SoulPlay
10-05-2005, 06:48 AM
This particular essay i had much fun writing. Heres the topic:
Choose a minimum of two characters from the Odyssey, The exodus, and/or Gilgamesh (they have to be from at least two different works) and write a dialogue in which they clearly discuss at least the items below while referring to specific episodes of their lives:
Where are they now (the situation)
What mistakes they have made, if any, during their lives (the disclosure)
what accomplishments they have achieved (the ideal)
What they learned during their lives (the real)
What they would change if they could, and, why (the reflection)
ok, now this is my short story. Essay as you might say...
Rodney Reynosa
It was just like any other day in the underworld. For the dead living in it, being here wasn’t so unpleasant, it was rather like a miserable dream, full of shadows, without sunlight or hope; A joyless place where they slowly fade into nothingness. The dead, filled in their misery have lost all sense of time, and wander in endless strides looking for resurrection, only to find themselves at the border of one of the nine great rivers, subsequently turning around and initiating their stride again until they meet the same fate.
Amongst these dead people is the all famous Gilgamesh. Once, he feared death to the point of being paralyzed about it, now he’s living it, and has begun to accept it, for his heart is once again filled with hope, hope of finding his lost brother, Enkidu, and together bring themselves once again to glory. Sadly, weeks, months, even years have passed and Gilgamesh has been unable to know about the whereabouts of his dear brother, for he finds himself, for the first time, limited. He simply cannot cross the rivers that divide the underworld and the palace of the king of the underworld. This is where he, after serious thinking, believes Enkidu lies as one of the numerous servants of Hades. He has come to this conclusion because one day after walking nonstop for weeks he came to his senses for a split second and realized that the only place left to wander was that place beyond the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams, the place known as the palace of Hades, king of the underworld, full of servants who eternally serve him in the search of a chance to taste the bitter-sweet life once again. Today Gilgamesh decided to rest for awhile. He was trying to devise a way to get a hold of the ferry that Charon, the ferryman, commandeers across the Oceanus, and by this make his way to Enkidu. It was a bold move, but he was willing to do anything to reunite with his brother; besides he was dead already so didn’t particularly have anything important to lose; nothing was more important to him now than Enkidu.
To accomplish this feat he found himself in need of a second hand, one who has many times been proven to be as cunning as historians might say a God’s. As this hand approached Gilgamesh from behind, he in a swift maneuver turned his back only to find sudden relief in whom it was. “Oh it’s you Odysseus” He said, “I’ve been waiting for Gods know how many hours here…could you have taken any longer?” “My apologies my dear comrade” quickly said Odysseus, “but to put in short words, I got…err...distracted…by the dangerously charming ladies from the land of dreams”. Gilgamesh only responded with an elongated sigh to these words, and proceeded to inquire Odysseus about the real purpose of his journey to the land of dreams. “Did you find it?” He said. “Did get the Golden Boughs?” He continued. “Did you expect any less of me?” Replied Odysseus while pulling out of his pocket what appeared to be two very shinny tree branches. Showing them to Gilgamesh with a sly smile he said “Should we get going?” and off they were to the place the ferry was, reaching that place would have taken them months, but because of their lack of time notion, they arrived before they knew it. They showed their “ticket” to Charon, the ferryman, and without hesitation they were let aboard the vessel. They proceed to the front part of the ferry because it was easiest approach to ambush Charon and steer the vessel towards the palace. And here they waited for timeless nights and days.
“Gilgamesh?” said Odysseus. “Yes?” mumbled Gilgamesh, half-asleep. “Don’t you ever think about those times… the times we fought wars, accomplished feats, and received recognition by the civilized world?” asked Odysseus. “Of course I do” replied Gilgamesh, “There was times I was feared amongst the people, being two thirds god and one third human there were no limits to my doings; such doings made even the almighty gods tremble”, he stopped for a slight second, as if remembering something, then proceeded, “They were so alarmed by my doings they tried to stop me by creating someone equal to me, my brother Enkidu”. Odysseus as if making some huge discovery interrupted him, “Ohh this Enkidu, isn’t he the person you are looking for? Who is this guy? Why is he of such significance to you?” “Well, before he entered my life I was, for lack of a better term, the definition of selfish. During our short time together we traveled long journeys. It was during these journeys we succeeded in killing Humbaba, the guardian of the forest, therefore we succeeded in bringing glory upon our names, forever to be remembered in history. Later, I was tempted by the Goddess Ishtar, but being in companion of Enkidu taught me better, and I was able to see through her intentions. She was offended by this act and tried to kill us by sending the Bull of Heaven. We prevailed and defeated the bull of heaven, but this unfortunately enraged the gods, who made my brother Enkidu sick to the day of his death. Seeing him die before my eyes made a great impact on my life.” “Why?” asked Odysseus, “Because I realized that although I was part god, I was still vulnerable to the very thing that set me apart from being a God: death.” “No longer was I arrogant and mocked death, instead, I was terrified by it and sought any means to immortality; as if the humanity in me was taking over. I’ve no regret in this mistaken search for immortality or in my life because it was in this struggle that I finally learned to appreciate Uruk, my home, and more importantly my people. This is why he is so important to me; if it weren’t for him I think I would have never become the man I am now.” A deep silence was accompanied by these words.
