Similarities Between Gilgamesh And The Odyssey

Gilgamesh and The Odyssey are both considered epics because they have a hero who has imposing stature and great historical or legendary significance. The actions of these two heroes also involve deeds of great valor that requires superhuman courage. (Warren, 2015). Some characteristics of a hero may include cleverness, tenaciousness, altruistic, and containing strong leadership qualities. (What is a Hero, n.d.). Gilgamesh is heroic in the eyes of his culture because he is more than any man yet he is not quite immortal. Odysseus is heroic because of his long adventures and the cleverness he exhibited along the way. Analyzing these two characters will demonstrate their beginning similarities as poor leaders and their differences that ended them

as epic heroes.
Gilgamesh was described as extremely heroic in the prologue: Gilgamesh King in Uruk. It demonstrates how the Mesopotamian culture remembered and exaggerated the past king, as a strong and handsome man. Immediately the cultural values are placed of high importance, revealing the historical significance of the hero.
“This was a man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise…”

“When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body… Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage.” (Lawall, 12-13).

However great the prologue makes Gilgamesh out, the beginning stories quickly tear down his leadership and heroic qualities. The story speaks of his arrogance and often of his looks and not his accomplishments. The men of Uruk muttered,
“Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; yet the king should be a shepherd to his people. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior’s daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute.” (Lawall, 13).

The people Gilgamesh was leading, as a king, did not find him worthy. Shortly after his best friend and companion died, Gilgamesh yearned for immortality. Gilgamesh’s journey to search for immortality is a very selfish one, not in any way altruistic. Eventually the story begins to show the heroic side of Gilgamesh. While his journey was not altruistic, it was tenaciousness. Though there were many doubts, this hero pressed on through each battle in hopes to finally achieve immortality he wished for. Gilgamesh’s cleverness was exposed early on, when he learned that the gods were sending Enkidu. Gilgamesh heard of this and quickly thought of a plan,
“take with you a harlot, a child of pleasure. At the drinking-hole she will strip, and when he sees her beckoning he will embrace her, and then the wild beasts will reject him.” (Lawall, 14).

Gilgamesh sent a stripper to Enkidu to weaken him; this was a great demonstration of cleverness on the hero’s part.

Gilgamesh has only acquired two characteristics specific to heroes, he was still part man part god, went on a long journey, and defeated monsters that required superhuman courage. Overall, Gilgamesh demonstrated poor leadership qualities and did nothing altruistic. However he was still considered an epic hero because of his great feats, cleverness, tenaciousness, his historical significance as a king, and his superhuman courage.

Odysseus varied as a leader. Unlike Gilgamesh, who stayed a horrid leader, Odysseus was able to grow and become better. Odysseus constantly battled himself for the title of a hero. He would do one excellent thing, only to do one horrible thing to cancel that out. Odysseus was in search for and expecting of far too much glory and praise, a good leader should not expect these things. Odysseus was also a poor leader in that many of his men died, and like Gilgamesh he seemed not to care. In the beginning Odysseus’ communication skills were poor. He did not tell his men the content of his bag from Aeolus, making them curious and causing problems for the group. Later however, Odysseus did communicate the dangers of eating cattle, only to have his men ignore this warning. (Lawall, 385-488). Odyssues’ cleverness is shown many times. In book IX Odysseus displayed an extraordinary amount of cleverness when he found himself and his crew upon a Cyclops. He did so by using

goatskins,
“Then he [The Cyclops] dismembered them and made his meal,
gaping and crunching like a mountain lion ---
everything: innards, flesh, and marrow bones.” (Lawall, 326)

With his clever thinking, Odysseus was able to distract the Cyclops from watching he and his men. In books III and IV Odysseus began his development of the Trojan Horse, which allowed the Greeks to invade Troy. This idea is an example of both his cleverness and innovation. The Greek culture places much emphasis on intelligence and cleverness of their heroes, Odysseus was great because he excelled beyond what the culture expected. Odysseus is described as being tenacious because he is always focused on returning home, no matter the circumstances. For example, when all of his men fell in love with Lotos Eaters and did not want to leave the island, Odysseus convinced them to leave. Exactly like Gilgamesh, Odysseus was a poor leader. However, he uses cleverness, tenaciousness, and superhuman courage to become an epic hero.
Throughout both tales the heroic figures begin poorly, having no communication with their men, showing arrogance and disrespect towards the Gods, and displayed no sense of altruism. Overall these men began as horrible leaders. However, they ultimately acquired enough heroic characteristics to be considered an epic hero. Both of the heroes were great in the eyes of their culture, Gilgamesh because of his looks and godly makeup, and Odysseus because of his intelligence and cleverness. Through analyzing Gilgamesh and Odysseus, their similarities as poor leaders were clear and their different techniques lead them to finish as truly epic heroes.