Comparative Heroics (Essay Sample)

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Comparative Heroics
The epic of Gilgamesh was set in the Ancient times illustrating a conflict during the ancient summer. The lives of the people and their way of life had changed from nomadism to stable agricultural activities. The story depicts a state of confusion, and the society is all striving to establish itself and fit into the new social status. It is through this confusion that Gilgamesh tries to achieve immortality using both the old and the new methods. On the other hand, Aeneid was written during the time of political reform in Rome. Aeneas was determined to form a great foundation for political stability in the Roman Empire. The paper will focus on the characteristics of the two heroes, Aeneid in The Aeneid and Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh is presented as a person very greedy of power. His desire is to use the power to control the rest of the people and increase his influence in the society. Enkidu was sent to fight against the power abuse by Gilgamesh. On arrival in the city, Enkidu finds Gilgamesh forcing all brides in the city to sleep with him first before they sleep with their lawful husbands. All along he gets away with this because people believe that he has an extraordinary power that the rest of the people do not have. This context depicts to Enkidu how Gilgamesh uses his power to mistreat people and abuse them. Later on they become friends with Enkidu, using his power he forces Enkidu to follow him to Great Cedar Woods and cut down all the cedar trees (123HelpMe.com).
Gilgamesh was very determined to have a power that was only possessed by the gods. He wanted to be immortal. He went around the city doing all that was impossible and was very determined to achieve it. It through this determination that Gilgamesh goes to fight with Humbaba in the cedar woods. While still in the woods with Enkidu he fights against the gods that were sent to help him. He struggles so much to achieve an immortal spirit, but he cannot. When Enkidu tells him to kill Humbaba he shows a lot of compassion and hesitates to kill Humbaba. He finally realizes his humanity at the end when Enkidu dies (123HelpMe.com).
On the other hand, Aeneas is depicted as the most focused leader who wants to lead the kingdom of the gods to their fate. For instance when he saw the temple Dido built he never lost his hope, in fact, it came as a source of hope to him. For the first time, he became more confident and more home in his destiny. Secondly he I presented as a very listening leader. He listens to prophecies given to him by Appollo and the other gods. After listening to them, he decides to be more focused towards achieving his goal despite the obstacles (123HelpMe.com). Aeneas is presented as a very concerned, caring and determined leader. He leads his people up to the North Coast of Libya. He finds them food to sustain them and motivates them of their destiny. When they reached in Thrace, Aeneas divides the people into homesteads to achieve order and secure his people. Polydorus advice Aeneas to leave the Thrace. He does not heed to this advice easily instead consults other leaders before making a final decision (123HelpMe.com).
The people that Aeneas led usually respected him and listened to him always. Even when he is away, the Warriors respect his rulings and stay orderly. Also, the people abide by his decisions. For instance when he was rewarding winners in the race he announced Euryalus as the winner despite the fact that there were issues surrounding his victory. He also gave a speech speaking the right things that people wanted to hear from him at that very time and gave presents to all participants in the race. Aeneas ...