Gilgamesh and Odysseus a Comparison
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QUALITIES OF THE HERO: COMPARING GILGAMESH AND ODYSSEUS
Gilgamesh and Odysseus are great heroes from different time periods who both in search of the meaning of life. They are both featured in great epics; the Epic of Gilgamesh which was developed in early Mesopotamia and the Odyssey of Odysseus developed in early Greece. Both the Epic of Gilgamesh as well as the Odyssey of Odysseus became very popular and valuable to historians in how they addressed religion, such as their attitudes towards gods, definitions of heroes as well as their views on death and friendship.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN GILGAMESH AND ODYSSEUS
Both seem to be surrounded by events that require their
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In the case of Gilgamesh, he is constantly in doubt due to the dreams he has that always paint grim images of his fate. It is not till Enkidu reassures him that he is able to overcome his doubts. In the case of Odysseus he is trapped in a cave with a beast that he cannot kill without trapping them in the cave forever. He then devices a plan that gets him and his remaining crew members out.
Differences between Gilgamesh and Odysseus
Gilgamesh always requires reassurance as well as help from his companion Enkidu. Enkidu acts as a confidant as he gives Gilgamesh advice every time giving him peace of mind when he has doubts. On the other hand Odysseus takes little to no notice of advice given by his men but acts on his own in regards to the situation h finds himself in.
Gilgamesh goes forth on a noble quest to kill Humbaba for Shamash. Unlike Odysseus who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and is mainly motivated by survival to succeed.
Gilgamesh is seen to require a lot of help especially from the gods and fully depends on them to see him through to the end of his quest. Odysseus does not seem to ask the gods for help but rather depends on his wit alone to succeed in any
Throughout literature characters have relied upon entities greater then themselves to furnish them with aid as they meet the many challenges they must face. The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus’ epic journey and the many obstacles that bar his return home. But Odysseus is not alone in this struggle and receives aid from many gods, especially the clear-eyed goddess Athena. There are times when Odysseus beseeches the gods for aid, but other times he is too foolhardy to receive aid from even the immortal gods. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus’ journey revolves around the cyclical phases of his dependence, independence and his return to reliance upon the gods’ aid.
Gilgamesh and Odysseus are similar not only in their physical appearances but also in the way the two of them deal with life's dilemmas. Although Gilgamesh and Odysseus possess great strength and sharp minds, their own flaws blind them similarly, which does not aid in their quest for what they desire. As part of their heroic character, the gods must guide them in order to reach their goals. In every epic from antiquity, the greatest challenge a hero must overcome is not a monster or an evil tyrant but themselves. They wish to have glory, honor, and a place in history forever. Doing something that no one else could ever do again is what a hero desires to do. From Gilgamesh to The Odyssey, epic heroes constantly have to reinvent themselves to overcome their own weaknesses and shortcomings. Each has to learn from their previous mistakes, using the gods? help, so they can fulfill their dreams. In doing this, Odysseus and Gilgamesh will reach their goals.
A female character always aids an epic hero, and Odysseus is no exception. Near the end of his travels, Athena feels sorry for him and decides to assist him and let him go home, and once he arrives, she helps him kill the suitors that plague his house. “That left the great Odysseus waiting in his hall as Athena helped him plot the slaughter of the suitors” (Fagles 390). Not only is this assistance by a woman, and a sure sign of an epic hero, but also a goddess assists him, and only those worthy enough can be helped by the Immortal. Odysseus is also aided and told how to get home by the Goddess Circe. “You must travel down to the House Of The Dead and the awesome one, Persephone, there to consult the ghost of Tiresias, seer of Thebes” (Fagles 245). This is the same person who tried to tempt him, but she realizes he wont stay and decides to help him instead.
Gilgamesh and Odysseus are two heroes from two different time periods that were both in search of the meaning of life. The epics that the two characters are featured in Gilgamesh, was developed from early Mesopotamia and the Odyssey in early Greece. Gilgamesh was a very popular and it was very valuable to the historian of Mesopotamian culture because it reveals much about the religious world, such as their attitudes toward the gods, how a hero was defined and regarded, views about death and friendship.
