Literary Archetypes!

The Hero is Gilgamesh because he goes through anything to save his friend. Enkidu was his best friend, his companion through anything. When they went to fight Humbaba to find more power, Gilgamesh knew he needed to protect his friend. And also when the Bull of Heaven came down and almost beat Enkidu to death, Gilgamesh got the ax and killed the Bull, saving his friend. When Enkidu died, Gilgamesh when on a journey to find the secret for eternal life so bring his best friend back to life.
The Antihero is also Gilgamesh because at times through the journey he loses hope. He becomes weak and makes himself think that he can't go on anymore. He is alone now and doesn't have enough strenght to keep going. " He was my friend, pleaded Gilgamesh, unconcious once again of audience and pain. Recounting flowed from him like music played from someone else. My younger brother who saved me from the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba, who listened to my dreams, who shared my pain. Why did he have to die? He would have stayed with me in death. He would not have let me died alone. He was a friend" (p.68). Gilgamesh couldn't understand why Enkidu had to die, so Gilgamesh would grieve and lose a lot of hope during his journey.
The Wise Fool is Utnapishtim because everyone thinks that his is an old man that knows nothing. But he tells Gilgamesh of his adventures that he had and what the gods told him to do. Utnapishtim got chosen to be the one that builds a ship and saves the ones that are needed on the earth and the others will die during the flood. He survives through a flood and gets chosen by the god of war to become immortal. Utnapishtim didn't want to become immortal but they knew that he was wise enough to handle it. He comes off as being very wise and has a lot of good advice and knowledge.
The Devil Figure is Ishtar because she tries to persuade Gilgamesh to marry her, to make him love her. Gilgamesh refuses to marry her because her love brings war. He tells her that her love only brings war and that she once use to be beautiful but now she is ugly and can get noone.
The Outcast is Enkidu. In the begining when he was an animal he was alienated by the humans because he would run wild with the animals and he was one of them. He didn't need to be involved with the human life. But when the prostitue came and slept with him, she took that from him and turned him into a man, into a real human. Once he slept with her, he felt the absense from all of the animals. It was all quiet and he wasn't one of them anymore. He was a man and from then on the animals then alienated him.
The Double is immortality. Immortality can be both sudductive and bring you in and it can also be evil. Immortality has a beautiful side to it saying that you can live forever and you don't have to die. In that case Gilgamesh and Enkidu wanted to be immortal so they could live together and never have to face death and be alone. But Utnapishtim got chosen without choice by the gods to become immortal. The evil side of this is when it gets forced upon you without choice and you can't do anything about it.
The Scapegoat is Enkidu. The gods told them that one of them had to die. They had an arguement over whether it was going to be Gilgamesh or Enkidu. They knew that Gilgamesh was 2/3 god and 1/3 man. So they knew that they had to keep him alive becasue he was a god. Enkidu, not being a king and killing Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven had to face the punishment somehow. So the gods chose that it should be Enkidu that dies.
The Temptress is the prostitue. She is a very beautiful woman that people adore. She did wrong to Enkidu by sleeping with him and making his life, the animals, betray him. She is an evil person by doing that because at the end of it all, he ended up dying because of her. Because he became a man and had to face death the way humans do.
The Goodmother is Ninson. Ninson is Gilgamesh's mother and before they set off for the fight, gave Gilgamesh and Enkidu great advice. She even took in Enkidu as her son. When Gilgamesh has dreams that he doesn't understand and that he is afraid of, she will tell him what they mean. She gives them guidance through what they have to get through.