Minutes later with an expression of interest Gilgamesh asked Odysseus, “Now that I think of it, you never told me the reason why you wanted to go the palace in the first place…” and Odysseus answered “I was told that Athena was staying in the palace for a couple of years, so I’m trying to seek her aid. I want, with her help, to be able to see my wife Penelope once again”. Judging by the look of ignorance Gilgamesh gave him, Odysseus continued, “I don’t believe I’ve told you before but I was put to despair for 20 years. I challenged and defeated Polyphemus, the Cyclops, and this too brought glory upon my name, yes, but in the ecstasy of my pride I made the one mistake I’ll never regret. I yelled my name at Polyphemus and he in his rage prayed to his father Poseidon, bringing many torments upon my journey, therefore delaying it significantly” He paused for a second the continued, “One of the delays was because another mistake I made believing in my crews judgment, sometimes leaving them to their own doing. Two times I was betrayed by them. The first, I was given a bag of winds by Aeolus. My crew thought it was a bag of Gold and in an act of rebellion ripped it apart. This brought our vessel back to Aeolus’s island. When he saw this he believed I was cursed and banished us from the island. The second, when we landed on the island of Hyperion, bad winds prevented us from leaving. Food soon became low; and when I fell asleep, my crew killed the cows of Hyperion against numerous warnings. Hyperion was infuriated to see this and had all of my men killed in a great storm. But these mistakes I don’t regret for they taught me that in order to succeed I need to respect the gods’; those who didn’t had to pay the price.” “Another significant delay involved being in captivity by the Goddess Circe. For one year I enjoyed many pleasures beyond the unimaginable. Being there taught me that with all these pleasures I was still missing one pleasure, the pleasure of being home. Here I am once again, making my way home”. These words were followed by a deep silence on behalf of Gilgamesh.
“It is almost the time” reminded Odysseus. They stood up, picked their concealed weapons and made their way towards the upper deck. “Let us again make a name of ourselves not only on our land in earth but also in this decaying world of the dead!” yelled Odysseus. “For glory!” yelled Gilgamesh. “For our loved ones!” added Odysseus while he withdrew his sword and slashed Charon taking control of the ferry. As they were seen coming towards the palace by Athena, she finished our story by saying “for home…”
Choose a minimum of two characters from the Odyssey, The exodus, and/or Gilgamesh (they have to be from at least two different works) and write a dialogue in which they clearly discuss at least the items below while referring to specific episodes of their lives:
Where are they now (the situation)
What mistakes they have made, if any, during their lives (the disclosure)
what accomplishments they have achieved (the ideal)
What they learned during their lives (the real)
What they would change if they could, and, why (the reflection)
ok, now this is my short story. Essay as you might say...
Rodney Reynosa
It was just like any other day in the underworld. For the dead living in it, being here wasn’t so unpleasant, it was rather like a miserable dream, full of shadows, without sunlight or hope; A joyless place where they slowly fade into nothingness. The dead, filled in their misery have lost all sense of time, and wander in endless strides looking for resurrection, only to find themselves at the border of one of the nine great rivers, subsequently turning around and initiating their stride again until they meet the same fate.
Amongst these dead people is the all famous Gilgamesh. Once, he feared death to the point of being paralyzed about it, now he’s living it, and has begun to accept it, for his heart is once again filled with hope, hope of finding his lost brother, Enkidu, and together bring themselves once again to glory. Sadly, weeks, months, even years have passed and Gilgamesh has been unable to know about the whereabouts of his dear brother, for he finds himself, for the first time, limited. He simply cannot cross the rivers that divide the underworld and the palace of the king of the underworld. This is where he, after serious thinking, believes Enkidu lies as one of the numerous servants of Hades. He has come to this conclusion because one day after walking nonstop for weeks he came to his senses for a split second and realized that the only place left to wander was that place beyond the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams, the place known as the palace of Hades, king of the underworld, full of servants who eternally serve him in the search of a chance to taste the bitter-sweet life once again. Today Gilgamesh decided to rest for awhile. He was trying to devise a way to get a hold of the ferry that Charon, the ferryman, commandeers across the Oceanus, and by this make his way to Enkidu. It was a bold move, but he was willing to do anything to reunite with his brother; besides he was dead already so didn’t particularly have anything important to lose; nothing was more important to him now than Enkidu.
