The Journeys Of Odysseus In The Odyssey And Gilgamesh

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The journeys of Odysseus in The Odyssey and Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh have many similarities and differences. Both characters embark on a journey to search for the meaning of life. Both stories show friendship, relationships with the Gods, and death. But each characters journey in the stories is unique and shows different lessons and outcomes. In the cultures that both of these stories take place in, the God’s have a big impact on the people’s destinies and doom. Throughout the stories, the Gods are referred to a lot and their influences are very powerful. In The Odyssey, Odysseus still has not returned home after the Trojan War. Odysseus’ wife and family are still hoping he will return home to them but they are afraid he has been killed. While Odysseus is assumed to have died, many men are trying to court his wife. In this time period, it is not normal for a woman to remain a widow after their husband has passed, and the suitors do not know that Odysseus is still alive. Calypso, infatuated with Odysseus imprisoned him on her island of Ogygia. He longs to be reunited with his family and is in search of a way to escape. While he is still imprisoned, Zeus sent Hermes to persuade Calypso to allow Odysseus …show more content…
In the story of Gilgamesh, the harlot that civilized Enkidu into a man was the main female figure. She helped in the transformation to change Enkidu from a wild animal into a civilized human being. In the story of The Odyssey, Penelope, the wife of Odysseus was one of the main female figures. The thought of being reunited with her again was one of the main things that motivated Odysseus to get home. Her faithfulness to Odysseus while he was away showed a great judge of character. While both of these woman played completely different roles in the stories, neither Gilgamesh nor Odysseus would have embarked on their journeys without these woman and their roles as characters in the
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