The saga of Gilgamesh: parallels with the Greek epic
There are numerous critical studies on the relationship between Gilgamesh and his adventure companion Enkidu. The motif of the couple finds numerous examples both in the Old Testament and in the Greek and Germanic epics: Castor and Pollux, Achilles and Patroclus, Eteocles and Polynices (sons of Oedipus), Atreus and Thyestes, Hagen and Gunther (4).
On a purely epic-literary level, an extraordinary study on the parallels between the Saga of Gilgamesh and the Iliad was tackled by Vincenzo di Benedetto in a recent text (Ben 94).
Examples of juxtapositions between the two poems are:
| Gilgamesh saga | Iliad |
| Clash between the goddess Ishtar and Enkidu | Clash between the goddess Aphrodite and the hero Diomedes |
| Dialogue between Gilgamesh and Enkidu returned from the Underworld (t. XII) and sad embrace | Dialogue between Achilles and the shadow of Patroclus (IL., XXIII 65) and sad and useless embrace |
Certainly the most evident and important parallelism is given by the relationship between the protagonist (Achilles or Gilgamesh) and his companion (Patroclus or Enkidu).
In the two poems, the theme of the couple becomes a pretext for developing "universal" contents, marvelously on a formal level. For example, the theme of death and how the protagonist deals with it starts from the loss of the companion of adventures (of lower rank) in both poems.
There are numerous points of contact, not only in content but also in form:
| Gilgamesh Saga | Iliad |
| Fundamental importance and great emphasis on the relationship between the hero and the companion | Great emphasis on the relationship between the hero and the companion |
| The gods Anu and Enlil decide the death of their companion (tab. III Hittite redaction) | Zeus decides the death of his partner |
| Partner dies; companion's death is highlighted and has enormous impact on the hero: great prominence at funeral ceremonies, with the hero fulfilling a directive function in the organization of the ceremonies (t. VIII 64-241) | Partner dies; the death of the companion is highlighted and has enormous impact on the hero: great prominence at funeral ceremonies, with the hero fulfilling a directive function in the organization of the ceremonies (IL. XXIII 109-897) |
| The hero is unable to help his companion in the face of death: it is a dream that through direct speech the companion refers, in a tone of reproach, to the hero (t. VII 176-177) | The hero, in direct speech addressed to a third person, reproaches himself for not helping his companion in the face of death (IL. XVIII 98-103) |
| The hero turns to his dead companion and recalls the great and victorious deeds accomplished together and contrasts them with the fact that "now" he sleeps the sleep of death (t. VIII 48-55) | The hero turns to his dead companion and recalls the obsequious services he once rendered him as opposed to the fact that "now" he lies dead (IL. XIX 315-19) |
| The hero who mourns his dead comrade is equated to a lioness whose cubs have been taken away (t. VIII 60) | The hero mourning his dead comrade is equated to a lion (a lioness?) whose cubs have been stolen (IL. XVIII 318-320) |
| A third person (Utanapishtim) reproaches - also with the use of the application form - the hero for the fact that he indulges too much in grief for his dead comrade (X 267-70, X 299-302) | A third person (mother Theti) reproaches, with the use of the question form, the hero for indulging too much in grief for his dead comrade (IL. XXIV 128-30) |
| A female character (Siduri the tavern keeper) invites the hero to relieve his pain for his companion and to enjoy, among other things, the food and embrace of his woman; and at the same time the innkeeper reminds the hero of the fate of death reserved for all men | A female character (Theti) invites the hero to enjoy the food and embrace of the woman, and together reminds the hero that the fate of death is close to him (XXIV 129-32) |
That the author of the Iliad knew and assumed in his poem the Saga of Gilgamesh is, at this point, not only possible but also probable. The contacts between the Iliad and Gilgamesh are not isolated but concern a set of connected reasons. Above all it is striking that the essential theme of the couple is strictly concomitant with the theme - equally fundamental in both poems - of death.
On the other hand, Gilgamesh's poem was widely diffused in many cultures of the Middle Eastern area, for which exchanges and contacts with the Greek world were, in the Homeric age - the scene of colonizations to the east and west of Hellas - positively documented.
Even assuming that the "coincidences" of situations and formulations between the two poems are to be interpreted as the result of independent creative paths, the comparison between the poems is equally productive for understanding their specificities.
Faced with the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh is repeatedly seized by the fear of death and that is why he undertakes the journey to the distant Utanapishtim to question him about the meaning of life and seek the secret of immortality. Thus the death of his companion gives the hero the impetus for a sequence of new episodes (the men-scorpions, the innkeeper, the crossing of the sea of death, the encounter with the Babylonian Noah with the story - also - of the deluge) up to a conclusion of the poem which highlights the inevitable common destiny of men and the acquisition of the social responsibility of a sovereign.
In the Iliad, on the other hand, Achilles, faced with the death of Patroclus, is not seized by fear, but reveals (from the beginning of the poem but especially after the turning point of Patroclus' disappearance) an attitude of conscious acceptance. It is as if Achilles collected the existential legacy resulting from the long and tiring journey that Gilgamesh had made in the final part of his saga. Thanks to the cut that the author of the Iliad wanted to give to the final part of the poem, the Homeric hero, so immeasurable in his actions and emotions, acquires a social balance that greatly expands its relevance.
Gilgamesh is so human for his fear of death and for his desperate attempt at rejection: he does not allow his friend to be buried for days and days until he observes with horror his body devoured by worms, and subsequently shocked and in solitude begins its long journey dominated by questions about existence.
Achilles accepts Patroclu's death by burning him on a pyre a few days after his death. He then celebrates the funeral games and returns Hector's body to his father Priam (a very important fact on an ideological and religious level which temporarily eliminates divisions between the Greeks and the Trojans). Awareness of the death of Achille's companions becomes awareness of his own death and will to live life however rich in drama it may be (for example Achilles accepts Theti's invitation to return to pleasures while this invitation addressed by Siduri to Gilgamesh will be disregarded, at least in the poem). Gilgamesh will acquire this awareness only at the end of his long and painful journey.
