Gilgamesh Vs Odyssey

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In the article I chose compares The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey. In this article there are small and large comparisons to how these two stories are similar and I will be providing examples to show why I agree with Gerald K. Gresseth. In this article it is said that “The Epic of Gilgamesh is the Odyssey of the Babylonians” (1). Later in this article, they then compare the walking test that Gilgamesh to Odysseus and his crew sailing for nine days, and “this motif reflects a stage where the hero won immortality, not by special fiat of deity but by his own efforts” (9). That simply means that the hero of those two stories won the hearts of the readers just by their shier efforts. Then further in this article Gresseth begins to explain…show more content…
So report back to him everything I say, and report it publicly-----get the Greeks angry" (265). In the ninth book of the Iliad, Achilles lets his emotions impair his judgement because he is obviously upset from the words Agamemnon said to him previously. Also, in this book the strong and mighty Agamemnon began to weep because he thinks the war is lost. As the text says "Agamemnon Stood up, weeping, his face like a sheer cliff with dark Springwater washing down stone groaning heavily he addressed the troops" (257). Also, the soldiers were not afraid to display their emotion as well as the text says "When two winds rise on the swarming deep, Boreas and Zephyr, blowing from Thrace in a sudden squall, the startled black waves will crest and tangle the surf with seaweed. The Greeks felt like that, pummeled and torn" (257). As the text says this is how the soldiers felt. In present day society it is not as accepted for a man to display such emotion as the ancient males, as a matter of fact, it is almost greatly expected for a man to show no emotion or let his emotion influence his decisions in today’s world. As in ancient times it was accepted to publicly cry or to show some form of weakness, because it was mostly from war losses or something just so tragic. The way of life to be a man now is that we have to be stoic or not very expressive when things don’t go your way or we will be frowned upon in…show more content…
If you’re his friend you’re no longer mine, although I love you. Hate him because I hate him. It’s as simple as that" (270). In saying this Achilles is basically telling Phoenix who to befriend and who not to befriend. This in itself is a prime example of a trait of a very emotional man. In saying this Achilles proved to be a very emotional guy who could not live in today’s society without being judged my many men also without having his manhood questioned. As the text says “Ajax, son of Telamon in the line of Zeus, everything you say is after my own heart. But I swell with rage when I think of how the son of Atreus treated me like dirt in public, as if I were some worthless tramp" (271). The mighty and the strong Achilles once again displays too much emotion to how he was treated by another man or human in general. In saying he was treated like a tramp makes him come off as one of the softest men, even fathomed, which shows that men in Ancient times were very emotional and very in touch with their feelings; as for the man of today’s society they are either a man’s man or your
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