sundiata an epic of old mali

In The Epic of Gilgamesh the lines that are repeated at the beginning and end of the epic show that only immortality a human can gain lies in creating things that last beyond a person’s lifetime. While at the beginning of the epic Gilgamesh is seeking eternal life, when he concludes his journey he realizes that he has created an enduring legend through the foundation of his city, Uruk. Through this legend, Gilgamesh can live on in the memory of his people, long after he has passed away. The epic is able to convey this message multiple ways. The opening lines immediately introduce and impress upon the audience the importance of Gilgamesh, and the significance of his kingship. The epic continues on to describe the city of Uruk, with special consideration given to the walls surrounding Uruk. 3. Finally, the ending repetition of the lines shows that Gilgamesh has become aware of the legacy he has created in Uruk, and and accepts that in lieu of immortality. okay so these are the three? points you are talking about in your paper? make sure they match up with your paragraphs proving them and are not so vague

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the world’s oldest existing stories that were collected in Mesopotamia. It is a story about a heroic king named Gilgamesh, who treated his people in a nasty way. He was a domineering, and cruel leader, feared by many because of his unnatural strength. He forced his people into labor in order to expand his kingdom. The people cried unto the gods and they created Gilgamesh’s equal Enkidu, who they later became friends. Gilgamesh witnessed the death of his close friend Enkidu, and this made him to search for immortality because, he was afraid to die. However, he learnt that, no human was immortal, and that he was destined to die, just like his friend Enkidu.

People have been fascinated by tales of heroism for centuries. In ancient Mesopotamia, heroes give people hope and comfort, and fill them with strength. Ancient Mesopotamia is filled with tales of heroes- mighty warriors battling monsters, men ready to risk life and limb to save their true love or to fight for their nation. Still, there is a great difficulty that lies in defining what a hero truly is. Strength alone does not make a hero; nor does intelligence. Moreover, the Epic of Gilgamesh truly defines the definition of a hero. Gilgamesh is portrayed as a true hero through his skill, intelligence, willingness to die, reverence, and his respect for death.

Another important characteristic of The Epic of Gilgamesh that helps to classify it as an epic is that it includes a hero.  Gilgamesh is the storyâˆ(tm)s epic hero.  Characteristics that determine an epic hero in the ancient world include strength, beauty, and high social status.  Gilgamesh does indeed possess all these qualities.  His great strength was described as that which could be matched by no other. His beauty was so evident that he could have any woman that he wanted.  In fact, he did sleep with all the women in his city.  Gilgamesh was also made 2/3 god and 1/3 human.  This fact alone raised him up to a god-like social status.  He was the king of Uruk because no one

A true epic hero has many very defining characteristics. Usually you will find this hero to be the ‘alpha male. ' With an almost super hero personality, epic heroes are extremely above an average human being. This character must be of noble birth, and as a result, this gives them great respect and many resources. There is a deep reverence for the gods and this helps the hero through tough times. An epic hero is bravery than the other characters. They are willing to take bigger risks and reap greater rewards. Despite these strong traits, there is usually an element of deep suffering that the character must deal with through out his story. No matter what, however, the epic hero will always win out in the end in a good vs. evil type of

modern culture we are used to the stereotypical, sympathetic hero; the Batmans and Supermans who lose their parents in tragic circumstances and devote their lives to vanquishing evil. That however, is not the way heroes have always been portrayed. When we look at The Epic of Gilgamesh we see the archetype of every hero since, however, we are not overcome with a desire to see Gilgamesh succeed. On the hand, if we fast forward two thousand years and look at a hero from Africa named Sundiata who is very similar to Gilgamesh in many aspects, we do have desire for Sundiata’s success. Why do we root for one hero while casting away the other? It has to do with the way perceive that hero and their values as well as how we perceive the conditions each hero is faced with. If we can picture Sundiata as the evolution of Gilgamesh we see the differences and similarities between the two as culture moves toward embracing the sympathetic hero.

Heroes are the people who demonstrate qualities of courage or outstanding achievements and are recognized for their influence in the society. Heroic characters are defined similarly in literatures as well. In the two literatures, Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali and The Odyssey, the main characters shape the plot the stories by their heroic abilities. The literatures also tend to illustrate how heroic qualities were perceived and portrayed in societies. Both characters come from different part of the world yet their plots are similar to each other. The protagonist from two literatures is on a quest to go home and to claim their ancestors’ throne, which is righteously theirs.