Both Odysseus’s are calculating and sneaky and both commit acts of self-interest but the similarities end there and eventually head down two completely different paths. In The Odyssey, Homer shows that, despite all of his drawbacks (i.e. getting his shipmates killed by a sea monster without their knowledge), he is ultimately a heroic character due to his courage, bravery, sharp intellect and the rescue of his men from Circes home. In Euripides Hecuba, Odysseus is portrayed as a corrupt human being, without sentiment or empathy. He is a self-interested, cruel, and insensitive individual. There are no redeeming qualities about Odysseus and he never redeems himself throughout the play, replacing the thought of the great hero with a dark stain of misery and
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
Then do as I say, let us all be won over."' (Shmoop, Odysseus quotes). Odysseus knew that there would most likely be far too many suitors at his home when he returns, and he may worry slightly about his wife. However, his inability to question his wife Penelope's resolve is very wise because she is just as loyal to him as he is to her. Penelope waits the duration of the story for Odysseus to return, which shows just truly how loyal she really is. The themes of perseverance and loyalty show up not only in The Odyssey, but in Gilgamesh as well. With Gilgamesh, he never takes no for an answer. He always is looking for the way to win, and nothing will ever get in his way (Beers, page 30). Gilgamesh’s relentless attack on Humbaba proves that he is truly a persistent warrior (Beers, page 30). Gilgamesh’s relentlessness is superior to Enkidu’s, which is evidenced by when the writer says, "May he not live the longer of the two, may Enkidu not have any 'shore'(?) more than his friend Gilgamesh!" (Shmoop, The epic of Gilgamesh’). This shows Gilgamesh’s superiority, but also his loyalty to Enkidu. Gilgamesh’s trust and loyalty is also admirable, which is evidenced when the elders of Uruk say "Let Enkidu go ahead of you; he knows the road to the
'No two men are alike in the way they act, the way they think, or the way they look. However, every man has a little something from the other. Although Oedipus and Gilgamesh are entirely different people, they are still very similar. Each one, in their own way, is exceptionally brave, heroically tragic, and both encompass diverse strengths and weaknesses. One is strictly a victim of fate and the other is entirely responsible for his own plight.
What makes literature so special is the fact that some words never have one rigid definition. What a word truly means is always up for debate, and can be defined differently by all.
Gilgamesh and Odysseus are leaders in the Uruk and Ithaca communities respectively. The two leaders are heroes in their society who constantly defend their people against external aggression. Although the two heroes defend their communities against external attacks, their leadership styles and approach to situations differ significantly. For instance, Gilgamesh is oppressive and is not liked by the people whereas Odysseus is liked and cares for the people. Gilgamesh goes to fight for self-gratification whereas Odysseus fights for genuine welfare of the people. Odysseus is witty in his manners whereas Gilgamesh relies only on physical strength. The story of both heroes show
Many themes are incorporated into the story line of Gilgamesh. These include three very important concepts: death is inevitable, immortality is unachievable, and friendship is a necessity.
Picture this: a hero of great legends who travels to the underworld and back to get directions to his home from a blind prophet. It sounds like quite an impossible journey, but that is exactly what makes Odysseus all the more fascinating. The Odyssey, an epic poem orally transmitted by Homer, a Greek poet who wrote The Iliad, had to contain some variety of attributes that Greeks valued in a person. That one embodiment of what the Greeks found intriguing in a character is Odysseus. Odysseus is known as what is called an epic hero. An epic hero is a protagonist of a story that represents the most important attributes of a civilization. Odysseus, being based in ancient Greece, is the embodiment of intelligence, loyalty, and strength.
The characters Oedipus and Gilgamesh are very similar in that they both are fearful of their fates. After the death of his friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh is distraught with worry, asking, "shall I too not lie down like him./And never get up forever and ever?"("The Epic of Gilgamesh" 76). The prospect of laying forever in a grave is not appealing to Gilgamesh. He dreads it so much that he tries to prevent his inevitable fate from happening. Seeing his friend die and rot away has scared Gilgamesh beyond belief. He cannot bear to think of himself being lost forever, not remembered by anyone. Likewise, Oedipus is afraid to fulfill his prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, making him a sinner not fit to rule his kingdom. He knows that if he commits this horri...
Of all the many similarities of The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey, the sharing of the main character’s archetype can be considered to be the most significant similarity of the two epics. Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey, and Gilgamesh, the main character of The Epic of Gilgamesh, both fall under the character archetype of a hero, the man in charge of saving the day. This sameness implies that the two characters had similar fates and characteristics; both had the distinct traits of a hero. Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh were kings, strong, brave, and blessed by the gods. In addition, they both angered a god and suffered from the consequences. In The Odyssey, Odysseus had to change his route to avoid Poseidon’s wrath. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh angered Ishtar which consequently led to Enkidu’s death as a punishment ( “The Epic of Gilgamesh” 29). Both Gilgamesh and Odysseus had elements of arrogance in their personalities, and it was their arrogance that backlashed and caused...
The story of Oedipus, written by Sophocles, varies from the literature written before it by having very little dependence or interaction with the gods. Oedipus, the self-confident king of Thebes, is a man who has seemingly escaped his fate. Fated at a young age to kill his father and wed his mother, Oedipus attempted to take his destiny into his own hands and left home. Similarly King Laius, fated to be killed by his son, abandoned the infant to prevent the prophesy from coming true. By creating a life that seemed to make it impossible for this destiny to come true, Oedipus and King Laius thought they had avoided their fated disasters, but these actions ultimately became the cause of their downfall. Leaving his home of Corinth, Oedipus travels and eventually earns the position of king of Thebes by solving the Sphinx’s riddle and ending his terror on the city. Because of this great accomplishment Oedipus is viewed by his subjects as their savior and god-like king. Oedipus’s success has made him both assertive and proud, giving him self-confidence and the belief that he is in control of his own destiny. This serves as a second example of Oedipus’s dependence on his own ability and control rather ...