Myth-take Challenge #4

[Villamvihar]

Myths and legends could be said to be the prototypes of modern novels. They are stories in their own right, tales that were passed on for generations. Even today, some elements from the old myths remain in our stories and occasionally, they serve as inspiration.

This week's mythical element is: Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh is the central figure of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the greatest surviving work of Mesopotamian Mythology. Two thirds god, Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk, but he started out as a terrible king, a tyrant. His oppression was so terrible that when his people started praying to the gods so that Gilgamesh may change, the gods have answered their prayers and created an equal to Gilgamesh. Starting out as nothing but a selfish ruler, through the epic, Gilgamesh slowly becomes a hero, but in the end, not even he can escape his own mortality.
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Your challenge is to write a story that incorporates your own take on this mythical element. The genre and setting of the story does not matter as long as the element remains recognisable.

 

[Envy]

Once there was a man who was known far and wide for his sea faring abilities, and his feats of strength. His name was Marius. One day Marius took his crew out to sea. In the seventh hour a storm suddenly came upon them, but he thought he was such a great sailor that he sailed into the storm rather than away from it to safe harbor. But the storm was more violent than anyone could know and it shipwrecked the man on a deserted island all alone. He spent days, even months trying to create civilization the best he could.

Then one day he came upon the sudden realization that he was not the only man on the island. These people were like him in form, but practiced barbaric rituals-to his aesthetics-and he hated them for it. The other people likewise did not like this savage stranger on their shores and so they planned a raid on his structure. Marius flees, and his home is destroyed. The people thinking they killed the devil leave and from the remains Marius then goes and creates a boat out of the wreckage. He feverishly works against the tide but it is no use. The waves are rough and beyond them are reefs. So he returns to shore. In order to survive he must come to terms with what it means to be a person.