Timeline for Who was the first publicly recognized Super Hero before the advent of comic books?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 12, 2014 at 18:56 | comment | added | Valorum | @Shisa - The wiki link lists a variety of contemporaneous and near-contemporaneous sources that reference Gilgamesh as well as the other kings and nobles mentioned in the text. | |
| Oct 7, 2014 at 16:39 | comment | added | Shisa | Why is Enkidu unmistakeably wholly fictional compared to Gilgamesh, and not a possibly historical companion of the historical King? As far as I can tell, the reason Gilgamesh himself is believed to be historical as opposed to fictional is the discovery of historical artifacts related to other kings mentioned to be his contemporaries in the Epic - we still have no direct historical proof of Gilgamesh himself, is that incorrect? | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 21:09 | comment | added | Valorum | @babou - Yes. That's nearly double the normal length of time... | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 20:29 | comment | added | babou | @Richard This definitely qualifies this question for Scifi-SE. | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 20:06 | comment | added | Valorum | @Babou; Shamhat unclutched her bosom, exposed her sex, and he took in her voluptuousness. She was not restrained, but took his energy. She spread out her robe and he lay upon her, she performed for the primitive the task of womankind. His lust groaned over her; for six days and seven nights Enkidu stayed aroused, and had intercourse with the harlot until he was sated with her charms. | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 20:03 | comment | added | babou | @Richard Please, tell us about his superhuman sexual prowess... (I am somewhat fearful) | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 19:48 | comment | added | Valorum | @babou - I'm just disappointed that no-one asked me about his superhuman sexual prowess... | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 19:39 | vote | accept | Major Stackings | ||
| Feb 9, 2014 at 16:49 | comment | added | user8719 | @babou - I think you've identified the problem with this question: we don't have a precise definition of what is meant by "superhero" (and that definition can change between different times and cultures). I'd even favour the "man in a cape who wears his underpants on the outside" approach, just for the sake of nailing down something specific. | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 16:05 | comment | added | Valorum | @JimmyShelter - I like your thinking. Either I'm right or the question gets obliterated. I shall wait on Major Stacking's pleasure :-) | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 15:56 | comment | added | babou | I thought of the Gilgamesh epic too, too late, but I do not know it enough, nor the culture of the time, to have an opinion on whether characters were perceived as fictitious. Another issue is that the role of superhero was characterized differently in others centuries. I am thinking of Sherlock Holmes, Arsène Lupin or Pantagruel (16th century) who were all undoubtedly publicly know and known as fictitious. I am not sure when people ceased to confuse myth and reality (do they today?), and I very naively and incompetently doubt that all thought Enkidu fictitious and none that Hercules was too. | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 15:26 | comment | added | user8719 | @Richard - I'm not disputing Enkidu, I totally agree with your answer (I would have actually posted the same but you got there first). But either Enkidu is an acceptable answer (in which case your answer should be accepted because nobody's going to find an earlier work than Gilgamesh), or else the question as currently worded has too broad a scope for what the OP actually wants to know. | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 15:23 | history | edited | Valorum | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 12 characters in body
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| Feb 9, 2014 at 15:23 | comment | added | Valorum | @JimmyShelter I fail to see why. The question is "who was the first publicly recognized Super Hero?". The answer to that question is Enkidu. He was publicly recognised, fictitious and possessed of super-human powers. | |
| Feb 9, 2014 at 15:19 | comment | added | user8719 | @babou - if that's the case we should probably be voting to close as "too broad". | |
| Feb 8, 2014 at 23:47 | comment | added | Valorum | No one could possibly mistake Enkidu for a real life figure. Even the poem makes that clear. | |
| Feb 8, 2014 at 23:29 | comment | added | babou | @Major I would suspect that Enkidu is not more acceptable an answer than Hercules or other Greek heroes. At the time, all tales were more or less taken for real and part of the religious mythology. The constraint set by the OP most likely impose a rather modern character, from the last few centuries. But what was the meaning of "publicly recognized" two or three centuries ago ? | |
| Feb 8, 2014 at 2:20 | history | answered | Valorum | CC BY-SA 3.0 |