An Epic Story, A Story Of An Epic Hero

An Epic story, a story of a traveler, an Epic Hero. A man who 's faced tragedy and journeyed through the most inhumane. Three intriguing stories Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, three complex heroes, Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Aeneas, three different endings peace, renewal, revenge. Tales that have withstood the treachery of time by showcasing human emotion and culture, ending in the most satisfactory unsatisfied way. I believe these Epics ended the way they should have ended and will demonstrate that through an analysis of the characters, the stories, and the comparisons between the three narratives. Out of the three Epic Stories, The Epic of Gilgamesh is the one with the most satisfying ending. In a way, the story ends where it started, creating …show more content…
The ending of Homer’s epic novel seems a bit abrupt, but it’s the necessary way of ending the story of Odysseus. If Gilgamesh thought he had problems he had no idea about the tumultuous journey his Greek counterpart Odysseus had to face. Dealing with angry Gods, monsters, women, and revenge Odysseus journey back home was not an easy one. Contrary to Gilgamesh, Odysseus did not care about dying, he knew it was inevitable. His main concern was to return to his family back in Ithaca. Obstacle upon obstacle was put on Odysseus, obstacles that would make any other common man render, bawl, and go insane, but Odysseus’s perseverance carried him through it all. At first glance, Odysseus seems like a patient man. Ten years have passed by since the demise of Troy, and Odysseus has not returned home. All his men dead, his ships destroyed, but he still remains patient that one day he will be reunited with his love Penelope and his son Telemachus. It is not until book XV where the reader perceives a change in Odysseus character. Odysseus has finally arrived in Ithaca and is so close to achieving his goal, but yet again he has one more obstacle in his way, the suitors. At this point, Odysseus is done being patient and takes fate to his own hands. The burden Odysseus has carried these last ten years after the war in Troy, and his tarnished pride that has induced him into misgiving after misgiving has been morphed into anger. Anger that can only …show more content…
Out of the three Epic Poems, The Aeneid is the most controversial and shocking of them all. In spite of whatever many readers believe, the ending of The Aeneid was the only outcome suitable for Aeneas. Similarly to The Odyssey, The Epic hero Aeneas has to travel through great adversity in order for the story to conclude. The reader is allowed into the calamity that has been Aeneas’s life since the decease of Troy. Dealing with the death of his father and wife, the loss of his hometown, being plagued by a plague, and hated by a powerful goddess, Aeneas has had it rough. The only thing that gets him through is his pietas, his furor, and his fatum. Unlike the Mesopotamian and Greek heroes, Aeneas acknowledges his fatum/fate as something he can not escape. However dire the situation, Aeneas’s faith is his motivation to continue his travels. As a representation of Roman ideals and the Roman Emperor Augustus, Virgil depicts Aeneas as a virtuous man filled with piety and respect to and from the Gods. He is a compassionate man who cares for his men and takes in consideration their thoughts and beliefs. Aeneas is the definition of a ruler, which is what Virgil wanted to portray. Many readers believe that the ending belittles his right to rule, and shows Aeneas’s “mortality”, as he too is a man that can be consumed by revenge, but through a deeper analysis that is not the case. “I sing of warfare and a man at