In order to produce that definition, you need to go straight to the source. An important part of this course is learning to understand other cultures--separated from you either geographically or historically or both--when they speak to you. You really can't get much of this kind of understanding from a textbook; you're actually reading a modern, western view of that culture. That modern, western view, however, is derived from reading texts that the culture has left behind. Those texts are available for you to read as well, and your understanding of other cultures should primarily be your interpretation derived from what that culture actually says about itself.
The Notion of a Hero
Now the idea of a hero seems to be rather simple. But try to define it. Try to come up with a definition that includes every use of the term. Not so easy. Let's begin with a baseline definition. The "hero" is a dialectical concept. "Dialectical" simply means that two opposing points of view are in conflict, so a "dialectical" concept is one that actually contains two opposite points of view in unresolved conflict with one another. On the one hand, the "hero" represents the highest human potential as a particular culture understands it. The "hero" represents the best (or near the best) a human being can either be or achieve. At the same time, however, because the "hero" represents the highest potential, the hero also represents human limitation. This is as good as a person can be, but no one can be better. So, stories about heroes (used as a gender-neutral term, male or female) tend to be about both human potential and human limitations; frequently, heroic stories tell us more about the latter than the former.
Writing Assignment: Gilgamesh
Examine the summary of Gilgamesh very carefully. Your job is to come up with a Mesopotamian definition of a hero--and by extension a human being--using both aspects of the concept.
Your writing assignment will have three parts:
1. Using specific examples quoted from the text, define what the Mesopotamians felt were the highest abilities available to human beings (one paragraph).
2. Then, using specific examples from the text again, define what the Mesopotamians felt were the limits of human abilities, the line or lines that humans could never cross (one paragraph).
3. In your concluding paragraph, using your discussion of Gilgamesh as a hero, come up with a general argument speculating as to how the Mesopotamians might define the term "human being."
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