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The comparison between Achilles and Gilgamesh at the start of the epic Gilgamesh
The comparison between Achilles and Gilgamesh at the start of the epic Gilgamesh
Four types of loyalty
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Achilles and gilgamesh are both fierce and brave warriors, however Gilgamesh is a better representation of a better hero. Gilgamesh is a better hero because he displays loyalty by always supporting his people, bravery by fighting great beasts and determination by not giving up on what he has seeked out to do. These three qualities gilgamesh has are what set him and achilles apart.
Loyalty is a key part of being a hero. Even though Achilles shows loyalty by battling relentlessly for his people and defending his city, he leaves his people because one of his subjects slighted him and hopes the trojans kill them. Even tho gilgamesh leaves his city after the death of his best friend enkidu, Gilgamesh always returns back to his city. After enkidu’s death, he left on a journey for immortality. But when he could not find it he returned to his city and swore to be a better king. This is important because he didn’t treat his people the best but his journey to find immortality showed him he should become the best king he could. Bravery is
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Achilles shows a few different ways he is determined. Achilles wants to battle hector, but when he tries hector runs around the city of troy. After three times around and achilles chasing hector around the city hector stops and achilles kills him. He is filled with rage when his friend Patroclus dies, he shows determination by not stopping until he avenges his friend Patroclus. But gilgamesh tramples this determination when his friend enkidu dies because he refused to love the goddess of love Ishtar. Because of this she sent a beast to kill gilgamesh and enkidu. They slayed the beast and the gods wanted revenge on Gilgamesh for killing the beast from the heavens, so they kill enkidu. This makes gilgamesh go on a journey to seek immortality and he searches relentlessly, goes through many trials to do so. Another example of gilgamesh showing determination for his never ending path to gain more
The qualities that enables Gilgamesh success is bravery, superhuman strength, and value great honor. Throughout the story, Gilgamesh exhibits skills of being a warrior and leader. In the prologue the gods created Gilgamesh as perfection, “Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others” (61). Also, it is said that Gilgamesh is, “one-third human
Gilgamesh and Achilles are the products of divine mothers. Their divine blood gives them unrivaled strength and skill needed to be outstanding warriors. As a hero, Gilgamesh is admirable in the same measure as he is arrogant and tyrannical. He saves his people by preventing catastrophic outcomes to the people of Uruk by fighting the beast. He also makes sacrifices when he engages in a battle with Humbaba.
...e also existed many differences. Most striking was their view on death; one dreamt of immortality while the other adored death and all its glory. At the same time, one must acknowledge the significant effect their friends had on their lives. One cannot help but wonder how each hero's life would have been without what could be considered his soul mate. Regardless, one must accept the fact that Achilles and Gilgamesh were heroes of their time and will remain epic heroes that are continually analyzed and compared throughout the modern era.
After reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, I have come to realize that Gilgamesh is not a hero, but a failure. His journey does not follow the traditional circular hero’s journey and he does not posses the traits that an admirable hero should have.
...king them personally aspire to be great. Gilgamesh is a hero for his unbelievable actions, and the adoration he received from his people. Enkidu may not be the hero Gilgamesh is but he can be considered quite the hero even by himself. Monkey was able to accomplish some incredible feats in his many lifetimes. Tripitaka, while not as much of a hero as Monkey, was invaluable to the success of the journey and was greatly rewarded because of it. Becoming a hero is not an easy task. There is a reason these characters are so well known from these literary classics. They reached for the sky in their achievements, and had plenty of successes along the way. It is not easy to become a hero, but if you do you live on forever in the hearts and minds of the future generations as you are remembered. Therefore, Gilgamesh did obtain the immortality he always sought after.
After the defeat, Gilgamesh is wanted by the goddess Ishtar. Gilgamesh does not want to be Ishtar’s lover, so Ishtar request her father to send the Bull of Heaven to defeat Gilgamesh. But the power friendship Enkidu and Gilgamesh defeat the Bull of Heaven. The gods are upset by the death of Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven and seeks revenge, they request the death of either Gilgamesh or Enkidu. Ultimately the gods decided that Enkidu must die.
Every hero has a journey whether it may deal with slaying a dragon or obtaining immortality like our hero Gilgamesh. The story starts out in the ordinary world with Gilgamesh and Enkidu causing havoc on the city that Gilgamesh rules as king. As Enkidu is on his deathbed, he has a dream about old kings being in hell because of the selfish lifestyle they lived, which gets Gilgamesh determined to find immortality. On his journey, he prays to the gods and as he awakens lions attack him, but he is able to defeat them with his bare hands thanks to his prayers being accepted by the gods. Gilgamesh is stopped at the gates of Mashu and a scorpion guard that warns him about the difficult journey he will face if he goes through the gate, but that does
Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.
