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Fear is one aspects of human life that can make or break the life of a hero. Being a leader entails a lot in ones life and there are various things that come with leadership. In the ancient set up, leaders normally went to war and they had to come back home having fulfilled their mission. While away, they met or rather faced several challenges that made them either strong or fade away. Kingdoms were founded on the major aspects of how strong ones army was. Gilgamesh was a real person being one of the leaders of the proto-literate Uruk.

The life and achievements of Gilgamesh illustrates the importance of striving for the best as well as the values of overcoming fear of death. Gilgamesh goes out to a mission and encounters major magic helpers then later comes home to his community with major benefits to the community. To be a hero takes a lot in the human life. A leader has to be very daring. He has to meet many things that are really challenging. If a leader is not strong enough, his or her people will suffer to oblivion and thus the essence of heroism comes in.

Gilgamesh in this epic is described as a great hero who was fearless and had to face a lot for his people (Sandars 21). He is described as one person who was really fearless and met the extremes of human experiences for the benefit of his lovely community. During his expedition, he experienced magnificence and at the same time went through a lot of human existence extremes. This is clearly elaborated in this sweet story of the ancient times. Gilgamesh was two-thirds god and this is one of the rare parentages of the ancient times. People like Achilles were the only caliber of people who had this kind of special parentage.
Before his actualization of the heroism in him, Gilgamesh spends most of the time engaging in non-profitable things like taking away other people’s wives. He later reasons and learns that he ought to do a lot for his community that is beneficial. He goes out to fight and kill monsters so that the world can be restored (Sandars 77). Fear is one thing that can make a great people to be reduced to nothing. It takes a brave leader like Gilgamesh to stand out of the crowd and do something that will outlive them and live to the generations to come.
The things that Gilgamesh has to go through in the woods while in his mission demand for a brave man. It would be useless for him to get to the woods if he were a coward. The woods were very thick and it would only take a brave man to pursue this great mission. We can compare this great hero with other heroes in the ancient times. Achilles was one such hero who chose a short life with glory than a long one with glory. It took one to in the ancient world to fight in the front line so that they could be termed great heroes.
Achilles really made this realization for he accomplished his mission in the battle fields and he is in the top list of the ancient heroes. This was the kind of heroic codes that were highly revered to in the ancient times. It is very clear how Gilgamesh is determined and not scared by the monsters even after he witnesses the death of his friend Enkindu. In spite of the many dangers in the woods, Gilgamesh goes beyond the normal limits to realize the immortality (Sandars 118). His divine parentage makes him the brave man he is and this makes him bring glory to the community he belonged .
The above clearly tells us that fear is a great threat to human condition. When fear grips humans, there are many things that cannot be realized. Naturally, human condition is filled with fear and it takes only the brave to stand out of the crowd and do the most desirable. If Gilgamesh had been filled with fear, the great things he did for his community would not be realized. His community would never be recognized as great and his name would not be remembered at all. The text relates to real life in that we basically use literature and hidden meanings to express contagious issues; witchcraft, death and spirits.
Gilgamesh comes out as the character that is making the text meaningful, since he helps in developing the plots of the text; he appears most often in the text (Sandars 62). The ability to overcome fear of any form is the beginning of success to the human endeavors. It is with great courage that a person can conquer and make the people that come after him or her to enjoy the benefits of the great works accomplished. Gilgamesh’s extra-ordinary determination to achieve is a proof beyond doubt. Work Cited Sandars, N. K. The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English version with introduction. United Kingdom, Penguin Classics Publishers, 2003.