Hesse's Use of Gilgamesh-Motifs in the Humanization of Siddhartha and Harry Haller

Hesse knew and appreciated the Babylonian Gilgamesh, which is today recognized as an ancient allegory of the humanization of man. The Enkidu-episode of this epic uses certain motifs to enact the advance of its hero from bestiality to humanity: his initial characterization as a wild animal; his temptation by a courtesan; his experience of sexual intercourse and the attendant moral knowledge; his instruction in clothing, eating, and personal grooming. In these two novels, Hesse uses the same motifs to embody his theme of the hero's advance toward a higher stage of individuation. This structural parallel is striking in itself but especially significant in view of the importance of humanization in Hesse's novels. Although the most familiar form of his triadic pattern of Menschwerdung is found in the Christian tradition, Hesse does not use the exterior furnishings of any conventional path to religious enlightenment in the humanization of his heroes. Instead, he employs those motifs of Gilgamesh which, in opposition to the Bible, regard the woman in general and sexual intercourse in particular as instruments of a spiritual advance rather than of a fall

Aesthetics · Art · Enlightenment · Epistemology · HERO · Humanity · Literature · Motif (music · Opposition (politics · Temptation · Theme (computing · Theology · History · Law · Philosophy · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction

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  Open Access•Eva Forrester•Hermann Hesse-Handbuch•2025

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