Odyssey Vs Gilgamesh Essay

Term Paper Epic poetry is lengthy poems that tell a story, usually about a character whose actions prove to be in favor of heroism. The idea behind the story typically deals in the traditions whether it is mythical or historical of a culture or nation. Mesopotamian mythology, an ancient civilization whose history goes back before the famous Greek civilization period, has a tale of a king of Uruk named Gilgamesh, whose actions lead his people to dislike him. Through actions that spit on the gods, he experiences the death of someone close. The death then sets Gilgamesh to pursue immortality to avoid the fate of his friend. In the end, the king‘s chance at immortality slips away in his moment of weakness. In Greek mythology there is a tale
Everyone knows this but what a lot of people don’t is that these two epics share many of the same concepts. Such as the nostro (the Greek term for homecoming), xenis (guest/host relationship), oikos (household), and aganoriss (recognition). In both epics these themes are illustrated.

In The Odyssey the theme of nostro is very prevalent in this epic. Basically the whole story is based around this concept. The main character, Odysseus’ whole goal in the book is his homecoming. Along his journey he faces many challenges separating him from his home (Ithaca) and his family. The main thing that keeps Odysseus going is the thought of one day being home with his family, no matter how many setbacks he faces.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh the theme of nostro is more or less established - the only difference between the two epics is nostro is not the main focus in this one. The main character in this epic is the great and powerful King Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is not affected by the theme of homecoming until the end of the book, after his best friend Enkidu is killed by the Bull of Heaven and he goes looking for eternal life. Unfortunately he is not successful in his quest and realizes he is mortal and how important his family is and returns to Uruk to be with