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 principal intent of faith and worship in monotheist religions. 2. A being of supernatural powers, believed in and worshipped by a people. The low definition reflects Modern the Statess connotation of the word god. The latter rec every last(predicate)s the Ancient Greco-Sumerian ideal of a being greater than man. While both definitions ar equally legal 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 adapted to bespeak things of his followers, readily expecting wholehearted and unquestioning obedience. This was not the case with his ancient counterparts. or else 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 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. Always though, his localise eventually shifted to returning home and reuniting with his earthly wife. Homer portrayed a man who refused immortal beauty for true love She is mortal later all, and you are immortal and ageless. still even so, what I want and all my days I pine for is to go back to my house and jut out my day of homecoming. And if some god batters me far out on the panoptic blue water, I will endure it, keeping a dogged spirit within me, for I hav e already suffered much (93-94). Thus, the mortal Odysseus was able to deny the temptations of the goddesses multiple times. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, another 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