Gilgamesh and Odysseus are categorized as hero myths that have similar but different history backgrounds. Both Gilgamesh ad Odysseus have the strength and an intimidation feature. Due to both going through growth and change throughout out their conquest. The archetype of these heroes are, sidekick/helper, and temptresses and they both must embark on journey's that teach them better moral values. Gilgamesh and Odysseus find out their meanings of life through trials and tribulations just as any ordinary men in the world from their times. Heroic features Gilgamesh prove him as being so gigantic and strong that the other "normal" people in his city couldn't stand him because he would force them to "compete" in games against him that he …show more content…
would win every time without trying. No one could compete with him. This made him an excellent warrior as well (off the top of my head I believe that he was supposed to be something like thirty-six feet tall). As far as "internal" qualities that make him heroic go, the story lacks these compared to the physical powers. He is arguably courageous (he takes on a monster that no one else dares to fight), and he is very loyal. About half the epic is he trying to find a way to bring his best friend back to life, which sort of goes to show his faithfulness. There is more inclination to see Odysseus as an ambiguous hero.
His most distinguishing trait, however, is his sharp intellect (Sparknotescom, 2015). Many scientific discoveries would have seen that Odysseus' actions as consecrated, with a kind of judicial. Tremendous endeavor posed by Odysseus’ journey, heroism the ancient and modern perceptions of heroism include fortitude ways of life that demonstrate his worth. In Homer's world, fate is inescapable. Odysseus has all the defining character traits of a Homeric leader: strength, courage, nobility, a thirst for glory, and confidence in his authority. Odysseus is brave, loyal, smart, arrogant at times, wise, strong, shrewd, cunning, majestic, and an epic hero (Enotescom, …show more content…
2015). Odysseus and Gilgamesh compromise with rulers on expeditions along with interaction with gods throughout their journeys and expeditions. Odysseus is highly intelligent and more significant than Gilgamesh, and those qualities bring him to be a happier and more successful than Gilgamesh reaches. Gilgamesh searches for immortality and Odysseus struggles to return to his home and family. Both, too, turn down the love of goddesses (Yahoocom, 2015). Gilgamesh does so bluntly and tactlessly that he incurs her wrath and suffers the death of his best friend, and Odysseus does so slickly that the rejected Goddess winds up blaming the other gods for breaking them up. “Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh are dangerous; however, they serve their duty to protect their people. Odysseus does not leave his men behind when they are in the land of the Lotus Eaters. They all eat the lotus flower, which causes them to forget their homecoming and inspires them to stay on the island forever. Odysseus pulls his men from the island despite their protests. Gilgamesh is also a protector of the people in his city of Uruk” (Cherriedesignzcom, 2015). Odysseus meets gods and goddesses throughout the entire epic. Gilgamesh seeks immortality, but he never achieves his goal. Odysseus, on the other hand, is given immortality in a sense, such as when the goddess saves Odysseus against the sea storm created by Poseidon. Through their journey, one can see how Odysseus is the definition of an incredible epic hero.
Besides the typical traits of an epic hero, Odysseus shows great humility, Strong courage, with great faithfulness, and strong brave leadership. Odysseus’s goal of his journey is for a homecoming. This is where the virtue of humility and loyalty is proven. One particular example is while Odysseus is stuck on an island called Calypsos. He has promised immortality and a lustrous life if he were to stay with Calypso on her island. Odysseus discontinues this bad idea, decides to build a raft on his own, and starts his journey home. He remains loyal and an extraordinary humble mood does not desire to be godlike. Odysseus is shown as a brave leader throughout his entire journey. This great ruler explicitly commands and protects his men in adverse obstacles and remains stable and without a doubt calm given the situation. When traveling the sea and passing the Sirens, he demanded that his men to put beeswax in their ears so they may not be affected by the Sirenas song. He and his men safely navigate
through. These two epic heroes have six common traits. Odysseus is a strong warrior, dangerous, protects ordinary people, encounters death, encounters the supernatural, and always returns from an extremity back home to a normal healthy lifestyle. With these traits are seen in the two epic heroes Odysseus and Gilgamesh; however, both also differ significantly in morals and virtues. Gilgamesh is tyrannical and selfish. He uses his intimidation and strength to rape women and prove his superhuman abilities. He directly challenges the gods and looks for ways to overcome death. Odysseus does not use his superhuman strength for the wrong purposes, but rather to protect his crew. Much like every other epic hero, the legend of Odysseus ends with a heroic battle in which he emerges triumphant. For these reasons, one can see Odysseus as a better example of a true epic hero.
In Homer’s the Odyssey, Odysseus has many different qualities that classify him as a hero. He is brave and courageous as shown when he murdered all the suitors who were disrespecting his property even though he was outmanned by them. Despite this, he is by no means all brawn and no brain as he shows his intelligence and cunning numerous times during the epic. A few example of this would be when he was able to blind the one-eyed Cyclops while the rest of his crew didn’t know what to do. Odysseus in many ways is similar to a flowing river, because whenever there is a problem (dam in the river), he would first try to go through it, but if he can’t he would then find a way ar...
