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A Compare And Contrast Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh And The Iliad

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Coming of peace for Gilgamesh and Achillies:
A Compare and Contrast of The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Iliad Within The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Iliad you have two godly characters. While both characters start their own journeys with their own set of problems, both stories end up in a setting of peace. Also you see that both are great warriors that take great pride in protecting their own. These two characters can be non-other than Gilgamesh and Achilles. Achilles fought for the Greeks against the Trojans during the Trojan War. Gilgamesh the king of Uruk fought for his people against beasts that no ordinary person can conquer. Many ask how these two born so many years apart can be so similar. As well as how these two characters in the end …show more content…
Achilles trails being that his war prize is taken away from him, as well as Patroclus’s death are both hard on him. Then again when no matter how hard he tried he could not feel peace in the killing of Hector. Only when he gives the body back is he humbled. When it comes to Gilgamesh he has the fight with Enkidu that first humbles him, then you have the fight with Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven. Achilles after killing Hector had to fight with himself by not letting the body go back to Troy. While Gilgamesh fought with himself after the death of Enkidu trying to find immortality because he was so afraid of death. Gilgamesh also looked for a way to leave a legacy behind for generations after him to admire in which on his return from looking for immortality he finds. This find being the wall of Uruk which will protect his people even after him. Also in both stories you do see many differences that help the story be its own. In The Iliad everything is based around the Trojan War happening. All of Achilles trails happened because of something that happened during the war. Where as in The Epic of Gilgamesh everything that happens to Gilgamesh happens within himself. His trails are not war related they are all because of either his ego or him being afraid that he is going to die and not leave anything …show more content…
The humbling of Gilgamesh when Enkidu shows up and fights him. We can use this as saying when we are feeling full of our self and over powering that we always have one person that can equal or even better us to bring us back down to Earth. When Enkidu passes Gilgamesh goes looking for immortality but can’t find it no matter how hard he looks, and after his trip to the Underworld he comes to the realization that death is inevitable and that he must face it at some point. This shows us not to be afraid of what might happen to only worry about what is currently happening and that we cannot get away from

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