The Education Of Odysseus And Gilgamesh
The Education of Odysseus and Gilgamesh
Odysseus and Gilgamesh are both characters in epics who become heroes through the challenges they face on their respective journeys. During each character?s journey he learns the qualities that a good leader and hero must possess. They both start off as flawed men and leaders?and the tests they face on their journeys teach them to overcome their flaws and become better leaders as well as heroes.
A true leader must be comfortable in his solitude and able to act alone. In each epic both characters are in situations where they are both isolated and feel overwhelmingly lonely. Gilgamesh encounters loneliness more than once throughout the epic. In the beginning, he is so lonely that he acts as a tyrant, ignores his duties as a king and pursues young children and maidens throughout his kingdom in a quest for companionship. Later on Gilgamesh becomes lonely again after the death of Enkidu which sets him off into deep depression and he feels as though he has no purpose for living any longer. Odysseus, on the other hand, is stuck on an island with Calypso for seven years with almost no hope
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