2 lines 16-23). He also teaches that change can be good and can have a good impact on an individual and the people around them (pg. 81-92). These signs seem to make him sound like a good leader. When he defeats Ishtar, his unselfishness will also make a good reputation for himself and his loved ones which benefits his leadership role (pg. 44-47). Gilgamesh is a king in his own community and is known to take on challenges of Uruk and goes on different quests to defeat creatures. He was also a leader who is disrespectful and really cruel to other people's feelings until he met Enkidu. Gilgamesh's hero journey happens to be in a different community that calls for an adventure and conquer creatures that look different than the hero's home. During his journey, he comes across challenges such as the event when he kills Humbaba (pg. 27-33). He also goes through a down-spiral into an abyss when Enkidu dies which makes him feel vulnerable (pg. 63-68). When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh realizes there's no room in life to be a selfish king. So, he pulls it together and becomes a wise and admired ruler/leader. Once he returned with Urshanabi to Uruk, Gilgamesh set about "restoring the sanctuaries (or: cities) that the Flood had destroyed" (1.42). He began architectural projects that benefited the city of Uruk such as "mountain passes" and wells (1.37-38). As a result he became a "hero," a
Gilgamesh was considered a hero because he had many great qualities, such as loyalty, perseverance, and heroism. Although these are heroic traits, he also had his flaws and was self-righteous, selfish, and prideful. Gilgamesh was a great man and was seen as flawless and “perfect in strength” (4). He represented almost a human version of a god; therefore, making it hard to see his flaws because he seems so ideal. He appeared like the perfect man that had absolutely nothing wrong with him. He was very courageous and this was evident when he states, “There dwells in the forest the fierce monster Humbaba, [You and I shall] kill [him] [And] wipe out [something evil from the land]” (18). This statement shows both a heroic quality and a flaw in Gilgamesh. It shows his heroism and how he felt that he could accomplish great things. His statement also shows how prideful he was because he always wanted the glory and wanted to be seen as the hero. This comes from the fact that he was part human and part god and he knew how amazing everyone thought he was and felt that he needed to live up to that expectation. This can be seen as both positive and negative because it shows his determination, but yet shows his pride. Being prideful is not necessarily a good thing because in this situati...
There were people that tried to prevent their destiny from ever happening but, even that was part of the divine plan to achieving the desired outcome. Each person these heroes met played an important role in their life. It affected how they act and respond to certain situations, making them who they are while evrything was still according to the gods layout. Gilgamesh being afraid of his own death and running away is just another example. He needed to realize that his people needed him as king, and as king, he has a duty to his people. And when he finally came back to his kingdom, he returned to be a wiser and a more humble king. The father of the gods proclaimed to Gilgamesh that he was “given the kingship, such [was] his destiny, everlasting life was not [his] destiny” (The Epic of Gilgamesh 13). Among the four heroes, he was the only one who tried to outrun his duty but, in the end, it still caught up with him. The same concept applies to the person trying to change his own destiny, not just others trying to change another person's destiny. No matter how hard Gilgamesh tries to fight his destiny, one way or another, the plans that the gods had set in motion is not to be stopped by anything or anyone. By the end of each of their journey, the heroes finally felt fulfilled, triumphant, and that they are where they are supposed to be all along, and not some place
In Gilgamesh, he fights Humbaba with Enkidu, his best friend. Humbaba is the guardian of the Cedar Forest who was assigned by the god Enlil. Gilgamesh doesn't fight for the world, but he has his own reasons. In the text, it states, “Even if I fail I will have made a lasting name for myself’’ (181). In other words, Gilgamesh's motivation to slaughter Humbaba is not just to get rid of evil but to let his people remember him. Gilgamesh is being selfish because if he's dead, Uruk won't have a ruler, which means Uruk will be out of control. The choice Gilgamesh makes causes him not to care about Uruk but only himself. However, the encounter of Enkidu's death has turned Gilgamesh into another person. He couldn't confront the truth that Enkidu has died. Enkidu was more than a best friend to him, he was a brother whom he loved. Because of his love for Enkidu, Gilgamesh builds a statue so everyone in Uruk will remember him. This demonstrates Gilgamesh changing from selfish to selfless. This change is part of Gilgamesh's transformations towards becoming a hero. Gilgamesh changes as a result of Enkidu's death. According to the text, it states, “Gilgamesh interferes in the lives of his subjects beyond his right as king”(175). This proves that Gilgamesh was bothering and annoying the people of Uruk. Gilgamesh is going to become king soon and he shouldn’t disregard or interfere with his subject’s private life.
The idea of fate has baffled mankind for centuries. Can humans control what happens to them, or is everyone placed in a predestined world designed by a higher power? The Epic of Gilgamesh and Oedipus The King highlight on the notion that no matter what, people cannot control what is destined to occur. Interestingly enough, many other distantly connected cultures had, and have similar gods or goddesses who play a role in the fate of individuals. Oedipus, King of Thebes, was told by the Oracle at Delphi that he would one day kill his father and marry his mother. Determined not to let this prophecy verify his fears, Oedipus does all in his power to prevent this from happening, yet fails. Similarly, Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, attempts to obtain immortality, but fails as well. Gilgamesh's and Oedipus's intense fear and ignorance cause them to try to interfere with their fates, leading to their failures and realization of the futility of trying to control destiny.
The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially their own fault through personal choice rather than by an evil act, while also appearing to be not entirely deserved of their unfortunate fate. Achilles is a true Tragic Hero because he withholds all of these traits. Achilles proves to be a good man that puts his loved ones first, reveals his tragic flaws of pride and anger, shows dynamic qualities as a character when his flaws are challenged, and has a moment of clarity at the end of his rage. Achilles truly exemplifies the qualities of a Tragic Hero.
In the poem, Iliad, Achilles and Hector both show relative heroism in their own different ways. Achilles may have been the more popular hero, but Hector had great heroism as well. Each of these characters possess their own different strengths and weaknesses. These two characters both have pride as being one of their main weaknesses. Hector seems as if he would suit best in the modern world, but there are a few different reasons as to why the ancients may have chose Achilles. Hector and Achilles both lost a lot by letting their pride get in the way of their heroism. Both of these characters were their country’s best warrior. Achilles and Hector have very different personalities, and very different ways of approaching situations.