Compare and Contrast of Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bhagavad Gita

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Lisa Mason October 9, 2012 History 105 Comparing and Contrasting the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bhagavad Gita Throughout many literary works we tend to see different views of historical stories or myths that emphasis their culture, religion and society. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bhagavad Gita are two myths that pose historical facts about their ancient society. In the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bhagavad Gita we see two heroes that go through a central struggle that they both have to overcome; Gilgamesh central struggle is to obtain eternal life, while Arjuna central struggle is to not fight against is kinsman. They each also share similar behavior of trying to escape their destiny but realized that they cannot through the advice that their gods give to them. Their culture, religion and society share some similar aspect in their everyday lives. Despite, their similarities between each other, both characters deal with their problems in different ways, the behavior and the advice of their gods are express and interpret differently, and both societies have different views of their religion and culture. There are many ways, in which Gilgamesh and Arjuna personalities and concerns about their life are similar and different. Both of the characters are warriors and ranked higher than most people in their time. Although, they both were raised as warriors, they each had different personalities. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was an abusive leader, who loved war because he loved the thought of being powerful and was selfish king that wanted to live forever. Gilgamesh’s major concern is obtaining eternal life because he realized that even though he’s powerful among his people, one day he too will fall victim to death. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, He did not pay attention to his people and was always concerned with conquering other city-states. Meanwhile, Arjuna was

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