Epic Of Gilgamesh Essay

Religion and science are integral parts of present day life all across the world. However, ancient civilizations had no form of science to explain common earthly occurrences. Therefore, they relied on religious storytelling to explain the world and all of its workings. Most prevalent of these writings include, the Bible, “The Epic of Gilgamesh” by N.K. Sandars, and “The Iliad” by Homer. Ancient civilizations comforted people by using God, gods, goddesses, and other religious deities in these works of literature to explain the phenomena of the world. In the past, people lived simple lives and could not explain simple processes like the weather. Therefore, it is no wonder that when people began to question their own origins they would be

While the gods and goddesses in the story may not be as comforting or loving as the God in the Bible, the epic still offers a way to understand the unknown phenomena of life. Dreams are one example of this kind of phenomena. Throughout the epic, Gilgamesh and Enkidu have prophetic dreams that often times include the gods and goddesses. The gods and goddesses give a reason for there to be dreams, and while that philosophy may have changed over time, the people in ancient civilizations must have found it comforting to have dreams that could connect with their gods and goddesses. We can also see that when in difficult situations, even heroes like Gilgamesh and Enkidu pray to the gods and find comfort in asking for help. After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh falls into despair and he searches for immortality. Throughout his journey he meets several godly beings and he prays to gods along the way as well. He finds comfort in praying and even in his despair he seeks the help of the gods who unjustly punished Enkidu. The people reading The Epic of Gilgamesh in the past must have learned to pray just as the great hero Gilgamesh did and find comfort in believing in the gods and their strength. Even as Gilgamesh searches for Utnapishtim, he looks for him in order to understand how he became a god and how to attain immortality. In order to cope with

The first conflict begins when the daughter of a Priest of Apollo is taken and the Priest prays to Apollo who answers by punishing the Greeks with a plague that kills a significant number of them for 10 days. Here Homer teaches the readers to respect the gods for their power. Instead of simply stating that a plague struck the Greeks and affected them for 10 days, Homer uses the gods to explain the plague and give reasons as to why these nonsensical events were occurring. Rather than having a mysterious disease that takes the lives of several men, it comforts the people to believe that the gods are angry and have cursed them. By giving the gods a role in the story, the people can give a reason to honor the gods more in their daily lives and avoid admitting that they do not understand what is killing them. The tide of the war shifts back and forth between the Greeks and the Trojans as the gods quarrel with one another. One example would be when Hera puts Zeus to sleep and allows Poseidon to aid the Greeks. It is possible that the details of the Trojan War were unknown, so the people who wrote these religious stories incorporated the gods to make the battle seem more eventful and reliant on the gods. They were taught to take comfort in the gods and pray to