The Relationship Between Gods And Gods In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Is there a difference between the Christian God and the gods in the famous book known as the Odyssey? Should we really care if God or the gods of the odyssey are better or worse than the other or for that matter be thankful that we are ruled by God rather than the Odyssey gods? In many ways they are very different. Sending his only son to die on the cross God, loving and merciful, showed he cared about his mortals, while the gods of The Odyssey will try to kill you even if you slightly offend their children. No caring for mortals there. Surprisingly that’s just one of the many qualities that separates the Odyssey gods to the real almighty God. While that by itself is a pretty convincing fact that our God, who is prince of peace, is better than

The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An

One of the overarching themes that spanned over the many books we read over the semester, was the nature of love and the search for meaning. Love is an inherent aspect of humanity, and while it is an often inexplicable and complex sentiment, it is intrinsically connected with mankind's search for meaning in life. Love often leads a person in directions that they do not expect, and this is obvious in the very different applications of love in different books. However, one common idea about the relationship between love, suffering, and wisdom, can be argued for based off the ancient texts that we read. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Antigone, and The Tale of Genji, love is used as a vehicle for wisdom through suffering and loss.

The personalities of the gods are as broad as there are stars in the heavens, and as such the ways that these gods interact with mortals vary. The purpose of gods intervening with the days of man comes down to two things, good or bad; there are gods who are caring and loving towards mortals while others view man as pawns which they can use for their own personal agenda. A few gods that capture and exemplify the various personalities of the gods can be found in Ovid: The Metamorphoses of Ovid and Homer: The essential Homer: Selections from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Although the ways man and the gods communicate and get each other’s attention are different, there are reoccurring and overarching themes such as desire, and loyalty that make each intervention between gods and mortals similar.

Gods and Goddesses and God Have you ever read a mythology story and thought “wow these gods are basically just overpowered humans?” Well, the Epic of Gilgamesh is no different. You have a lot of different gods interfering with humans, you have goddesses sleeping with humans, the gods are really like the humans. The only real difference is the gods use humans more as a form of entertainment, of a source of food. If you take a different viewpoint of religion you get something like the Bible.

Having the gods and humans interact with one and other is a key focal point of the story. The gods being honored and praised by the humans leads to a class difference which makes most gods act down on humanity. One of the main reasons gods look lower on humans is due to the lifespan difference with gods having a long-life span which they grow impatient with the minuteness of humanity. A good example of this is a flood which was intended to wipe away all humanity with the great gods orchestrating the planning (Foster 81). The great god Enlil discovers the plan has gone to waste with Utnapishtim and his wife being the lone survivors he becomes infuriated due to humanity’s survival. (Foster 85). For this reason, the gods are evil with a meddling nature as they take drastic measures to punish humanity for not appeasing the gods in their activity.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, we see many comparisons of the relationships between the great Greek gods and the mortals that lay below them. We can use many words to compare the two’s relationship; mutual, parent and childlike, and a sense of early government ruling over its people. Although, what we see between the Greek gods and mortals is the gods playing the role of a somewhat metaphysical guide through the story we still have this confliction of whether they are friends, foe’s, or neither. We will be diving deeper into this matter in the following paragraphs below to look at how the gods themselves reflect the image of a guide for the mortals or even a temporary enemy, how they used their powers to help the mortals, and with this role the conflicts and agreements that are created between the two.

One example of the tension between the gods and humans is when Ishtar is rejected by Gilgamesh, and tries to destroy Uruk. Unlike any other person who had been refused, Ishtar used her relationship with the gods to demand the Bull of Heaven kill Gilgamesh and cause famine in Uruk for seven years. She ordered, “Give me the Bull of Heaven, just for a little while. I want to bring it to earth, I want it to kill that liar Gilgamesh and destroy his palace. If you say no, I will smash the gates of the underworld, and a million famished ghouls will ascend to devour the living, and the living will be outnumbered by the dead”

People anticipate that the divine beings will watch over them and guard them. Now and again it isn't that the people hope to be protected but, guided somehow. They see the gods as flawless creatures that are all powerful and all knowing. The interaction between the gods and the humans in The Epic of Gilgamesh isn’t hard to identify, “Your appearance is no different from mine; there is nothing strange in your features (Gilgamesh 538)”. There is trust and a mutual dependency between the humans and the gods in The epic of Gilgamesh. Regardless of the undeniable power difference between the two

The relationship between gods and mortals in mythology has long been a complicated topic. The gods can be generous and supportive, and also devastating and destructive to any group of humans. Mortals must respect the powers above them that cannot be controlled. The gods rule over destiny, nature, and justice, and need to be recognized and worshipped for the powerful beings as they are. Regardless of one's actions, intentions, and thoughts, the gods in Greek myth have ultimate power and the final decision of justice over nature, mortals, and even each other.

With even a slight exposure to ancient Greek texts, it could be easily said that the gods and goddesses played an important part in the traditional Greek culture. In ancient Greek literary works, such as poetry, songs, and dramas, it was written that the gods interfered in the everyday life of people, predicted people’s fate, and meddled with people’s futures. The gods and goddesses played a crucial role within their worlds. In The Iliad book one, the gods are a significant part of the poem. The gods intervene in the life of the mortals, engineering the mortal’s fate.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the goddess of love, Ishtar who is coveted Gilgamesh’s beauty, and she wants to marry him. But Gilgamesh rejected. Then Ishtar feels angry and insulted, which are the feeling that humans have. Sometime, the gods are very emotional and childish. The gods decide to destroy humanity through a great flood for no reason, and the only man that survives from the flood and becomes eternal is also no reason. It is not because the gods like him or he has good personality, just because he is lucky, and the gods are

The gods of Greek and Roman mythology are portrayed in very human terms. They are fallible, temperamental, and equally prone to anger or happiness toward their human subjects. In these myths, the gods are constantly interacting with their human subjects. They told the future and gave advice through their priests, priestesses, and oracles. They were constantly taking the forms of humans to, in equal parts, test or tease their human subjects. They would come disguised to take lovers or test the faithful. In ancient Greece anyone could be a god in disguise.

The Odyssey is one of the ancient Greek tragedies that describe in epic detail, the mediation between gods and the mortal men. The Nostos of the Achaean hero seeks to illuminate the relation between the gods and the humans, and how the gods being possessors of various powers worked as spiritual advisors and supporters for their subjects. In The Iliad, the relation between the gods and the humans had a more passive characteristic. The gods never influenced or manipulated the lives of the mortals, but maintained their distance and tried to be more

mediators between the gods and humanity is known as sacerdotalism, and was fundamental in ancient Egypt. Though Mesopotamia had priests as well, there was a stronger emphasis on a personal relationship with the gods that allowed Gilgamesh and Enkidu to go directly the temple and communicate with Ninsun.