The epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Illiad, and Vergil’s Aeneid all reflect the traditional fundamental structures which make them appear quite similar. They are curved around the lives and times of the heroes and present their achievements, follies, strengths, and weaknesses that mark their destiny. In all these epics, there are elements of heroism, tragedy, the theme of suffering, and the device of troubled journeys which are presented as pre-conditions that the heroes must endure before their crowning moments.
The story of Gilgamesh is anchored on his supernatural qualities. He is presented in the epic dimensions that showcase him as partly human and partly as a god. Gilgamesh is a man of immense physical powers and handsome facial attributes. Through these strengths, he manages to establish a kingdom and succeeds in vanquishing most of his earthly enemies with the support of the gods. But his fundamental weakness lies in his disposition towards oppression. He is shown as a brutal and loveless individual and one who is much given to an amorous streak (Mitchell 1). This weakness incurs the wrath of the humans who have to endure a lifetime of torment under Gilgamesh’s wrath. It is through this brutality that he manages to establish a kingdom that is most synonymous with his levels of earthly glory.
The establishing of a kingdom, in these three epics, appears to be a permanent feature that the authors of these epics have used to create the warrior ethic. This is because Homer’s Iliad just like Virgil’s Aeneid is centered on the theme of enthroning. Achilles has to triumph against the Trojans for him to guarantee the safety and permanence of Greece (Leaf 1-6). Aeneid has to battle the storms on the high seas, get shipwrecked, travel great distances, and fight devastating wars for him to finally achieve the dream of establishing Rome.
One other similarity in these epics is the role of women. They are represented as both makers and destroyers of civilization. The plight of Gilgamesh is captured in his weakness and lust for women. Many times prostitutes and young women are used to ensnaring him towards failure, (Leaf 480-482). But on the contrary Achilles’ wife and his goddess mother are brought out as the reservoirs of strength that he repeatedly falls onto in times of trouble. For instance, his mother manages to convince the gods to make some fresh amour for Achilles after he loses them in time of battle. These contradictions in the character of women are similar to the modern conception of feminine power which is variously brought out as both positive and negative.
Another similarity that strengthens the warrior ethic is captured in the pursuit of a single goal or a rare find. This single pursuit most often seems to be elusive so that the process of search also becomes the making of the hero. In the Iliad, this one goal lies in the slaying of Hector who cuts the image of a lifelong tormentor of the Greeks. His survival means their doom, and therefore their prosperity is entirely dependent on his demise. It, therefore, becomes the role of the hero, in this case, Achilles, to slay him and by so doing mark his moment, and mission of glory.
In Virgil’s Aeneid, the hero-making process is centered on the goal of establishing Rome. This process involved prophesies intervention of the gods, wars, and strenuous and adventurous travel, (Ganiban 1-7). The final hour comes when Aeneid manages to slay his archrival and actualize the mission of establishing a city, which is both metaphorical and literal. Gilgamesh’s lifetime dream is to discover the secret of immortality. He engages in all forms of paranormal encounters as he tries to find the one substance that might give him the guarantee of immortality. In the end, however, fails in his mission and has to contend with the brevity of life and the passage of seasons.
These searches are used in the epics to bring out the sense of immortality in humans and the futility of pursuing things beyond the physical realities. These three epics in a sense bring out the limits of human experience, human power, and the vanity of striving to exist beyond the natural boundaries of man. The heroes in these epics are represented in god-like forms and as characters that can dialogue with god as they wish. The relationship between the gods and the humans is equally problematic especially in the sense in which the gods are portrayed as falling below the glory and becoming subject to some earthly appetites of love, lust, and more.
Through these epics, the reader gets a rare glimpse into the historical developments of the societies where these epics are set. The values, mores, superstitions and, cultural beliefs are represented in the discourse of the main character. The heroes in these fictional settings are made to represent the actual idealized forms of realities as lived through the actual settings of these epics. The heroes in these epics evoke and perpetuate the hopes and aspirations of the people represented in the epics. Achilles for instance evokes the virtues of courage, love, and romance as it was desired in the lives of the people of Greece in the time setting of the Iliad.
In contrast, the villains are made to capture the fears, and challenges of the societies represented by these epics. The exploits of the villains are metaphorical representations of the enduring of evil and immense efforts that ancient civilizations invested in ridding the systems of these forces. This way these epics become a form of celebrating the epic heritage of a people are represented in the heroic expeditions of their past heroes. The character of Hector in the Iliad represents the forces that stood against the forces of nationhood and stability. The authorial development of the character of Hector is one way through which hyperbole and contrast achieve the mission of creating the protagonists in the poem.
The import of these three epics lies in their historicism. They are stylistically created to align with the genealogy of civilizations. The making of the Roman Empire, the development of the ancient Greek culture, and the spread of cultures around the world are all captured within the substance of these epics. The plot is most cases linear so that it vibrates directly with the progressive passage of time. The flow of the poems is also made to resonate with a lyrical flow which evokes a kind of narration to the reader. There is therefore the feeling that the historical aspect of civilizations, the exploration of cultures and values, is being let out in an ordered sequence. It is these similarities that tie the three epics of Iliad, Aeneid, and Gilgamesh as superstructures that unearth the histories, cultures, and values of these generations.
Works Cited
Ganiban, Randall. Virgil: Aeneid, Book 1. New York: Focus Publishing, 2009.
Leaf, Walter. Homer, the Iliad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Vol2, 2010.
Mitchell, Stephen. Gilgamesh: A New English Version. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006.