Transformations in Godysseus, Gilgamesh and Rama

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Transformations in Odysseus, Gilgamesh, and Rama Odysseus, Gilgamesh and Rama are three heroes who set out on difficult journeys. Odysseus, a great warrior and the king of Ithaka, is on a ten-year quest for home after a battle at Troy. Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, sets out on a journey to find eternal life after the death of his dear friend. Rama, the prince of Ayodhya who has been exiled from his future kingdom for fourteen years because of a vow his father made to one of the queens, sets out to find his wife Sita when she is kidnapped by the evil Ravana. Each hero has different characteristics that make them great, and though their motivations for each quest are different, they all go through a sort of transformation through their journey to become even greater. Odysseus is a great warrior. He is strong, courageous, and confident. He longs to win “kleos”, or glory, and this sometimes this gets in the way of getting home, costing him his men and time. Gilgamesh is a fierce warrior and king. But his people appeal to the gods for help because “Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night” (Gilgamesh 13). Rama, the great god Vishnu incarnate, is a role model of his time. He is popular and well loved by the people. He shows unparalleled kindness, obedience and honor. He lives by dharma, or social and moral order. His purpose is to defeat the evil Ravana and to restore the order in the world. Each of these brave heroes has a different motivation for their journeying. Odysseus’ is fueled by love for Penelope. Kalypso has offered him immortality to stay with him, but he refuses. “The sweet days of his life time were running out in anguish over his exile…he lay with her each night, for she compelled him. But when day came he sat on the rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning, with eyes wet scanning the

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