The Evolution of Heroism: a Comparison of Old and Modern Heroes

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of a hero is “a person admired for achievements and noble qualities.” While this may be true, I don’t believe the definition of what makes someone a hero can be so simply determined. A person's morals and what they believe in their core values determine how they respond to certain situations in their lives. This being said, the morals and ideals of a person determine whether they are a hero or not, because they are what leads them to accomplish the aforementioned achievements. A hero is someone whose actions are fueled by their desire to help and care for others.

Another thing to consider is that throughout all time, every culture had different perspectives on personality traits that a hero exhibits. For example, in some cultures such as Ancient Greek and Roman cultures, as exhibited in Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey, people recognized kill count as a heroic trait because it showed a warrior’s strength in battle. However, this is not always the case, and some cultures don’t believe that murder is one of the key criteria that make a hero. Different time periods and cultures play a big role in determining the heroism for a mythological figure.

Enkidu from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Eleven from the Netflix series Stranger Things are two heroes from very different cultures. They have different backgrounds and vastly different stories, but they were both very protective of those they loved and they were both selfless. Both Eleven and Enkidu were the unlikely heroes of their story.

Enkidu was described as a wild man. He lived in the forest alone with no human interaction, and he was quite primitive compared to the rest of society. According to the myth, he lived like this until he had interactions with a woman who introduced him to the society she lived in and told him about the kingdom of Uruk. The king of this area was Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh had little to no regard for the people he was ruling and didn’t recognize the fact that he was being ignorant to their needs. After learning this information, Enkidu took it upon himself to travel to Uruk and make Gilgamesh aware of the fact that his people were suffering. Enkidu voiced his concerns, Gilgamesh got extremely angry and they started to fight. After a while, they realize that they are both equally powerful and their respect for each other grows. This respect blossoms into a strong friendship and Enkidu begins to have a profound effect on Gilgamesh’s life. As they went along on an adventure, Enkidu ended up killing Humbaba, who was thought of to be “a monstrous version of what Enkidu once was”, and one of the gods decided that Enkidu needed to die. Around this time, Gilgamesh begins to get horrible nightmares about events that may happen in his future. Enkidu takes on the burden of these nightmares so that his best friend wouldn’t have to suffer. Soon, Enkidu dies after days of being sick and Gilgamesh becomes distraught with grief. Experiencing the death of a loved one taught him empathy and compassion for others.

This story took place in 2100 BC in Mesopotamia. This culture was polytheistic, which means they believed there were many gods who had regular divine intervention in the lives of the people. Some characteristics that were desired in a hero were strength, selflessness, and bravery. The people of this area believed that if someone put themselves in front of danger to protect others, and did right by the gods, the gods would approve of them and help them along their journey to reach their goals. This presence of religion and manipulation by beings more powerful by humans was heavily influential to the Epic of Gilgamesh, considering that some of the gods made the decision regarding Enkidu’s death. While Enkidu did not make one of the gods happy by killing the monster, his whole reason for the killing was Humbaba was to respect and help a different god: Shamash the sun god. This was heroic of Enkidu because he was trying to honor the god Shamash in order to gain his approval and help him to help the people of Uruk.

Enkidu showed his selflessness by being fiercely protective of his best friend, as well as protective of the country his best friend rules over. After they became close, Enkidu did everything in his power to protect Gilgamesh. He took the awful nightmares Gilgamesh was having and put the burden on himself so that he wouldn’t have to suffer. He promised Gilgamesh’s mother that he would protect him. He even protected Gilgamesh from the Bull Of Heaven, which ended up being the reason for his death. The fact that Enkidu put himself in harm's way in front of his loved ones countless times, and died by doing just that, shows that he is incredibly brave and cares about others more than himself, which is quite heroic.

Eleven, also known as El and Jane Ives was a young girl with telekinetic abilities. She grew up in a research facility where she was experimented on and used as a weapon for the United States government. After opening a gate to another dimension, she managed to escape the lab and meet Mike and his friends Lucas and Dustin. They soon found out that their other friend Will was brought into the other dimension, which they called the “upside-down”, and a monster from the upside-down had entered their dimension. She becomes close friends with the gang and feels a sense of duty to right the wrongs that she inadvertently created, which she did by killing the monster and getting Will back from the Upside down. She ends up sacrificing herself (as far as season one is concerned) to kill the Demogorgon.

This story was set in Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s. Some heroic characteristics of this time period were selflessness as well as moral integrity. People in the American Suburbia this story took place in believed in a strict right versus the wrong mindset, and that heroes were always “perfect” model human beings. Eleven doesn’t strictly adhere to this, because she had to kill and was forced to do things that weren’t right, such as stealing, in order to survive her captivity. However, she makes up for it and stands out as a hero because the decision she makes with her free will are intended to help others and follow moral integrity.

