One of the world’s oldest stories follows this template perfectly. The Epic of Gilgamesh dates back to the third millennium BC. This pessimistic quest for wisdom is known as the “Sumerian Ecclesiastes” (for its parallels to the Old Testament book). Here are the epic’s four phases according to the monomyth template: 1. Gilgamesh undertakes a journey to find the secret of immortality. 2. Gilgamesh crosses the “waters of death.”232 3. Gilgamesh learns the “mystery of the gods”233—a plant, with power to grant the restoration of youth. (Gilgamesh obtains the plant, but a serpent steals it.) 4.
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