Jake Gordon History 18 October 2012 Compare and Contrast Throughout history, there have been many stories

that have been passed down through generations. Stories such as Beowulf and The Iliad have been immensely popular, and have been adapted into all kinds of different mediums. Movies and TV shows have taken many of these stories, and presented them to modern audiences. People really enjoy these epic tales of courage and defying the odds, even if whats presented to them is just a series of mindless action sequences and poor acting. What people seem to miss, however, is how these stories reflect the culture in which they were written. If we look beyond the surface of many of these popular stories, and the heroes that occupy them, we will find people that are more than just your typical action movie hero. The protagonists in these stories have real, palpable issues that affect them in a great number of ways. Two stories that present this idea perfectly are the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bhagavad Gita.

Like I mentioned before, people commonly perceive many of the characters they watch and read about just as a means to deliver the plot. The protagonists of these two stories, Gilgamesh and Arjuna, are more than just meaningless plot devices. They have real world issues, doubts, and concerns that many of us can relate to, albeit in a much different setting. Whats interesting is that both of these characters seem so different from each other from the outset. As you start exploring the various nuances of their character,

however, you find that, although sharing differing backgrounds and histories, they may not seem so divergent after all.

Lets start with Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, a grand and wondrous city located in the heart of Ancient Mesopotamia. He is perceived by his people as a noble and righteous leader, but Gilgamesh is certainly no saint. As a character, Gilgamesh is very self-centered, arrogant, and irrational. He loves fighting with anybody he meets, and raping women before they become married. Since he is a demi-god, he is more powerful than anyone around him, and that allows him to be one of the best warriors in the land. Arjuna, the protagonist in the Bhagavad Gita, is also a great warrior. He is a viewed as a brave and noble prince, but underneath, faces many demons that haunt him day after day. Unlike Gilgamesh, Arjuna is a much more careful, considerate person, one that actually thinks about the consequences of his actions, and how they might affect others.

The concerns of Gilgamesh and Arjuna vary a bit from one another, but they involve similar ideas. When Gilgamesh loses his best friend, Enkidu, he begins to question his mortality, which, prior to this, is something that he never thought about. When Enkidu is dying, he describes a vision of the afterlife that he has. This vision is full of death and despair, and that vision continues to haunt Gilgamesh for days on end. He becomes so obsessed with his own death that he begins to look for a path to immortality. This journey takes him all over the land, until he finally meets Utnapishtim, a character that many would say has parallels to Noah, both in terms of ideology, and the unbelievable tasks put on their shoulders. Utnapishtim describes how he was granted

immortality, and, much to Gilgameshs dismay, how Gilgamesh must abandon his search for immortality. He tells Gilgamesh that he must enjoy the life that he is given, and not worry about trying to attain something that is so far out of his reach. Gilgamesh receives similar advice from the god Enlil, who tells him that he must strive for perfection in this world, and to not abuse his power.

Arjunas quest also revolves around the idea of death. At the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is caught in the middle of a war , with friends and family on both sides. Similar to Gilgamesh, Arjuna is a great warrior. The difference, however, is that Arjuna has to fight. As part of the warrior caste, it is Arjunas duty, or Dharma, to fight, no matter what. Arjuna realizes that if he became involved in this war, he would have to take part in the death of countless loves ones, one of which is a longtime friend and mentor. Arjuna becomes overcome with a sense of guilt and sadness, and turns away from this fight. It isnt until he meets Krishna, that he finally finds a way to be free of this inner turmoil.

