Epic Passages of The Epic of Gilgamesh" and Homer's "Odyssey"

In my eyes a hero is a person who shows courage, is humble, does not give up, and is someone everybody can relate to. The protagonist in “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because although he is emotional throughout the book and lets his emotions take over his actions, he displays immense courage and perseveres through his journey and hardships.

Two understand how the gods influenced our hero, Gilgamesh, one must first look at the various ways the gods meddled into his life. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale of a half-mortal man whose quest to break his own boredom turns into a tale of friendship, immortality, and kingship. However, his tale would not have been able to happen if it was not for the influence of the various Sumerian deities. After the people of Uruk complained to the gods about Gilgamesh’s child-like behavior, the goddess Aruru creates the man that will become Gilgamesh’s closest friend, Enkidu. Enkidu was created as an equal to the king so that Gilgamesh would have a way to occupy his time. Unfortunately, after the two friends defeated the giant Humbaba, a terrible demon creature, the god Enlil becomes enraged, but despite Enlil’s best effort, he is unable to punish the two.

Symbols are often used in literary works as a way to represent complex ideas. Water is a great example of a symbol that was often used in ancient literary pieces. It is regularly used to represent not only birth but also death. It is the very essence of water that makes it so significant. Water is a necessity for life and was one of the very first things that God put on Earth well before anything living. It is a mysterious matter that holds many secrets. While it’s surface many times appears calm and tranquil, its depths hold many secrets and mysterious unknowns. It is because water can mean so many different things that it used so much to symbolize important things in literary pieces. In both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey, water

Many think being a hero is having super powers, but on the contrary it's more than that. A hero is one who is distinguished for their courage and bravery, and looked upon for their great deeds. A hero like this is not just found in modern society today, but in mythology as well. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus earns the title of a true hero by conveying many qualities such as: determination, courage and leadership.

Joseph Campbell once said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” True heroes are those who do something for others rather for themselves, Odysseus doesn’t exactly show this trait in The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus along with his men try to go back home to Ithaca but due to Odysseus nature, only he actually returns alive. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus proves he is not a hero because he is arrogant, secretive, and unfaithful; resulting for readers to believe that every action has an consequence.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu helps act as a catalyst for the transformation of Gilgamesh’s character from an undefeatable god-like brute into a complex thinker. In the eyes of Gilgamesh, he is unstoppable and is willing to challenge death itself so long as he is remembered as a hero by his subjects. With Enkidu’s help, Gilgamesh learns to become a better person as a ruler, not as a better warrior. Although not blood related, Enkidu was like a brother to Gilgamesh and the duo shared an inseparable bond. Throughout the epic, Enkidu teaches Gilgamesh that he is not unstoppable, being stubborn will not stop him from dying, and that there are no easy solutions to life.

In the text that has been covered in class we often see how the gods so often turn their backs on their heroes i.e. “Odyssey” by Homer. However, our God promises He will never leave us or forsake us. There are many gods in the Greek mythology yet one god could be for the hero and one could be against; they can completely counter act what the other god is doing. They lack in communication i.e. “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” Our God is three in one Father, Spirit, and Son, yet there is no lack in communication because they are one. In the Greek stories there are monsters and all other sorts of enemies and they all do whatever their little hearts desire (this is seen in the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic of Gilgamesh). We believe in one enemy his name is Lucifer (Satan, The devil). He is the king of lies, deceit, and temptation. He is the deceiver. He is everything bad rolled in to one creature. People may not

The trait of heroism is something that has changed over thousands of years. Today’s heros have different traits than those heroes of the Trojan War. However, a few have survived the test of time. Many of modern day heroes, as well as past heroes, do hold these long enduring traits, like Nelson Mandela, Marcus Luttrell, Louis Zamperini, and the fictional Iron Man. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey by Homer, portrays the traits necessary to be dubbed a hero. One is a hero if he or she shows leadership, bravery, resilience, and creativity throughout their actions.

Being a legitimate hero is not all about having the extraordinary supernatural powers commonly seen on television. Heroes are people who aid others, often putting themselves at risk to do so. They made the decision to fight, not necessarily physically, for their values. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey, should be considered a hero. He put his own life in jeopardy to protect his men from the supernatural threats that they faced throughout their journey. Odysseus should be regarded as a hero because he is brave, clever, and cautious.

A true hero will go through immeasurable lengths to benefit not him or herself, but the people around them. Heroes are neither selfish nor uncaring. They seek every opportunity they get to help those in need. One must have also gone through the entire hero’s journey to be deemed a hero. He must start off naïve and inept and through his challenges, transform into someone worth calling a hero. Most importantly, a hero is not perfect. He must listen to other’s ideas and utilize them. However, in The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus disrespects his crew men and the gods’ advice, lets hubris interfere with his men’s lives, and is unfaithful to his wife Penelope.

In order to be labeled as a hero, characters are usually stronger than or go through enough hardship to become stronger than their obstacles. In the introduction to The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is portrayed as the mightiest man of the

Beginning with Gilgamesh, his entire life he was known as a tyrant king. He became so arrogant and erratic that the gods were forced to create another being in order to challenge him. This being, Enkidu, was sent so they could “contend together and leave Uruk in quiet” (The Epic of Gilgamesh 4). This is a perfect example to the fact that Gilgamesh was arrogant and unpredictable. With that being said, he is referred to as a hero for he was the almighty presence in the kingdom. Before Enkidu was created, there was no creature powerful enough to challenge Gilgamesh. This was in part due to him being two-thirds god, however his human side was still generations ahead of anyone else. All in all, Gilgamesh was a mighty human, and a dominant force.

Throughout the story, you see Gilgamesh transform from a tyrant to a brave and humble hero for the people. Although Gilgamesh is two-thirds god, he came to terms that he is also human and when Enkidu came to picture, he realized that fact rather quickly. At the beginning of the story, he was not a humble ruler, in fact he ruled a tyranny and took the wives of all men. Villagers complained to the gods, and that is when the gods created his double, Enkido. Enkido has much to do with Gilgamesh personal growth and is a hero himself.

Since gilgamesh is both God and human, the people of Uruk basically worshipped Gilgamesh. The people thought he was the strongest of them all. A hunter came across another being. The hunter then went to his father and explain to father was he saw and the father told the hunter “Boy, your answer lies in Uruk where there stalks a man of endless strength named Gilgamesh.” (Pg.22 Column III). Little did they know someone else was coming to be equally or even more strong then Gilgamesh. Enkidu was only made to match the strength of Gilgamesh. Although everyone knew the strength of gilgamesh many did not like him, because he would take women that were with other men then sleep with them first. Enkidu was about to test the strength of Gilgamesh.

The Epic of Gilgamesh opens up by telling us a story with the coming of Enkidu, Gilgamesh a young boy that terrorizes his home and has no compassion for his people, lashing out his immaturity. The gods create an equal out of clay name Enkidu, where Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel and go through challenges where they encounter creatures, kings and god/goddess and also provides moral to the story of human relationships such a love and fear of the death. The trials that Gilgamesh went through were all accomplishments in the end game, at the time they could’ve been interpreted as failures but every trail Gilgamesh accepted were all merely lessons about life and growth. Gilgamesh was a hero because of his great