Neil Vezeau
Mr. Wall
Global Lit. and Comp.
September 26, 2010
Comparison of Gilgamesh and Odysseus
In the realm of epic poetry, heroes of god-like might, go off and accomplish great things,
while dealing with deities and mortal beings alike. This is no different in Homer’s The Odyssey
or The Epic of Gilgamesh. In The Odyssey, the tale is recounted of the great warrior Odysseus
trying to return home to his wife after fighting a great war. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, it is told
of how a demigod, Gilgamesh, faced retribution for poor leadership and manages to redeem
himself. However, with all the similarities and conventions of epic poetry, there are also many
differences, such as character traits and the nature of obstacles faced by the heroes as well. Even
though Odysseus and Gilgamesh possess great importance to the realities in which they exist,
Gilgamesh’s impact on his reality is much more negative than Odysseus’s.
One of the most important similarities that Odysseus and Gilgamesh have is that they
both serve as connects between the Gods and the mortals. Gilgamesh is born of a god and as
such is involved in their affairs, as well as being the ruler of his people. Odysseus invoked the
wrath of the Gods for fighting at Troy in addition to having to lead his men on a voyage that
Poseidon had brought upon them because of the killing of the Cyclops, his son. No matter what
the specific circumstance, Odysseus’s and Gilgamesh’s epic statuses make them critical
singularities, representative of the Gods to the people, and representative of humans to the Gods.
This gives them a divine impact on the realms in which they exist, making them very influential
people
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Aside from this major similarity between Odysseus and Gilgamesh, the two also have
much more in common. They both are great warriors, and the results of them defeating certain
people greatly affect their worlds. Odysseus’s killing of the Cyclops, for example was able to
make a god such as Poseidon take action, and Gilgamesh killing the bull of heaven sent to kill
him by the Gods for mistakes he made in the past. Because their fighting can cause Gods to
intervene, Odysseus and Gilgamesh have great influence over their respective worlds.
Despite their many similarities, Odysseus and Gilgamesh have many differences as well.
While Odysseus can act cocky at times person to those that he meets, Gilgamesh can come off as
particularly arrogant to others. This is illustrated well when he says, “ . In addition to this,
Odysseus seems to be presented as more of a cunning tactician while Gilgamesh relies more on
brute force. Because of the negative connotations of the arrogance and use of brute force of
Gilgamesh, he can be said to have a bad impact on those around him, tending to anger the Gods.
While Gilgamesh and Odysseus go through very tough hardships throughout their
journeys, everything that happens to Gilgamesh tends to be his fault, while Odysseus struggles
seems to be the result of bad luck. While fighting
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