Compare And Contrast Beowulf And Gilgamesh

Most stories, despite their purpose, genre, or themes, share at least a few common elements. These key pieces usually includes a main character, a setting, some other minor characters, a plot, and a conclusion. The tales of Beowulf and Gilgamesh are similar beyond these basic elements of literature, though they also differ in some important ways. Each of these main characters have slightly different goals related to their differing views on death, but most epic poems, including “Beowulf” and “Gilgamesh,” feature a hero embarking on a quest. Beowulf and Gilgamesh differ in their overall attitudes which is reflected in the ways that other smaller characters talk or think about these similarly prominent leaders. The two characters have different

Beowulf and Gilgamesh are both prominent people in their societies, and are considered to be leaders. Though both characters share this responsibility, Beowulf and Gilgamesh have very different styles of leadership and are regarded differently by their people. Beowulf is thought of as a very noble hero and a great king because of his important qualities of determination, fearlessness, and selflessness. He came from afar to help people that he did not know purely because he knew he had the necessary skills and wanted to provide safety and relief. Beowulf explains his intentions to destroy the creatures that haunt the Danes: "They have seen my strength for themselves,/ Have watched me rise from the darkness of war,/ Dripping with my enemies' blood. I drove/ Five great giants into chains, chased/ All of that race from the earth. I swam/ In the blackness of night, hunting monsters/ Out of the ocean, and killing them one/ By one; death was my errand and the fate/ They had earned. Now Grendel and I are called/ Together, and I've come." Gilgamesh is a different type of character, as he is much more timid and less heroic than Beowulf. He is generally not respected as a king because of his tendencies to abuse his power and take advantage of his people, especially the women. “Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother!" Beowulf and Gilgamesh have a fairly equal amount of influence over their people; the differences between their styles of leading can be related to the differences between that of a tyranny and that of a democracy. They are each viewed differently by their people as a result of their actions and