Free Essays: The Weak Gods of Iliad, Odyssey and Epic of Gilgamesh

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The Weak Gods of The Iliad, Odyssey and Gilgamesh

The Oxford English Dictionary defines god as Ò1. A being conceived as the

perfect, omnipotent, omniscient ruler and originator of the universe, the

principal object of faith and worship in monotheist religions. 2. A being of

supernatural powers, believed in and worshipped by a people.Ó The first

definition reflects Modern AmericaÕs connotation of the word god. The latter

recalls the Ancient Greco-Sumerian ideal of a being greater than man. While

both definitions are equally valid in literature, many perceive the word only in

the first view. However, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic of Gilgamesh

portray gods with limits and weaknesses. The contemporary Christian god is

able to demand things of his followers, readily expecting wholehearted and

unquestioning obedience. This was not the case with his ancient counterparts.

Rather than exacting demands upon their followers, occasionally the ancient

gods were limited to requests. Often they were refused. In the Odyssey, the

goddesses Circe and Calypso both expected lifelong commitments from the

mighty Odysseus. Both promised great things to the hero, including godhood.

Odysseus was able to refuse both goddesses. Human obstinacy beat out the

whims of goddesses. If the Protestant god were to make sexual demands upon

his followers, more than likely, he would not be refused. One could argue,

though, that Odysseus did give in to the goddesses by bedding them. Always

though, his focus eventually shifted to returning home and reuniting with his

mortal wife. Homer portrayed a man who refused immortal beauty for true love:

ÒShe is mortal after all, and you are immortal and ageless. But even so, what I

want and all my days I pine for is to go back to my house and see my day of

homecoming. And if some god batters me far out on the wide blue water, I will

endure it, keeping a stubborn spirit within me, for I have already suffered

much (93-94).Ó Thus, the mortal Odysseus was able to deny the temptations

of the goddesses multiple times. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, another goddessÕ

whims are put down. Ishtar, goddess of war and love becomes attracted to the

mighty but mortal Gilgamesh. But rather than jumping right into the sack with

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