The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and the Bhagavad Gita are three of the most enduring ancient texts in the canon of global literature. All are heroic tales focusing on a strong male warrior protagonist, who endures a series of tests in order to achieve their goals and retain their status as leaders of their community. However, unlike Achilles, the hero of Homer’s Iliad, or Arjuna, hero of the Bhagavad Gita, Gilgamesh was an actual historical figure, evidence by the archaeological record as well as literary correspondences (Hansman). The historicity of its hero is not necessarily the reason to favor one of these epics over the other, but The Epic of Gilgamesh has the edge over its epic counterparts in other ways. For example, Gilgamesh’s character undergoes deep and meaningful transformations in ways that neither Achilles nor Arjuna experience. Both Achilles and Arjuna are thinly drawn, when compared with Gilgamesh. Interestingly, though, Gilgamesh predates both Homer’s Iliad and the Bhagavad Gita. Dating to the third millennium BCE, The Epic of Gilgamesh is also the oldest of these three texts and may in fact have influenced the evolution of subsequent literature far more so than either the Iliad or the Bhagavad Gita. Although a direct influence is not provable definitively, Beye notes that “influence and continuity is likely,” (ix). Because Homer had portrayed Odysseus in ways that “curiously parallel bits of the Gilgamesh story,” it is certainly likely that The Epic of Gilgamesh had traveled long and wide, the progenitor of ancient narratives on multiple continents. Arjuna, Achilles, and Gilgamesh have completely different goals. For Achilles, his goal is to prevail in battle, and he does. For Arjuna, his goals are to attain enlightenment by following the teachings given to him by Lord Krishna. The Bhagavad Gita is largely an instructional text detailing the importance of following the path of dharma yoga. Unlike Homer’s Iliad or The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Bhagavad Gita has assumed the role of scripture, serving as a sacred text in Hindu culture. The hero of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, is a prince who bemoans the brutality of war. Arjuna also does not want to fight initially because he would be fighting members of his own extended family, his own kin. However, Arjuna belongs to the warrior-prince caste, and it is his destiny to fight for honor and duty. Arjuna comes to terms with his dharma, his duty and place in the world, through his conversations with Lord Krishna. Krishna teaches Arjuna about the importance of dharma, and through his lessons, Arjuna also develops strength of character that transforms him into...

Arjuna’s primary lesson as a hero is related to fulfilling his duty as a warrior-prince. Like Achilles, Arjuna does eventually fulfill his goals through the lessons learned on but mostly off the battlefield.
Gilgamesh’s goals are far more complex than those of Arjuna or Achilles. At first, the King of Ur seeks to prove himself against this mysterious creature Enkidu, who he comes to respect deeply as an equal, a partner, and a male companion. Together, Enkidu and Gilgamesh keep the people safe from external threats, symbolized by Humbaba. After Enkidu dies, though, Gilgamesh’s goals switch completely to his desire for immortality, whether as a means to gain power over life itself or as a means to reunite with Enkidu is left up to the reader’s own subjective impressions (Tigay). Because Gilgamesh’s goals radically change as his character develops, his is a much more complex and enduring heroic journey than either that of Achilles or Arjuna.

Moreover, Gilgamesh’s character changes dramatically from when audiences meet him in the first tablet, when he is a rather tyrannical and misogynistic monarch, to the end of the tale, when he has experienced sorrow, loss, and grief that have transformed his soul. At first Gilgamesh merely sought to gain and maintain power, but by the end of his story, he seeks genuinely to become a better leader and a good king. Achilles does soften during his dialogue with Priam, but his character might not have appreciably changed; Homer does not allow audiences to know what happens following Hector’s burial.

Homer’s Iliad is similar to the Bhagavad Gita in that it focuses exclusively on war and the hero’s role in it. Like Arjuna, Achilles also expresses some initial reluctance to fight, but for different reasons. Achilles is not inherently opposed to war itself, like Arjuna. On the contrary, Achilles is one of the greatest warriors of his time and he fulfills his duty willingly. Yet when readers first meet Achilles, he is engaged in a sort of power struggle with the political leader for whom he fights: Agamemnon. As a political maneuver, Agamemnon has taken Achilles’s concubine Briseis captive. Achilles is less concerned about Briseis than he is about his own injured pride, evidence in the way he prays not for Briseis’s safety or wellbeing but for his restoration to power and glory. Essentially, Achilles was upset because Agamemnon made a decision without consulting him. Achilles is also indifferent to Briseis once she is returned to him later in the text. Eventually Achilles returns to the front lines, his entire identity…