Compare And Contrast Beowulf And Gilgamesh

The heros of any epic always portray the values of that epic’s culture. In the ancient Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh translated by Herbert Mason and the Anglo Saxon epic Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney, the intrepid heroes, Gilgamesh and Beowulf face many challenges, proving their heroic virtues. Gilgamesh and Beowulf both reveal their cultures values, however, these values differ from one another. Beowulf and Gilgamesh both illustrate the virtues and values of their cultures.
Gilgamesh and Beowulf both rule in their own time, but only Beowulf is a fair ruler and treats his people well and gives them what they deserve. Beowulf’s people respect and adore him, on the other hand, Gilgamesh is not a very good leader and treats the people beneath him extremely poorly. However Gilgamesh’s people do not like his selfish and dishonorable way of ruling;
As king, Gilgamesh was a tyrant to his people He demanded, from an old birthright, The privilege of sleeping with their brides… Sometimes he pushed his people half to death
With work rebuilding Uruk’s walls,
And then without an explanation let
The walls go unattended and decay,
And left his people dreaming of the past
While Beowulf and Gilgamesh both rule, they each have their own unique ways of ruling. Beowulf is a loved and respected ruler because he shows kindness to his people and them before himself. However Gilgamesh is a selfish ruler and puts himself before other and does not care about his people. Gilgamesh expects help and values teamwork, however, Beowulf is more independent, and likes to do things on his own. Gilgamesh has a tremendous fear of death after his friend, Enkidu, dies. Unlike Gilgamesh, Beowulf welcomes death and does not fear it. Every culture have their own values and virtues, they may share the same virtues but there will be many differences as