The Act of Sacrifice from Achilles and Gilgamesh

The Act of Sacrifice from Achilles and Gilgamesh

The act of sacrifice is a very important event in literature. Often, it can define and shape a character’s life and personality. The ancient texts discussed in class contain many diverse, yet equally meaningful examples of sacrifice. Even though these acts of sacrifice can occur for different reasons, each one has a similar purpose. The characters that perform such sacrifices are required to give up something they love, cherish or own in order to serve a greater purpose. Achilles from The Iliad must sacrifice his physical possessions to appease his gods. Gilgamesh is unwillingly forced to sacrifice his beloved brother. Cain from The Bible also forfeits material possessions, but he also gives up his own integrity, as well as eternal life in his Heaven. These sacrifices appear to differ in the severity of what is given up, but they are actually alike in the way each is used to accomplish certain goals.

Achilles is an excellent example of one who performs sacrifice. In The Iliad, Achilles is a supreme and god-like warrior, but his many character flaws hold him from achieving his full potential. His rampant pride and unharnessed rage overtakes his other good qualities and causes him many hardships. Achilles hopes to reduce these flaws by sacrificing numerous possessions to the gods. He believes, as did most other Greeks of the time, that thee gifts would urge the gods to look favorably upon the givers. Objects, such as cows, pigs, and wine, were cooked in an extremely orderly manner. Any deviations from the proper method of offering the gifts would be seen as a sign of disrespect. Sacrifices are made to obtain or achieve something in the future. In the case of Achilles, his sacrifice was made in hope that the gods would control and possibly eliminate his rage and pride. Achilles’ gifts of animals and drink to the gods were viewed by the Ancient Greek public as normal, honorable, and religious. Most citizens made some kind of offering to the gods, but the gifts were definitely not as lavish and extravagant as the offerings made by Achilles. Regardless of the sacrifice, the importance was found in how much the gift meant to the giver, and how often the gifts came to the gods. Like Achilles, Gilgamesh also made an extreme sacrifice in order to better himself and those around him.

In Gilgamesh, the tit...

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...necessary arrogance that stirred unrest in his people. After his sacrifice, he had known the joys of brotherhood, become wiser and humbler, and gained the respect of his people. The complete opposite of Gilgamesh’s case is Cain’s. He begins as a humble, faithful servant of God, and he is given a good job. But he makes inadequate sacrifices and compounds the problem by murdering his brother. At the end, he does not have his job, he has lost his loyal brother by his own hand, and most walk aimlessly across the earth for eternity.

As can be seen, sacrifices take on many different shapes and forms. These sacrifices can be alike and different in many aspects, but they all are important in literature. Sacrifice molds the integrity and reputation of those making them, not only to the society in which they live, but also with the higher power that they worship. The sacrifices of Achilles, Gilgamesh, and Cain were all important in their respective cultures and were very influential in how these three will be looked upon throughout history. It is obvious that any sacrifice to be made must be carefully picked over and analyzed before it is enacted. Otherwise, one may wonder forever.