Similarities Between Gilgamesh And The Iliad

Numerous cultures have tried to understand why humans were put onto this earth, and many stories have been passed down both orally and in writing to explain this. Many cultures look to divine power to explain what is happening in the lives of the day-to-day people. Mortality is a concept that societies have struggled with in the past and will continue to struggle with today. Looking back at ancient texts we can see this struggle to understand why we die. Gilgamesh and The Iliad are both prime examples of humans trying to come to terms with the mortality of friends, loved ones, and themselves. Both of these stories depict some form of divine intervention as well. Gods and deities are common in these stories. The divines seem to provide a sense of reason and purpose to the ancient peoples who listened to and read these stories. To know that something much greater than yourself is watching you, guiding you, and taking an interest in your life provides a sense of comfort and ensures that people have something to thank or blame for their state of affairs. The gods in these stories have true power and influence, unlike their mortal counterparts. There is a comfort in accepting your fate and understanding the true powerlessness of your own humanity. These ancient texts show us that death is something that comes for us all. These

stories show us that while death is inescapable, we have nothing to be afraid of.
The gods play a pivotal role in both of these epics. In both of these stories the gods interfere with the lives of the main characters. In Gilgamesh the gods are the ones who set forth the chain of events that lead Gilgamesh to realize that he is in fact mortal. In the beginning Gilgamesh’s actions as a tyrannical ruler incite his people to ask the gods for help. The goddess Aruru responds to these pleas by creating the beast-man Enkidu. “When Aruru heard this, she conceived within her what Anu commanded. Aruru wet her hands. She pinched off clay, she tossed it upon the steppe, she created valiant Enkidu in the steppe” (p.61). In this we can see that the gods have the ability to create life. While the gods can create life out of lifeless materials, they are also a force to be reckoned with. After adventuring with his newfound friend Enkidu, they brought the giant Humbaba to his knees. As they are about to slay him, Gilgamesh gets cold feet and does not want to slay him. Enkidu rejects this saying “My friend! Humbaba is guardian of the forest of cedars, finish him off for the kill, put him out of existence… Before Enlil the foremost one hears of this! The great gods will become angry with us” (p.81). The gods in this story have ultimate power. In the end of the story Gilgamesh comes to accept the fact that he is mortal and powerless to do anything about it. The gods only illustrate this powerlessness. They gods have absolute power which personifies the inevitability of our fate. The fact that the gods have all of the power only goes to show us that we are small and virtually insignificant. In its own existential sense, this is comforting. In knowing that there will always be something here while we are gone places less weight on humanity to try and ascend into the ranks of immortality.
The Iliad also places a focus on the gods and their actions. The beginning starts off with Apollo taking revenge on the men that dishonored him. “Apollo, Zeus’ son and Leto’s, offended by the warlord. Agamemnon had dishonored Chryses, Apollo’s priest, so the god struck the Greek camp with plague, and the soldiers were dying from it” (p.189). Again we see the true power that the gods hold. In dishonoring Apollo, Agamemnon ensures that his soldiers will suffer the consequences. Both of these epics prove that the gods are the supreme life forms. What they do can have lasting effects on everybody. Because the gods have absolute power, anything we do pales in comparison to the strengths of the gods. In these stories the mortals may provoke the gods, but the consequences are ultimately determined by the gods themselves. The fact that we do not have this power makes us insignificant. It is a tranquil feeling, knowing that we do not possess power of this magnitude. Both of these stories support the fact that only beings of significance possess power. The heroes of these stories are powerless.
Both heroes struggle with the mortality of themselves or their friends. Gilgamesh first struggles with the mortality of Enkidu. Watching him die in bed causes him grief. After Enkidu’s death he does not know what to do. He even fails to accept that Enkidu has passed. This is illustrated when he says “But for Enkidu, swift wild donkey, mountain onager, panther of the steppe, my friend whom I so loved, who went with me through every hardship, the fate of mankind has overtaken him. Six days and seven nights I wept for him, I would not give him up for burial, until a worm fell out of his nose. I was frightened. I have grown afraid of death” (p.97). His friend’s death sparks a fear in himself. He realizes that he not only has lost his closest friend, but he also realizes that he will someday end up just like Enkidu. This text focuses on the basic human fears of death and the loss of loved ones. At this point in time Gilgamesh is terrified about the hard truths of humanity. This prompts him to seek immortal life. He later finds out immortality is something he cannot achieve. While this troubles him at first, he comes to accept this. His acceptance of his humanity can be seen when he says “Go up, Ur-Shanabi, pace out the walls of Urak…Three and a half square miles is the measure of Urak” (p.110). The walls of Urak are his legacy and he is proud of this. It is here at the very end of Gilgamesh’s journey that he accepts that he is truly human. His enlightenment stems from his understanding of his inevitable demise. He understands that the only thing that will stay on this earth is his legacy. When he comes to accept this he finds peace. In accepting his fate, he disregards his fears. He shows that if we can come to terms with fate we have nothing to fear.
Achilles like Gilgamesh also deals with the loss of a friend. During the course of the war Achilles friend Patroclus is slain in battle by Hector. The news of his friend’s death drives Achilles to extreme levels of rage. Achilles then killed Hector and defiled his corpse by dragging it behind a chariot for multiple days. Hector’s father Priam then came to Achilles and begged for his son’s body. In a surprising turn of events he complies. “Achilles called the women and ordered them to wash the body well and anoint it with oil, removing it first for fear that Priam might see his son and in his grief be unable to control his anger at the sight of his child, and this would arouse Achilles’ passion and he would kill the old man” (p.285). Here we see Achilles empathizes with the old man. He understands that death is permanent. Instead of killing Priam as one would expect, he takes pity on the man. In being able to empathize he drops his anger and instead reverts to pity. He accepts that both Patroclus and Hector are gone and that there is nothing he can do to reverse this. His understanding of death pulls away his anger and replaces it with peace.
These ancient texts bring to our attention the unavoidability of death.

The gods in these stories make the heroes appear insignificant compared to themselves. This in turn makes humanity feel insignificant as well. However, we can learn from these heroes. In learning about and accepting the fact that they will die and experience loss, they attain a sense of peace and enlightenment. Just like the heroes, we can accept the fact that we will all succumb to death. If we can do this, we have nothing to fear. Even if we are insignificant we can still be at peace with ourselves. If we trade our fears for understanding, we can live our days in

peace.