Friendship in the Ancient World

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the concept of friendship in the Ancient World by comparing two pieces of literature - "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and "The Iliad". It analyzes the friendships of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and Achilles and Patroclus and shows how these are representative of the times. Through trials such as death, disease and heroic rescues, these friendships survived.

From the Paper:

"The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Iliad are both ancient literary works that offer us insight into the lives and values of our ancestors. A common theme of each is the effects of friendship on powerful men. Unlike most modern cases, social standing and imbalances in power complexly influenced the nature of these friendships. Men with great power sometimes saw their friends as servants. However, despite the apparent inequalities, it is obvious that the friendships were intensely valued as more than a servant relationship when the heroes Gilgamesh and Achilles experience the loss of their friends. For these two characters, the deprivation of friendship proves to be life altering."

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