Epic Hero

Gilgamesh

Achilles
King/Royalty, and Descends from another great leader

King of Uruk. His father (Lugalbanda) was also king of Uruk.

King.  Descends from another great leader: Peleus

 
Is a combination of divine and mortal: descends from gods (or God)


2/3 Divine: His mother, Rimat Ninsun, is half divine, from the god Uruk, the bull (Hinduism, Minoans)


1/2 divine: mother: Thetis, a Neriad or sea nymph
Protector from monsters, natural and foreign forces

Kills Humbaba, lions, Bull of Heaven

the greatest of all Achaeans heroes; kills Hector
Is based on a historical figure.

(c. 2700 BCE)

Historical?  Maybe; the war itself is likely historical. (c. 1200 BCE)
Benefits his people materially

Brings water to and builds a wall around Uruk and Temple to Ishtar; gets cedars.

 Achilles dies young -- a major part of the story -- and before he can become a great king.  He realizes, though, that his heroism is as a warrior.  And this war is clearly about land and wealth.
Is physically beautiful and a horn dog; his power is somehow tied to sexuality or to fertility  more generally

Nuff said.

Achilles is the most beautiful of all the Achaeans.  This story also explores his sexuality and its relationship to power.
Travels  to the underworld

Yip.

Achilles is later met by Odysseus in the underworld.  His experience of death and grief, though, match that of Gilgamesh, and his "journey to the underworld" is metaphorical.
The plot follows the heroic character's development away from hubris.  This transformation will likely come thru confronting the reality of death.

Uh huh.

 This is the central theme of the Iliad.

 
Often: Has a trusty sidekick or kicks…who may die; if so, this often drives the hero's emotional growth. 

Enkidu

 

 Patroclus

Often: Is protected by a god or goddess

 (a) his mother, Ninsun, b) Shamash, the sun god)

Achilles is guided by both his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, and Athena.
Is wanted by queens or even goddesses, who he will later spurn

(Innan/Ishtar)

k) Is wanted by queens or even goddesses. NO.  Achilles relationship to goddesses is much closer to that of Jesus and Mary, in Thetis's combination of acceptance and grief over her son's fate, which is tied to the larger cosmos and will of the gods.