One of Odysseus’ traits is bravery. One example of Odysseus’ bravery is when he injures a Cyclops that is 5 times his size, “I drew it from the coals and my four fellows/ gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops/ as more than natural force nerved them, straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it/ deep in his crater eye. 329-332” This quote shows how brave Odysseus and his men are to face the Cyclops. Odysseus was intelligent to think about this idea, but he was brave for actually following through and doing it. Odysseus was also brave for fighting Penelope’s suitors even when he was outnumbered, “Now shrugging off his rags the wiliest fighter of the islands/ leapt and stood on the broad doorsill, his own bow in his hand/ he poured out at his feet a rain of arrows from the quiver/ and spoke to the c...
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.
When people think of Odysseus, they think of a great, cunning, warrior. Who wouldn’t see him that way, he fought his way through Troy and embarked on a journey back home to see his son and wife again. On the surface Odysseus seems like a genius but in Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus shows many instances where he outwits his foes but his foolishness heavily outweighs his smarts; he becomes boastful after a victory which leads to more hardships, he leaves precious cargo in the open for his brutish crew to mess with, and refuses help from the gods which nearly leads to his demise.
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 the epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus’ heroic deeds are recounted through a narrative, written by Homer, that describes his arduous journey of his return from the Trojan war to his homeland of Ithaca. Loyalty, patience, and determination, are necessary traits to survive the perilous, painstaking journey that Odysseus embarks upon to return to his native land. Loyalty is exhibited when Odysseus goes to rescue his crewmen on Kirke’s Island despite the probability of jeopardizing his own life. Odysseus presents patience throughout the entirety of his journey, but most specifically when his crew opens the bag of wind, which causes much regression on the embark homeward. Determination is displayed when Odysseus is on Calypso’s island.
The next trait that shows Odysseus as an epic hero is his intelligence. While on his Grand journey to get back to Ithaca, he gets caught in many situations where using brute strength is not enough to get out so he must rely on his intelligence to
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.
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.
Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek story that follows the journey of its primary character, Odysseus, back to his home in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus encounters many challenges in his journey home, from encounters with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the witch Circe and even the ghosts of dead Greeks. Meanwhile, his household in Ithaca is being threatened by suitors of his wife, Penelope, all wanting to inherit Odysseus’ possessions in the belief that he was already dead. Like many epic heroes, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities. Three good characteristics of Odysseus are—cleverness, bravery and strength—here are some supporting instances from the epic that demonstrates Odysseus possession of such characteristics.
In Greek literature, the character Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Odysseus from The Odyssey can be compared by their similar journeys and differing heroic qualities.
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
They represented them, physically, emotionally, and mentally to overcome every task that was handed to them. Although their strengths differ, they were both given strengths and with these strengths they prospered and at times were their down fall as well. Both were great heroes. Odysseus and Gilgamesh had to go through life and figure out its meaning. They had to go through all the trials and tribulations to discover what they were put on earth to do. Gilgamesh and Odysseus both had to go on the quest to find self-discovery, but in the end found themselves right back in the lives they started out with. The people during this time looked for a hero so express traits like, courage, faithfulness, leadership, bravery, and even humility. They needed their god like figures to represent them as people as well. The bravery is shown multiple times. Odysseus showed bravery when he traveled to the sea, passing the sirens. He told his men to put bee-wax in their ears so that they couldn’t hear the Siren’s song. He acted quick and in the end, saved his men. Gilgamesh was a true hero when he defeated the monster Humbaba. The creature lived in the Forest and frightened everyone around it. The people of Urok told Gilgamesh not to fight it, but Gilgamesh tricked the monster when he offered his sister to be his wife. Gilgamesh then beheaded the monster, this skill and bravery was extremely heroic. Odysseus and Gilgamesh
The challenges that Homer give the protagonist is all a test of character. Odysseus continues to pass the obstacles with flying colors, but his arrogance is the one flaw that is in dire need of correction. Some of the many challenges Odysseus overcomes on his voyage home is defeating the Cicones, surviving the Island of the Lotus Eaters, outsmarting the Giant Cyclops, saving his men from Circe, Traveling to Hades, passing between Scylla and Charybdis, escaping Calypsos’ Island and many more. Odysseus survives these obstacles and uses his smarts to escape near disaster. Often times he was the only one to survive these things and his crew often lost their lives due to their own stupidity. “‘We left the island and resumed our journey in a state of gloom; and the heart was taken out of my men by the wearisome rowing. But was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the wind.’”(P127 L75-79) Odysseus shows how he is an extraordinary man by being much smarter than his crew and the men that follow him. As a part of this stripping of Odysseus, Homer shows that Odysseus is a collective symbol of Everyman. On the one hand Odysseus is a great warrior, who is extremely intelligent, noble, and a great man. Although he has many god- like qualities he is still human. He shows that he is human and like every man, because of the fact that he still has major flaws. The
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...