Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Odysseus v. Rama (v. Gilgamesh?)
Both the Odyssey and the Ramayana feature a hero who suffers a series of misfortunes. They both are separated from their wives and risk losing them to another man. Both heroes also undertake a journey. How are Odysseus and Rama similar? How are they different? In what ways are their journeys similar or different? How does Gilgamesh and his journey fit into this picture?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Odysseus and Rama are similar in many aspects, such that they both have very important and valuable skills. Odysseus is very clever and wise like Athena, in many ways. (That is kind of ironic that she helps him while they are so similar.) Rama is also very wise, mostly because he is a god incarnated, but he is wise none-the-less. Both Rama and Odysseus are also very good militarily. Although Odysseus is praised as a little bit of a better military strategic planner, Rama still leads his army in the final battle against Ravana. Rama won, so he must have done a pretty good job, even though it is not directly stated that Rama was a wonderful military leader. In the spirit of the military, I should mention that both Odysseus and Rama were very wonderful fighters. In this case, I feel that Rama is praised as being better. Do not get me wrong, Odysseus won in the battle of Troy, won all of the competitions in Phaecia, and is continuously said to be enormously strong, but Rama is a god’s incarnation. In The Ramayana, his feats are described in detail. For example, he shoots an arrow through multiple awesome trees and that same arrow continues around the world. Odysseus is strong, but not that strong, yet, both Odysseus and Rama are incredibly strong. Odysseus and Rama both have incredible gifts that most anyone else in the world would die for. Among those people is Gilgamesh. (This is where Gilgamesh fits into the picture.) Gilgamesh was two thirds god, but he was not clever, wise, or unnaturally skilled with military matters. Gilgamesh smashed all of the rocks that were supposed to show him how to reach immortality, so he was not wise or clever. In military matters, he was afraid of fighting Humbaba at first and he showed no courage. He was afraid and hid, he needed Enkidu to tell him to come back and fight. Odysseus and Rama have great gifts while Gilgamesh does not.
ReplyDeleteI have the same opinion and am in agreement with everything Andrew said about comparing Odysseus to Rama.
ReplyDeleteBut I think Odysseus was the better military strategic planner because of his cunning ideas and his tricks that helped him throughout his journey home. For example, the Trojan horse, where he led the soldiers to the defeat of the Trojans which shows just a taste of his military strategy, as the bard tells us. Rama, on the other hand, was a god, which is an unfair advantage, in my opinion. He had all the "powers" of a god while Odysseus was just a moral man which no ”super special powers". Rama is only considered stronger due to his feats which cannot be topped by a mortal man because it was from an incarnation of a god. In a way, I think that Gilgamesh like Andrew said does not fit the “hero" title. Gilgamesh also did not help Enkidu fight with the Bull of Heaven which was meant to kill him. Gilgamesh is basically the opposite of Odysseus and Rama but he also encounters sufferings and misfortunes on his journey too. For example, when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh has to get over the loss of his friend. Another one I consider a misfortune is when he loses the plant that he spent the whole journey basically looking for.
But I also pose another question, if Gilgmesh is two-thirds god and Odysseus is immortal , why is Odysseus so much better in a sense than Gilgmesh which is a practically a god?
On the surface Rama and Odysseus seem to have a lot in common. They are both leaders who are equally talented in military tactics and they are both strong, and intelligent. But their morals and methods are completely different. Rama seems to make all the right choices, he knows what he’s doing and he’s thoughtful as opposed to acting on impulse. Opposite of Odysseus who blindly leads his crew into life threatening situations. Rama’s military trusts him, and does as he says because he has given no reason for them not to. They don’t question him. Also very different from Odysseus’ crew who questioned his regard for them when they ate the cattle of the sun, opened the bag of winds, and on several other occasions. For good reason too, as Odysseus had given them no reason to trust him. Rama also has regard for human life, something Odysseus seems to lack, as by the time he reached Ithaca he was the only one left. Rama is a reincarnated god, an example of the perfect man, so it’s almost unfair to compare him to pure mortal, Odysseus. Gilgamesh is an entirely different story. Gilgamesh was two thirds god, so that puts him at just about the same playing field as Rama. But Gilgamesh did not have any outstanding qualities, and therefore also pales in comparison to Rama.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus and Gilgamesh have many similarities. They both are on a quest, and both quests end up relating to fame. In The Odyssey, Odysseus wants Kleos, or fame, which he tries to obtain by defeating mighty monsters and people. He was a hero in Troy, and on his journey home, he defeated a massive Cyclops. As he is escaping from the Cyclops, Odysseus states; “’Cyclops, if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so-say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!’” (9.554-62) This quotation shows that he wants everyone to know who he is, and by this, he will be known throughout history.
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh on the other hand, went to kill the mighty Humbaba! Humbaba was sent down by the gods to guard the forest of Cedars. This forest was never touched by any humans, and Gilgamesh wanted to be the first. During this EPIC, ha-ha get it? Epic?....fight, he defeated Humbaba, but he was not satisfied. He then went to find eternal youth, and he had a long journey there.
Each hero wished for fame and to be recognized by the world. They both had long hard adventures and they both wanted their greatest enemies to recognize who they were. In my opinion, this was a bad idea because it allows the enemy to quickly search them down. In Odysseus’ case, he tells him exactly where he lives. I think they deserved a lot more that respect, and should be recognized by everyone.