This brings me to my next point, which is religion. When Arjuna encounters Krishna, which has a profound effect on Arjuna. Krishna is a very patient and considerate god, one that cares deeply for humans. Krishna explains to Arjuna that the main cause of human suffering is ties to the material world. He says that humans as a whole focus too much of their attention on things that will only benefit them for a short time. He goes on to say that once you enter into the eternal world, none of these things will matter. Krishna tells Arjuna that if he can extinguish his desires, he can achieve happiness in the spiritual

world, or Moksha. This mindset is directly connected to Hinduism, with concepts such as Moksha and the eternal world being heavily emphasized by its followers. In fact, this scenario in the Bhagavad Gita does a great job at describing the general perception that people in Ancient India felt towards their religion. People in Ancient India had a great respect for the afterlife, and wanted to complete their Dharma in order to be placed into the cycle of death and reincarnation. By doing their Dharma, people could be reincarnated into a higher caste, which gave them motivation for thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Whereas Krishna is very patient and caring, the majority of the gods in the Epic of Gilgamesh are irrational, volatile, and dont really consider the consequences of their actions. When Utnapishtim explains to Gilgamesh how he received his immortality, he talks about how the gods became furious with humans, and as a result, flooded the entire earth. Ea, the god of wisdom and male fertility, warns Utnapishtim of the impending flood, which allows him to escape, and survive. Ea demonstrates how even though most of the gods were angry and irrational, and at times, completely insane, they still cared about humans, even under of all their flaws. Just like with the Bhagavad Gita, The Epic of Gilgamesh is pretty realistic as far as depicting the gods, which inhabit their respective societies. In Ancient Mesopotamia, people feared their gods, and never knew what to expect. The most obvious signifier of this was the weather. When the weather was normal, the people knew that the gods were pleased. As the weather got increasingly chaotic, people became wary, and knew that the gods were not happy with them. With the weather ever changing, life for people in Ancient Mesopotamia was extremely difficult.

As evidenced by these events, both Ancient Mesopotamian and Indian culture were heavily driven by religion. They may have shared different religions, and the traits that go along with them, but it is the respect and the value that they held for their gods that made them so comparable.

The final aspect of these two stories that make them so interesting is the journey of their protagonists. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh started out as an ignorant, carefree jerk that only thought about himself. He took his life for granted, and nothing ever really meant anything to him. As the story goes along, Gilgamesh develops a startling sense of reality, one that he was missing for so long. After his encounter with death, and the psychological journey that he makes, he becomes a much more caring and honest person than he was ever been. The citizens around him benefit from his newfound hopefulness, and his life becomes significantly better as a result. Like Gilgamesh before him, Arjunas journey is quite astounding. At the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita, he starts out like a lost kid. He was no direction, as well as a sense of fear and doubt that follows him like a shadow. He doesnt know if he should fight or flee, and the thought of causing the death of his friends and family paralyzes him with an agonizing sensation of terror. After learning from Krishna the way to end his suffering, Arjuna knows that fighting isnt just a choice he has to make. Its his duty. He takes on this responsibility, not because he has to, but because it is a just cause. To avoid it would be worse than death itself. Arjuna figures that if he is indeed going to die, then he might as well die for something that has some sort of implication.

Even though both of these stories have a sense of personal triumph and transformation, the journeys themselves are quite different. If we look at the journey of Gilgamesh, we can see that it is much more physical, and involves much more action on his part. Scenes such as him and Enkiku facing off against Humbaba, or traveling across the lands in search for immortality, really show how physically imposing this journey was for Gilgamesh. On the other hand, Arjunas journey was almost entirely psychological. He never actually travels anywhere, nor does he have to defeat some supernatural spirit. His biggest enemy is, surprisingly, himself. His personal demons proved to be just as wicked and oppressive as any real demon ever was.

As you have just read, the stories of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bhagavad Gita have some truly remarkable similarities, as well as some startling differences, especially when comparing the journeys and motivations of their two protagonists. These characters have to endure many arduous tasks, both physically and psychologically. Everything from religion and war, to the inevitability of death, is seen in some manner throughout these two stories, and must be dealt with by these characters. Even though these stories, along with the heroes that occupy them, may prove to be interesting, it is the way in which they are able to connect to readers on so many levels. They touch on everything from common human emotions, such as fear and regret, to the struggles and decisions that we have to face in our day-to-day lives. They also provide a deeper insight into the cultures from which these tales have come from, and the histories behind them. People of all ages continue to read about these fascinating stories, and that is why they will continue to make an impact for many years to come.