Free Essays: The Weak Gods of Iliad, Odyssey and Epic of Gilgamesh :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Weak Gods of The Iliad, Odyssey and Gilgamesh The Oxford English Dictionary defines god as 1. A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient ruler and originator of the universe, the headland object of faith and worship in mo nonheist religions. 2. A being of witching(prenominal) powers, believed in and worshipped by a people. The first definition reflects advanced(a) Americas connotation of the word god. The latter recalls the Ancient Greco-Sumerian exemplification of a being slap-uper than man. While both definitions are as valid in literature, many perceive the word only in the first view. However, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic of Gilgamesh portray gods with limits and weaknesses. The contemporary Christian god is adequate to demand things of his followers, readily expecting wholehearted and unquestioning obedience. This was not the case with his quaint counterparts. Rather than exacting demands upon their followers, occasionally the ancient gods were limited to requests. Often they were refused. In the Odyssey, the goddesses Circe and Calypso both expected lifelong commitments from the mighty Odysseus. Both promised great things to the hero, including godhood. Odysseus was able to refuse both goddesses. Human obstinacy beat turn out the whims of goddesses. If the Protestant god were to make sexual demands upon his followers, more than likely, he would not be refused. One could argue, though, that Odysseus did give in to the goddesses by bedding them. eer though, his focus eventually shifted to returning home and reuniting with his baneful wife. Homer visualized a man who refused im venomous beauty for true love She is mortal after all, and you are immortal and ageless. But even so, what I necessitate and all my days I pine for is to go back to my dramatics and see my day of homecoming. And if some god batters me far out on the wide blue water, I will endure it, keeping a stubborn spirit within me, for I have already suffered often (93-94). Thus, the mortal Odysseus was able to deny the temptations of the goddesses multiple times. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, other goddess whims are put down. Ishtar, goddess of war and love becomes attracted to the mighty but mortal Gilgamesh. But rather than jumping right into the sack with