How Did Gilgamesh Influence Popular Culture

Abusch, T. (Oct-Dec 2001). The development and meaning of the Epic of Gilgamesh: An interpretive essay. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 121(4), 614-622.

The Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities to the Bible, especially in Genesis and it’s not just that the both begin with the letter “g”’! One major similarity being the flood story that is told in both works. The two stories are very similar but also very different. Another being the use of serpents in both works and how they represent the same thing. A third similarity being the power of God or gods and the influence they have on the people of the stories. Within these similarities there are also differences that need to be pointed out as well.

Odysseus used his sharp intelligence to defeat the Cyclops and to sail past the Isle of the Sirens. Odysseus’s mental strength stood strong for the men that accompanied him on his journey home and for Odysseus himself while he was gone from home for so long. Gilgamesh’s brute, physical strength comes from the fact that he is a demi-god in the epic poem, he is described as being two-thirds god and one-third man. The battles that face Gilgamesh are all met with his god-like strength, at first his battle with Engidu, who after defeat accepts Gilgamesh and the two become friends throughout the poem. Gilgamesh later defeats Khumbaba and the bull that Anu constructed and sent from the heavens to kill him. The gods followed by Gilgamesh were no longer pleased by his actions and his actions to the people of Uruk. The gods constructed Engidu to challenge Gilgamesh and defeat him. In The Odyssey, the gods convene and decided to allow Odysseus to return home to his family. So both epics have the hero’s being affected by the gods in one way or another. One in which an enemy is constructed to challenge the current ruler of a kingdom, Gilgamesh in this case. The other way is that the gods can plot, plan and set forth your future tribulations that you may encounter,

The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.

The themes of myths speak to concerns for every human being. This shows that different cultures are interconnected and share ideas. From reading the Epic of Gilgamesh we can begin to understand the values help by ancient Mesopotamian society. By reading the Ramayana we can analysis the religion and world view of Hinduism. Many ancient stories seem to parallel each other. Although stories are written in diverse cultures, there tend to be likenesses, especially between the protagonists. This is true with the stories of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Ramayana when it comes to the depictions of their hero’s.

     Both The Odyssey and the Epic of Gilgamesh are two incredible stories written long ago. These two epics share many of the same concepts. Such as the nostro (the Greek term for homecoming), xenis (guest/host relationship), oikos (household), and aganoriss (recognition). In both epics these themes are illustrated.

The Epic of Gilgamesh was created between 2700 to 2000 BCE. The author of The Epic of Gilgamesh is unknown, but one can assume that the author was born in old kingdom Egypt. During this time period the kings had a major influence on everything that was happening and they also had the power to control people's actions: such as, building of pyramids, where every king was buried after the death and they were buried with their essentials such as cloth and book of the dead to guide them to a heaven or ghosts. The journey to haven or to ghosts was determined by weight of the heart, and if the heart was heavier than feather this meant that an individual would go to ghost like place, but if the heart was lighter than the feather the individual would

In the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey they both have the same main idea, the heroes on a journey looking for something they want or need. Homer was the author of The Odyssey an epic poet. The author of The Epic of Gilgamesh is anonymous, but the story was also an epic like the Odyssey. The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh both characters were kings who were strong, brave and blessed by the gods, both of them angered a god who gave them the consequences they had to overcome also in the stories there was someone who got tempted. In both stories, some gods helped the heroes and a few made their journeys a lot more difficult.

The story about Gilgamesh is one of the earliest pieces of world literature dating back to the second millennium B.C.E. This story has been evolved gradually over a long span of a millennium, and has been enjoyed by many nations. The Epic of Gilgamesh teaches life lessons that apply to the past and present while revolving around the question of what it means to be human, and to experience the phenomenon of friendship, love, and death.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a great insight of how past civilizations spiritual beliefs with the tale having been written down in 2100 BCE. Having survived from ancient Mesopotamia Gilgamesh showcases the Sumerian culture in a light that seems strange in today’s time. Sumerian was a polytheistic society having temples and shrines honoring each deity. Throughout the Epic of Gilgamesh, there are many gods that Gilgamesh encounters along his journey each with their distinct interaction with the main character.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was mostly divine but shared minimal characteristics of a god. Such characteristics were bold physical structures and the strength of a wild bull which he inherited from his mother, Ninsun, the cow goddess. Everything else such as his characteristics, mentality, and actions mirrors ours, humans which makes him more like us than a god. His actions portray the burden of the flawed human nature that we all carry such as being aggressive, competitive, and running away from our fears.

Odysseus and Gilgamesh are both heroes from two diverse time eras that were in search for the meaning of life. The epic Gilgamesh was settled from early Mesopotamia, and the Odyssey was developed from early Greece. Gilgamesh was very prevalent and it was also extremely valuable to the historians of the Mesopotamian culture because it discloses much about the religious world, such as their attitudes to gods, how hero was defined and regarded, views about death and friendship. The Odyssey was very prevalent in its time also. It was set in ancient Greece where its culture, mythology, was the heart of everyday life. The Greek culture turned to mythology to explain different miracles for which they had no scientific explanation and that was prominent in the epic of Odysseus. The two heroes of these different stories have many differences and parallels.

Homer’s the Odyssey and Ancient Mesopotamia’s Epic of Gilgamesh are both incredible pieces of ancient literature. These two pieces of literature have been passed down for centuries and incredibly enough, share many of the same themes and concepts. Throughout both epic’s they have reoccurring themes such as homecoming, brotherhood, oikos, and gender norms. .

The myth known as the Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem that took place in Mesopotamia about 2700 B.C. The journey of this epic hero revolves around Gilgamesh who is a legendary hero and the king of Urak. This myth contains the departure, initiation, and return of Gilgamesh’ which is what makes this piece of literature so exciting.

If one has ever read, The Odyssey and/or Gilgamesh, they would’ve noticed many similarities between the two. If the readers considers the fact that The Odyssey was modeled after Gilgamesh, then it is easy to see that these two heroes are a lot alike. Yet they undoubtably have their own personality along with their own life stories. Although the stories are similar, there is a lot of differing materials that needs to be considered. Take into consideration; the treatment of heroes human qualities, treatment of death and immorality, and the Gods as well as their roles, it is easy to find where the two differ.