Compare and Contrast - Essay Example

Compare and Contrast Gilgamesh was a Mesopotamian demigod; Rama was an Indian prince while Odysseus was the ruler of the Island kingdom of Ithaca. He was also a Greek ancient warrior. All of these heroes became involved in epic quests at a certain point of their lives. The people of the city of Gilgamesh prayed to the Gods to free them from his tyrannical rule. The gods give them relief in the form of Enkidu. The two get in a fight, and since there is no winner, they embark on journeys and adventures together.

Gilgamesh is in search of eternal life after his friend Enkidu gets killed by the gods. Gilgamesh becomes disconsolate after the death of Enkidu. He goes out to seek the secret of immortality from Utnapishtim’s sage. He however cannot get the sea plant that has the properties of immortality as it gets eaten by a serpent. He goes back crest fallen to live his life in Uruk. 1Odysseus lives his kingdom to fight in the war of Trojan. His return from Troy to Ithaka took him ten years. This is because the journey got faced with many mishaps and calamities.

His ship got struck by lightning and was the only survivor. He became made captive and lover by Calypso in his island. After seven years, he got released, but his ship got caught in a storm and had to swim to the island of Phaeacians for safety. 2Rama embarks on a quest to search for his wife Sita. He gets banished to the forest for fourteen years because of the vow his dad made to one of his queens. Rama is a formidable hunter. Rama gets viewed with a bow over his shoulders at all times. Odysseus has great recognized skills as an archer.

Nevertheless, unlike Odysseus, Rama only fights when provoked and participates in aggressive behavior when other people are under threat. Odysseus is aggressive more than Rama. In his journey, Rama is willing to fall into submission for the sake of others, unlike Gilgamesh and Odysseus. As Odysseus survives his journeys as a result of his cleverness, Rama depends on other people for help.2 In both the journeys, there is an aim. All the three rulers are in search for something valuable and valuable in their lives.

They are willing to lose their lives just to achieve their goal. The cultures of the three leaders related in a way. In all the cultures, there is the presence of demigods that got worshipped. In India, these demigods are still in existence. The people worship them and pray to them for help. All of the three also had extraordinary powers given unto them. The people in the societies of the three were kind. They provided help to the three whenever they needed it.Footnotes 1. Christine A, Hult and Thomas N, The New Century Handbook (Boston: Pearson, 2011), 28-30. 2. Sarah Lawall and Mack Maynard, The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Beginnings to 1650 (New York: Norton, 2002), 30-35.

BibliographyHuckin, Christine A. Hult & Thomas N. The New Century Handbook. Boston : Pearson, 2011.Sarah Lawall and Maynard Mack, Eds. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Beginnings to 1650. New York: Norton, 2002.