Achilles Vs Gilgamesh

708 Words3 Pages
Bad things happen to everyone. The good, the evil, the poor, and the rich, all at one point or another have something bad happen to them. So the question is why do they happen? Myths such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and The Iliad often try and answer this question by showing the various obstacles a hero faces along his or her journey. Although they have different trials to overcome, in the myth “The Epic of Gilgamesh”, translated by N. K Sanders, and in the “Iliad” by Homer, both heroes learned a valuable lesson from their experiences and looked to the gods for help, answering the timeless question of “Why do bad things happen?”. After facing difficult hardships, both Gilgamesh and Achilles overcome them, and in turn learn a very important lesson. Gilgamesh makes several attempts to win immortality after seeing his friend Enkidu pass away. He finally realizes when he returns to his kingdom that he doesn't need it after all. “This too was the work of Gilgamesh, the king, who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us the tale of “the days before the flood”. He sees all the legacy he will leave behind in all of the hard work he put into building his kingdom. The lifetime he is given is enough to be remembered forever and be immortal in spirit. Similarly, Achilles, who…show more content…
Gilgamesh had to go through several different challenges, trying to achieve his goal of immortality, only to fail and not receive any reward for his hardships. Achilles only had to go through one tragedy: losing his best friend to his mortal enemy. Achilles also received a kind of reward by getting revenge on Agamemnon, which contrasts the outcome of The Epic Of Gilgamesh. Even though both of their quests were disperate, they both led them to the same conclusion on to why bad things
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