Heroism is defined as "the qualities or attributes of a hero or heroine." (Google). Destiny is defined as "something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune. The predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events." (Google). Finally A journey is defined as "an act of traveling from one place to another." (Google). While analyzing these two great epics I came across many similarities between the two main characters. In both epics The Odyssey and Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali Odysseus and Sundiata embark on destined heroic conquest to fulfill their destiny. All throughout the two main characters quest, they encounter obstacles, and foes they must overcome in order to achieve their goal of returning home. In Homers Odyssey, numerous exemplar of the two main themes heroism and destiny are evident, whether they are for the advantage or destruction of Odysseus. In Niane 's Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, The theme of heroism and destiny appear bold and unavoidable throughout the narrative, for Sundiata is abundantly afflicted by how people accept him. If it were not for the fore told destiny of Odysseus and Sundiata they would not be such astounding Kings.

Throughout history, there have been stories of great warriors of one distinction or another. This semester has been full of them. Some have been gods, demigods, or great men protected by gods. Most have, in one fashion or another, been greater than common men. Stories were created to explain how these men came to be and how most have risen to the heights of kings in many cases. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Song of Roland are two of these stories that tell tale of great epic heroes. They were both larger than life though both were flawed in different and similar fashions. They share the similarities of a complementary companion. Those companions differed greatly in their own character and judgement.

Perhaps one of the main reasons the Epic of Gilgamesh is so popular and has lasted such a long time, is because it offers insight into the human concerns of people four thousand years ago, many of which are still relevant today. Some of these human concerns found in the book that are still applicable today include: the fear and concerns people have in relation to death, overwhelming desires to be immortal, and the impact a friendship has on a person’s life. It does not take a great deal of insight into The Epic of Gilgamesh for a person to locate these themes in the story, and even less introspection to relate to them.

The epic of Gilgamesh is a tale about a man who was 1/3 man and 2/3 god. In this tale Gilgamesh is man with no equal and basically does whatever he desirers. Gilgamesh becomes friends with a man named Enkidu, but When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh grieves deeply and is horrified by the prospect of his own death. The result of his this new prospective on his own mortality Gilgamesh searches for a way to obtain eternal life.

The Mali Empire is one of the largest in west Africa influenced the culture of the region through spreading language, laws and customs along the lands near Nile river. They also developed there city because of gold and salt trading. They taxed everyone who passes their borders with gold, copper and salt.

The histories of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai are not well documented much of what we know is a mixture of legend, stories, and 2nd hand accounts. According to Mr. Clifton's lecture notes, “Empires of Ancient West Africa”, Ghana started as the first empire to establish of the three empires and rose to power in the 1400’s. Ghana was located where several trade routes came together. The origin is unknown of how the empire began. According to legend, Odinga’s son had found the empire of Ghana. The empire had succeeded because Ghana’s people had possessed gold and salt mines, and controlling valuable trade routes. Once Ghana weakened, Mali conquered them.

Sundiata’s treatment of the enemies should be established before getting into the argument. Sundiata just wants the shadow out of the way of the goal of the conquering Mali, but he tries to please his people, the maiden, in serving justice to the Shadow. Some may argue that Sundiata really wanted to kill Soumaoro because of the treachery he brought upon Mali. However, Sundiata proves that defeating Mali is more important than killing the shadow when the book by D.T. Niane of the Longman African Writers states, “Straight away the son of Sogolon sent some of them towards the river to completely guard the mountain” (67), notice he did not

Finally, Long expresses the identification and symbolism of God to Blacks in America. Blacks subscribed to the Trinitarian nature of God in Christianity, but unlike white American Christians, were able to draw on their ancestral faith traditions to distinctly separate the personhood and function of each member of the Trinity. God was seen as the Supreme Being, similar to other faith traditions, who for reasons unbeknownst to humans, sovereignly allowed tragedy to befall Black people. However, God did provide a dema-deity, or conquering hero in Jesus who would liberate the people at least figuratively, if not systematically. Their theological understanding was expressed through African folktales such as High John and Brer Rabbit where main