Eleven was selfless by putting herself on the line to protect the rest of the people. Even though the events that transpired weren’t technically her fault, but the fault of the government, she felt a sense of duty to help in any way she could to fix the problem. She helped the boys listen to Will in upside-down countless times, even though using her powers drained her. In the end, she even gave her life to kill the monster that was terrorizing the town. She got herself killed to protect people she had only met a week ago. This demonstrates how much of a hero she was.

One of the things that both Eleven and Enkidu had in common was the exclusion from society at the beginning of their stories. Enkidu spent a large portion of his life living in aforethought with only wind animals to talk to. In fact, in his narrative, some didn’t even consider him to be human at all in the beginning. He was thought of as a beast that had no exposure to human life. The same goes for Eleven. While she had human interaction, it was with scientists who didn’t communicate with her or show her any semblance of normal life and society. She grew up in this type of environment ever since she was a baby, so when she escaped and met some people her own age who lived a normal life, she didn’t know how to react to most of the things they did and said.

Another similarity between the two characters was that they were both examples of heroes that had flaws. Many people from all different cultures believe that heroes should perfectly fit the mold of what they expect a hero should be, and they aren’t flawed like the rest of us. This is probably because in many stories, the hero is portrayed as a perfect, flawless human being. Enkidu and Eleven both prove to be examples that people can have flaws and make mistakes but still come out as heroes in the end. Enkidu killing the monster in the forest when he was on his quest with Gilgamesh probably wasn’t the wisest decision considering that he knew it would upset one of the gods. Despite this, he still had positive intentions behind it and all of his other actions were intended for good, so the good outweighed this one bad decision. For eleven, she sometimes used her powers to do things like lie to her friends and hurt others. This is not something that is normally considered heroic, but considering her upbringing, she likely didn’t know better and believed that she needed to use her abilities in whatever way possible to stay alive. And even when she did this, it was almost always done with the intention to help her friends. When she killed the people from the lab at the end of episode eight, she was doing so because she knew if they took her back, she wouldn’t be able to kill the Demogorgon that was terrorizing her friends, and they would force her to do more destructive things with her powers. Even though her judgment was sometimes off, she always exhibited heroic characteristics in her actions.

A key difference between the stories of Eleven and Enkidu was the presence of divinity. In the epic of Gilgamesh, becoming immortal and fully a god was Gilgamesh’s goal throughout the entire story. This theme was influenced by Enkidu's death because it taught Gilgamesh that he should appreciate and make a difference in the life he has rather than try to live forever. The presence of gods makes the impact Enkidu had on Gilgamesh more significant. While Enkidu was alive, he influenced him by teaching him compassion: “as the relationship develops into a deep friendship, Gilgamesh learns respect for other people, which he is experiencing for the first time”. This impact hit even harder at the end of the story, and once he accepted his mortality, he went back to Uruk and followed his Best friend’s precedent by treating his people with respect. In Stranger Things, there was no god influencing the story. This meant that none of the goals and actions were influenced by the desire to please the gods or achieve power in the afterlife. Eleven’s intentions were sole to protect her friends and her end goal was to be able to live a peaceful life away from the lab with these new friends. Another difference between Eleven and Enkidu was how they were perceived by others. Enkidu was a buff, adult man who was hardened by life out in the wilderness. He was almost animalistic, and people saw him as someone who was powerful and almost to be feared. His strength was equal to Gilgamesh’s strength, and there was no doubt in the people of Uruk’s minds that he could be a hero. For Eleven, that was not the case. At first glance, she was a small, scared child that wasn’t expected to be powerful. To those that didn’t know she had special abilities, which was most of the public besides her friends and the people at the lab, she didn’t look much like a force to be reckoned with. Due to this, she was often underestimated in her ability to be a hero.

To sum up, this essay has analyzed what makes someone a hero on the example of Enkidu from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Eleven from the Netflix series Stranger Things. Despite their differences, both Enkidu and Eleven proved themselves to be heroes of their stories. They were excellent examples that a hero can have flaws and make mistakes. A hero is someone who has a desire in their heart to help others, and their actions are reflecting of this desire. Eleven and Enkidu follow their morals, and they are the heroes of their stories.

Bibliography

1. Baker, Lucy, Howell, Amanda, Kumar, Amanda. “Introduction: Beyond Nostalgia, Discomfort and Difference in Stranger Things”. Refractory (February 2019): 31
2. Bearden-White, Roy. Literary Explorations: a Reader for English 2332. Place of publication not identified: LULU COM, 2016.
3. Duffer, M., Duffer, R. Stranger Things, 2017; Netflix, Shawn Levy; July 15, 2016, TV Show.
4. Guidotti, Tee L. Health and Sustainability: an Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
5. Holland, Glenn Stanfield. Gods in the Desert: Religions of the Ancient Near East. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.