Boitatá And Gilgamesh

Many pieces of ancient literature are very similar, for example, Gilgamesh and “Boitatá.” Gilgamesh is an epic about a king named Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. They have many great adventures and slay multiple monsters. Whereas Boitatá is a story about a snake. The snake protects the forest and makes sure no harm comes to it. Gilgamesh and Boitatá are similar in their creatures and what the creatures protect while they differ in who the hero is.

In both stories, there is a mythical creature that protects a forest. In Gilgamesh, there is Humbaba who protects the Cedar Forest and has been put there by the gods. In Gilgamesh it says “Now we must travel to the Cedar Forest where the fierce monster Humbaba lives”. In “Boitatá” the main character, Boitatá, is a snake who saved the forest from a flood and protected the forest from hunters and other things. Both of these creatures’ purposes were to protect the forest they lived in from danger and harm.

Both Humbaba’s and Boitatá’s goal was to protect their forest. Humbaba was put in the cedar forest by the gods to protect it. In Gilgamesh it says “But how can any man dare to enter the Cedar Forest? It is sacred to Enlil. Hasn't he declared its entrance forbidden, hasn’t he put Humbaba there to terrify men? Whereas Boitatá rose up from a difficult situation by eating the eyes of animals and driving the flood away. Both of these creatures' tasks were very similar in nature but how they did it and why they did it are different..

The heroes in both stories have very different goals and are very different. In Gilgamesh, the hero Gilgamesh’s goal is to defeat Humbaba and cut down the tallest tree in the cedar forest. In Gilgamesh it says “If I die in the forest on this great adventure won’t you be ashamed when people say ‘Gilgamesh met a hero’s death battling the monster Humbaba. And where was Enkidu? He was safe at home.’” Gilgamesh’s goal is to be remembered. But in “Boitatá,” the hero Boitatá is a snake whose goal is to protect their forest from hunters and loggers these stories show different perspectives from the same conflict. Even though there are similarities the hero of the story and the goal often differ.

Overall Gilgamesh and Boitatá are similar in their creatures and what the creatures protect while they differ in who the hero is. Boitatá and Humbaba both protect their forests, with their goal making sure that no one harms the forests. In Gilgamesh, the hero Gilgamesh kills Humbaba and cuts down trees from the forest. Whereas in Boitatá, Boitatá is able to protect the forest from harm. Gilgamesh might have influenced Boitatá with the story of a mythical forest protector.