Relationship Between Gods And Humanity :: essays research papers

The relationship between the divinity fudges and humanity in The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey ar the same. In each saga, the gods seem to live nearby and atomic number 18 ceaselessly present. Both epic poems portray humans as simply at the mercy of the gods. The gods feel that it is their duty to intervene if they feel that man is travel off course from his destiny. However, the gods are not all powerful. Each god has a certain domain and cannot control other gods domain. All the gods including Zeus, the set out of the gods, want Odysseus to be able to return home in The Odyssey. However, Poseiden, near atomic number 53 god, prevents Odysseus from returning. It is only when Poseiden is absent from Mt. Olympus that the other gods are able to exhaust control and assist Odysseus in returning home.Gilgamesh also has the same misconception that the gods are all powerful. After he and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, the gods Anu, Enlil, Ea and Shamash convene and determine that one of the brothers must die for their evil deed. Shamash, Gilgameshs protector, pleads with the other gods to drop out his life. The other gods disregard Shamashs appeal and Enkidu dies. In each instance, one god is not able to impose his agenda against the wishes of the other gods. Enkidus death evokes a disturbing thought in Gilgamesh. He at long last realizes that he is mortal. He then goes about trying to find the tell apart to immortality. Gilgamesh first seeks out Utnapishtim, the only human to gain immortality. When Gilgamesh cannot pass the seek of staying awake for seven days, Utnapishtim then gives him the plant "Old Men argon Young Again." Despite this second opportunity, Gilgamesh is not triumphant in his reckon for immortality because a serpent eats the plant and Gilgameshs opportunity is deep in thought(p) forever. He does not realize that Enlil, the father of the gods, had already determined his destiny. It is stimulate from the events of the sto ry that Gilgamesh was not to obtain everlasting life and it is no attendant that all of his efforts fail in one way or another. This is another example of mans lack of control where the gods are relate The Odyssey demonstrates how the gods favored certain men over others. When man had the gods "on his side," he was sure to complete whatever task was at hand.