Gilgamesh And Odysseus Similarities

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Gilgamesh and Odysseus are our heroes; one from early Mesopotamia, the other from early Greece. Both of our heroes were kings of their own respect, although they ruled their kingdoms quite differently. Odysseus with a strong but just hand and Gilgamesh with a much more stern and nonchalant manner. The similarities between our two heroes are definitely notable, however their differences are just as abundant.
Personality wise our heroes are similar in many ways. They are both fearless, prideful and seek a legacy that lasts far after their heroic demise. Both of our heroes have no quarrels with slaying beasts, however the way they do it tends to be quite different. Odysseus prefers to fight his foes with his brain, coming up with a detailed plan …show more content…
One of the most striking similarities for me is Circe from Odysseus and Shambat the prostitute from Gilgamesh. Both of them start out as potential antagonists to the story, Circe turning Odysseus’s men into pigs whereas Shambat was sent to take Enkidu from his home. However, once our heroes courted them they seemed a bit more relaxed ultimately guiding them in the right direction. Shambat teaching Enkidu the ways of man and sending him to find Gilgamesh and Circe advises Odysseus on how to get home. Another correlation I saw was between Teirĕsias of the Odyssey and Utnapishtim of Gilgamesh. In a way they are both the final stage in the Underworld voyage and both give the main character advice they desperately needed. Teirĕsias gives Odysseus a prophecy that gives him the key to getting home; without this he would have consumed the cattle of the sun ad never made it home. Similarly Utnapishtim guided Gilgamesh home by telling him the answer to immortality that he needed. Essentially telling him bluntly that he was never going to see Enkidu again and if he wanted to honor Enkidu he would change his life and appreciate mortality then instructing him on how to find the flower of regeneration. Which he ultimately lost similarly to how Odysseus lost the bag of winds that Aeolus gave him. “...a bulls hide sewn from neck to …show more content…
In the odyssey the underworld is painted in an almost hectic life with Odysseus having to fight off spirits in order to communicate with Teirĕsias. “...I crouched with my drawn sword to keep the surging phantoms from the bloody pit till I should know the presence of Teirĕsias.” (XⅠ186) Whereas in gilgamesh it’s almost boring with very little happening other that the characters that appear to help forward the story such as siduri and Utnapishtim. In the Odyssey the Underworld to me feels a little more useful to the story, Odysseus gets to see his mom; who apparently passed away while he was gone, who warns him of the suitors that have taken over his kingdom. He gets to see Elpenor, one of his ship mates that died without Odysseus even knowing; this shows that Odysseus is not as detail oriented as the book makes out similar to Gilgamesh’s nonchalant attitude. And then he is given a great prophecy on how to get home. In comparison Gilgamesh is only told what he already knows but doesn't want to accept; the death of his friend, and to help him learn the key to living a full mortal life. This mortal condition is also something our heroes seem to have different levels of understanding of. In the Odyssey Odysseus lives in constant suffering fulfilling the mortal condition whereas Gilgamesh hasn't really suffered until he lost Enkidu. So their journeys are quite different, Gilgamesh
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