When we first meet Gilgamesh, the epic’s title character, he possesses beauty, strength, and unequaled potential for greatness, but he is a tyrannical ruler, inexperienced and impulsive. The story is about his growth to full maturity as he develops through his friendship with Enkidu and his search for everlasting life.

In almost the entire story of The Iliad, Achilles has been a prideful, jealous, stubborn prick. He is the mightiest warrior in the Achaean army, but he cannot control his pride and his rage makes a puppet of him. He gets jealous of Agamemnon for taking all the glory of winning the battles, which is understandable because he is the one who won them, and withdraws from battle causing much suffering for

These two timeless stories show the evolvement of human character when faced with the tribulations of life. The lessons can not only be applied in Homeric times but also still live on today. It is inevitable that everyone must go through change or some sort of evolvement in his or her life. Achilles and Gilgamesh developed into mature epic heroes.

In Gilgamesh the gods aren’t pleased with the way Gilgamesh has been acting; he’s been abusing his rights as king. He exhausts his men in battle and claims the right to sleep with any woman before her marriage. So in order to keep him busy, the gods create a rival for him named Enkidu. This baby sitter that they appoint him symbolizes his childhood through adolescent stages. Gilgamesh and Enkidu go out on quests and foolishly try to kill Humbaba; this strengthens his immature image. When they came back, the gods are mad at them. The gods determine Enkidu must die as punishment for their foolishness. The gods taking Enkidu away from Gilgamesh is their way of telling him to grow up.

After Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh starts fearing death and goes in search of Uta-napishti and eternal life. This is Gilgamesh’s mid-life crisis. He realizes death will come looking for him so he tries to find a way to escape it. Uta-napishti counsels Gilgamesh and tells him that he can’t defeat sleep, so there is no way he can defeat death. Uta-napishti informs Gilgamesh that there is a plant that will rejuvenate his youth, but it is at the bottom of the ocean. Just like f

Some topics in this essay:
Phoenix Achilles, Iliad Achilles, Patroclus Patroclus, Agamemnon Priam, Gilgamesh Achilles, Greeks Achilles, Gilgamesh Enkidu, Highway Life, Patroclus Achilles, Enkidu Gilgamesh, bottom ocean, hector’s body, eternal life, achilles realizes, anger feels, greek army,