The epic poems The Odyssey‚ written by Homer‚ and Gilgamesh‚ translated by David Ferry‚ feature the struggles and triumphs of two epic heroes‚ Odysseus and Gilgamesh. Epic heroes exemplify six common traits. They are all strong fighters‚ complete with physical beauty and intimidation. The epic hero is dangerous yet protects ordinary people. There is always an encounter with death and the cosmos. They are superhuman‚ but they are not supernatural‚ although they come in contact with the supernatural
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Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative Gilgamesh crucially abused his power as King of Uruk and ruled as a “tyrant to his people” (15)‚ much like many leaders have before‚ but after meeting Enkidu‚ he grew as a person‚ saw things differently‚ and adjusted his concepts of holding the responsibility of leadership. He grew to come to terms with his struggles and accept them‚ which is what leaders are looked up to for. The idea that one can make mistakes and repent for them‚ being mortal and vulnerable
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Women in Gilgamesh and The Odyssey Although men are the Epic characters of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey‚ women also play a very important role in both stories. In general‚ these two stories portray women as being overly sexual‚ deceptive‚ and having a power over men. Women use their sexuality to hold control over men‚ to confuse and deceive them. One example of a female character using her sexuality to control a male character is Shamhat in her relations with Enkidu in Tablet I of Gilgamesh. Shamhat
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Since the two inspiring stories‚ The Epic of Gilgamesh by Beers & The Odyssey by Homer are similar to each other‚ what events happen in both of the stories and what lesson does one learn? The Epic of Gilgamesh & The Odyssey are similar to each other because events that happened in The Epic of Gilgamesh also happened in The Odyssey. Some events that happened in both of the stories include that they both had to overcome monsters and obstacles to get to their destination. Both of the powerful heroes
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religion and have been passed down for generations in their respective cultures. Striking similarities are readily seen between the Book of Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh of the Hebrews and Sumerians respectively. Both sources include a tale of a great flood that was to clear the earth of its inhabitants. Although the Epic of Gilgamesh predates the Book of Genesis by hundreds of years‚ the Sumerian text probably had a profound influence over the latter. Genesis‚ the first book of the Old Testament
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Epic of Gilgamesh‚ these violent actions proved the man is a hero by his ability to accomplish them. In ancient Hebrew and Greek literature‚ heroism was measured by the amount of violent acts committed by a hero. In The Epic of Gilgamesh‚ the heroes “Gilgamesh and Enkidu mount an armed expedition against the monster Humbaba because of Gilgamesh’s belief that he would thereby maintain his role as a warrior‚ experience the excitement of adventure‚ and win fame.”(Abusch 617) They
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contemporary writers of that time. That is why I chose Epic of Gilgamesh‚ Homer’s Iliad‚ and Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince as works that I would include in my syllabus if I was a World Literature instructor. I feel that no matter where in the world an instructor is teaching at‚ he or she has to include the world’s earliest known written literature in their syllabus. That is one of my main reason for including the Epic of Gilgamesh in my syllabus. The culture and civilization that wrote
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The Development and Meaning of the Epic of Gilgamesh: An Interpretive Essay Author(s): Tzvi Abusch Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society‚ Vol. 121‚ No. 4 (Oct. - Dec.‚ 2001)‚ pp. 614622 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/606502 . Accessed: 16/01/2014 12:21 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use‚ available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit
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The flood in Genesis is not the only story of its kind‚ other mythological versions have a very similar act to tell. The flood in Genesis shows that the one existing God (Yahweh) controls all things‚ and in the mythological story of the Epic of Gilgamesh‚ the god Enlil needed other gods to help control all things. The overall point in the stories come to a similar conclusion -humanity was corrupt or bothersome and needed punishment- but the differences are in how the God (Yahweh) or gods demonstrate
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companionships present in the myth of Gilgamesh‚ such as Shamhat and Enkidu‚ none is more significant to the story as the bond between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. In Stephen Mitchell’s translation of The Gilgamesh‚ the relationship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh fully reveals the character development of Gilgamesh over the course of the story. The ensuing friendship that is created between the two conveys the human side of the semi-divine Gilgamesh. From the outset of the story‚ Gilgamesh is portrayed as a powerful
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