Gilgamesh, Oedipus, and the Quest for Self-Identity No two literary characters are alike in the way they talk, they act, they think, or the way they deal with their problems. However in some way every character has a little similarity with the other character. Oedipus of Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King” and Gilgamesh of the narrator’s “The Epic of Gilgamesh, as characters have many things in common; they are both from a royal background and kings, and they both go through a mental transformation on their quest to inner discoveries of themselves which make them wiser as human. Oedipus is an ordinary man, a tragic hero and he is a great king to his subjects as he put their needs before everything else. While Gilgamesh is an epic hero and …show more content…
However fate may contribute to his downfall but only as a side kick as characterized by Aristotle's concept of tragedy. Oedipus justifies as a tragic hero because of his lack of self-knowledge. When he hears the story of how the king Laius, was brutally murdered, Oedipus wants to get to the bottom of the story and find the person who is guilty. When Oedipus is confronted by Tiresias about the murder of Laius, he is shocked and completely ignores the fact he murdered a man. This shows that Oedipus does not want to know the truth about him. Even after the accusations about Oedipus committing the murders, he is determined to find out the truth no matter what it takes. This is the second quality, becoming a truth seeker, which justifies Oedipus as a tragic hero. Oedipus desire to flee his fate, but his fate continually catches up with him and even unknowingly he acts according to his fate. On the other hand, Gilgamesh is an epic hero who acts according to what he wants and bringing up all the actions. He is a Demigod who goes on a quest to get immortality. Gilgamesh was far braver than Oedipus. He risked his life a number of times when he was in the company of his friend Enkidu. Gilgamesh goes on a dangerous journey to write his name amongst the famous men so that he can be remembered eternally; he says, “It is I who will establish fame for eternity (Gilgamesh 95)” Gilgamesh believed that he could …show more content…
Oedipus as king has qualities that make him an excellent ruler who anticipates his subjects’ needs. When the citizens of Thebes beg him to do something about the plague, Oedipus is already one step ahead of them as he has already sent Creon to the oracle for advice. When Creon tells Oedipus the plague will be lifted if Thebes banishes King Laius’s murderer. Oedipus decides to go to Tiresias the Prophet to solve the mystery of Laius’s murder so his subjects could be saved from the plague. He continues to search for the murderer even after Tiresias accuses him of being the murderer. On the other hand, Gilgamesh is total opposite of King Oedipus. Gilgamesh’s restless energies, he exhausts his subjects with ceaseless battle and arbitrary exercises of power. Beautiful to behold, Gilgamesh selfishly indulges his appetites, raping whatever woman he desires, whether she is the wife of a warrior or the daughter of a noble or a bride on her wedding night. However, after his quest to learn the secret of eternal life he ends up reconciled at last to his mortality. Gilgamesh resumes his proper place in the world and becomes a better
From the days of ancient Greece and before, epic heroes have had their lives chronicled and their stories passed on from generation to generation all the way to present day. Two of the greatest heroes have been Gilgamesh from the epic named after him and Achilles from Homer's Iliad. While the two men's stories transpired in vastly different eras, their lives shared a surprising number of commonalities. Of course, with resemblances come several discrepancies in the way they lived and the ideals they believed in.
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.
Although Gilgamesh was forced to battle mythic beasts sent by the gods his most important conflict was with himself where he was forced to face the selfish, awful and wicked person he had become. To understand Gilgamesh’s transition it is important to first understand his background. Gilgamesh was born the product of a man and a goddess. He was a king of the Uruk and
In this essay I will compare and contrast the qualities and plights of both Aeneas and Gilgamesh. These two epic heroes share similar fates, yet are very different in personality.
Gilgamesh is a character that evolves throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh. The lord of wisdom, Gilgamesh realized he did not know everything. He humbled himself to lessons of life. As Gilgamesh progresses he becomes less interested in worldly pleasure and more in tune with the value of life and the reality of death. Gilgamesh evolves into a better king because he allows all his challenges in life to make him better and more humbled. Gilgamesh says before his death, “For myself I have gained nothing; not I, but the beast of the earth has joy of it now.” (Gil.
