Gilgamesh And Iliad Comparison

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Throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Iliad by Homer, there are many themes that the two compositions have in common. One of the most common themes and perhaps the most central and driving theme in both epics is the theme of death and human morality. Achilles of the ancient Greek epic, The Iliad, and Gilgamesh from the ancient Sumerian epic have many similarities as heroes who both must experience the loss of a dear friend and comrade. The main character in their respective heroics shape their daily decisions around the realization of morality. The fear of death and acceptance of fate causes the characters to think about the long-term consequences and not the short- term achievements in order to leave a legacy behind for the future generations to remember them by. Passion in each case proves to be the key to being content with your lot in life when immortality proves to be out of reach, whether it appears in friendship, celebrating their…show more content…
Towards the beginning of the two heroic epics, the heroes realize their inevitable fates and become afraid or cautious of death. Almost as a foreshadow to what will happen later in the epic, Agamemnon states “death submits to no one-- so mortals hate him most of all the gods.” (Iliad 9 190). His words showcase death as a physical entity and one to be feared by all. All humans, regardless of weather you are favored by the gods in Achilles case or spited by the gods in the case of Gilgamesh, will eventually be conquered by death and the characters struggle with this realization. Hector restates this idea when he says, “You worry too much about me, Andromache. / No one is going to send me to Hades before my time, / And no man has ever escaped his fate, rich or poor, / Coward or hero, once born into this world.” (Iliad 6 511-514) The characters first reaction

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