, to stick by the main protagonist's side or help them in battles. For both mediums they have very similar character traits. But both mediums also have similar plot points.
Gilgamesh and Hercules have very common plot points, such as they both fought a villain. In Gilgamesh, he wanted to kill Humbaba to become the hero of Uruk and change the way they looked at him. Humbaba was the monster made by Enlil. Also in Gilgamesh he lost his beloved brother Enkidu to unwell health. Mitchell translates Gilgamesh's goal, “Now we must travel to the Cedar Forest, where the fierce monster Humbaba lives. We must kill him and drive out the evil from the world.” (pg 91) Similarly In Hercules, he wanted to become the hero of the story to become a god again and leave his mortal form. Then he could head back to Olympus (the place where all the gods and goddesses live) with his family and friends. Hercules lost his girlfriend Meg that he really cared about. She ended up giving her soul to Hades to save Hercules. They also both at one point fight a creature sent by someone evil to kill them or that disturbed others, Gilgamesh fights Humbaba and Hercules fights Hydra. Towards the end of the book/ movie Gilgamesh and Hercules lose someone they loved(they both experienced loss). As mentioned earlier, Hercules lost his girlfriend Meg that he really cared about, and Gilgamesh lost his beloved brother Enkidu to a curse for killing the bull of heaven. After all their similarities, there are some differences of course.
Although they have many similarities, the stories differ within essential themes. One of the major themes in Gilgamesh is mortality. Although they are both god-like, they don't last forever as Gilgamesh witnessed with Enkidu’s death. There was nothing he could do to bring Enkidu back to life. Mitchell translates the death of Enkidu and Gilgameshe’s reaction, “The day that Enkidu had his dreams, his strength began failing. For twelve long days he was deathly sick... When he heard the death rattle, Gilgamesh moaned like a dove. HIs face grew dark.”(pg 149-150 ) Unlike Gilgamesh’s essential theme which is mortality, when Meg gave her soul to Hades to save hercules, he was still able to go into a pool of souls and pull hers out but with a risk. The essential theme in Hercules is self sacrifice because if he was in the pool too long he would die with her. But as we learned in Gilgamesh's situation, he could not do anything. Although the two mediums are different, the differences make the story. Both the essential themes in the mediums are meaningful and make the stories heart touching in different ways.
Both Gilgamesh and Hercules have some similar areas like the characters and the plot points but they have differences in their essential themes. Gilgamesh and Hercules have dealt with a tough beginning in their lives. Gilgamesh treated everyone in the town horribly but in Hercules' case everyone was scared he would ruin their stuff due to his super strength. Both characters also have very similar goals like they both wanted to fight a big villain in the story. But they differ in essential themes, for Gilgamesh the main theme was mortality, he had to learn to live with the fact that he and others won't live forever. Unlike Hercules, when Meg gives her soul away he has to potentially sacrifice his life to save her. He got Meg back, but Gilgamesh could not do anything to bring Enkidu back. After we learned how these stories are alike, there is a strong possibility that the story of Hercules was influenced by the Epic of Gilgamesh due to all their similarities brought out earlier in this text.