The main character in the book The Epic of Gilgamesh, is Gilgamesh himself. In the beginning of the book one realizes that Gilgamesh is an arrogant person. Gilgamesh is full of himself and abuses his rights as king. He has sexual intercourse with the virgins of his town and acts as though he is a god. Throughout the story, many things cause Gilgamesh to change. He gains a friend, he makes a name for himself by killing Humbaba, and he tries to become immortal because of the death of Enkidu. Through these main actions his personality changes and he becomes a better person.
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.
In many literary works we see significant transitions in the hero's character as the story is developed. This is also true in the Epic of Gilgamesh with its hero, Gilgamesh. In this narrative poem, we get glimpses of who Gilgamesh is and what his purposes and goals are. We see Gilgamesh act in many different ways -- as an overbearing ruler resented by his people, a courageous and strong fighter, a deflated, depressed man, and finally as a man who seems content with what he's accomplished. Through all of these transitions, we see Gilgamesh's attitude toward life change. The goals he has for his own life alter dramatically, and it is in these goals that we see Gilgamesh's transition from being a shallow, ruthless ruler to being an introspective, content man.
'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.
In the beginning of the book, Gilgamesh appears to be selfish. Gilgamesh’s “arrogance has no bounds by day or night” (62). Even though he is created by the Gods to be perfect, he misuses his powers and gifts for his own earthly pleasure. He has sexual intercourse with all the virgins of his city even if they are already engaged. Through all Gilgamesh’s imperfections and faults, he learns to change his amoral personality. The friendship of Enkidu helped to change his ways, for only Enkidu, who “is the strongest of wild creatures,” (66) is a match for Gilgamesh. Through this companionship with Enkidu, Gilgamesh starts to realize his incapabilities and need for his friend. When they fight Humbaba, they both give moral support to each other when the other is scared. Another event that changes Gilgamesh’s character is the death of Enkidu. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh goes through the suffering of losing a loved one. Gilgamesh experiences a pain, which no worldly pleasure can ease. By this experience Gilgamesh starts to understand his vulnerability toward death and pain. Losing his best friend causes Gilgamesh to be melancholic. At this point Gilgamesh is humbled by the fact that even he could not escape the wrath of death. Gilgamesh goes from this arrogant king to a lonely grieving person with fear of death in his heart.
Gilgamesh the king is a myth beholding various heroic traits shared in multiple other stories and myths for that fact. Towards the beginning of Gilgamesh’s myth, he chooses to conquer the beast of the jungle, Humbaba, and sets himself the goal to do so. Heroes must have a goal or else there is nothing for that hero to accomplish, and create a story of. However, once Gilgamesh accomplished his goal of defeating the terrifying Humbaba, he experiences a greater loss than the hero ever imagined possible, the loss of his best friend Enkidu. Although, once Gilgamesh realized what he had done was certainly the wrong choice of action, he devoted all of his time and effort into reviving his friend. On his journey for the search of eternal life, hero Gilgamesh essentially “descends into darkness” both mentally and literally while he enters the underworld to obtain his desire. Here Gilgamesh realizes that what he did was selfish and wrong, and that he is also not the only person who is of value in his life. Subsequent to Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh becomes aware that his decision to murder Humbaba was once again wrong and resulted in his own depression and loss. Throughout the duration of a myth, the hero mu...
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...
In the epic of Gilgamesh, there are many complex characters. Every character involved in the story has their own personality and traits.
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 Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad, and Oedipus Rex all center on morality in terms of each character’s social behavior from the beginning to the end of the story. Gilgamesh, Achilles, and Oedipus are three central characters that embody strong qualities of strength, however carry different experiences of morality. Furthermore, all three characters hold different moral codes that are dependent on their ability to resolve the unique situations that they are in. Nevertheless, morality has ultimately impacted the character’s perception of their role in society in terms of whether or not their actions benefit someone or something. This paper will be examining the morality of the three main characters as they undergo major character transformations