To accomplish this feat he found himself in need of a second hand, one who has many times been proven to be as cunning as historians might say a God’s. As this hand approached Gilgamesh from behind, he in a swift maneuver turned his back only to find sudden relief in whom it was. “Oh it’s you Odysseus” He said, “I’ve been waiting for Gods know how many hours here…could you have taken any longer?” “My apologies my dear comrade” quickly said Odysseus, “but to put in short words, I got…err...distracted…by the dangerously charming ladies from the land of dreams”. Gilgamesh only responded with an elongated sigh to these words, and proceeded to inquire Odysseus about the real purpose of his journey to the land of dreams. “Did you find it?” He said. “Did get the Golden Boughs?” He continued. “Did you expect any less of me?” Replied Odysseus while pulling out of his pocket what appeared to be two very shinny tree branches. Showing them to Gilgamesh with a sly smile he said “Should we get going?” and off they were to the place the ferry was, reaching that place would have taken them months, but because of their lack of time notion, they arrived before they knew it. They showed their “ticket” to Charon, the ferryman, and without hesitation they were let aboard the vessel. They proceed to the front part of the ferry because it was easiest approach to ambush Charon and steer the vessel towards the palace. And here they waited for timeless nights and days.
“Gilgamesh?” said Odysseus. “Yes?” mumbled Gilgamesh, half-asleep. “Don’t you ever think about those times… the times we fought wars, accomplished feats, and received recognition by the civilized world?” asked Odysseus. “Of course I do” replied Gilgamesh, “There was times I was feared amongst the people, being two thirds god and one third human there were no limits to my doings; such doings made even the almighty gods tremble”, he stopped for a slight second, as if remembering something, then proceeded, “They were so alarmed by my doings they tried to stop me by creating someone equal to me, my brother Enkidu”. Odysseus as if making some huge discovery interrupted him, “Ohh this Enkidu, isn’t he the person you are looking for? Who is this guy? Why is he of such significance to you?” “Well, before he entered my life I was, for lack of a better term, the definition of selfish. During our short time together we traveled long journeys. It was during these journeys we succeeded in killing Humbaba, the guardian of the forest, therefore we succeeded in bringing glory upon our names, forever to be remembered in history. Later, I was tempted by the Goddess Ishtar, but being in companion of Enkidu taught me better, and I was able to see through her intentions. She was offended by this act and tried to kill us by sending the Bull of Heaven. We prevailed and defeated the bull of heaven, but this unfortunately enraged the gods, who made my brother Enkidu sick to the day of his death. Seeing him die before my eyes made a great impact on my life.” “Why?” asked Odysseus, “Because I realized that although I was part god, I was still vulnerable to the very thing that set me apart from being a God: death.” “No longer was I arrogant and mocked death, instead, I was terrified by it and sought any means to immortality; as if the humanity in me was taking over. I’ve no regret in this mistaken search for immortality or in my life because it was in this struggle that I finally learned to appreciate Uruk, my home, and more importantly my people. This is why he is so important to me; if it weren’t for him I think I would have never become the man I am now.” A deep silence was accompanied by these words.
Minutes later with an expression of interest Gilgamesh asked Odysseus, “Now that I think of it, you never told me the reason why you wanted to go the palace in the first place…” and Odysseus answered “I was told that Athena was staying in the palace for a couple of years, so I’m trying to seek her aid. I want, with her help, to be able to see my wife Penelope once again”. Judging by the look of ignorance Gilgamesh gave him, Odysseus continued, “I don’t believe I’ve told you before but I was put to despair for 20 years. I challenged and defeated Polyphemus, the Cyclops, and this too brought glory upon my name, yes, but in the ecstasy of my pride I made the one mistake I’ll never regret. I yelled my name at Polyphemus and he in his rage prayed to his father Poseidon, bringing many torments upon my journey, therefore delaying it significantly” He paused for a second the continued, “One of the delays was because another mistake I made believing in my crews judgment, sometimes leaving them to their own doing. Two times I was betrayed by them. The first, I was given a bag of winds by Aeolus. My crew thought it was a bag of Gold and in an act of rebellion ripped it apart. This brought our vessel back to Aeolus’s island. When he saw this he believed I was cursed and banished us from the island. The second, when we landed on the island of Hyperion, bad winds prevented us from leaving. Food soon became low; and when I fell asleep, my crew killed the cows of Hyperion against numerous warnings. Hyperion was infuriated to see this and had all of my men killed in a great storm. But these mistakes I don’t regret for they taught me that in order to succeed I need to respect the gods’; those who didn’t had to pay the price.” “Another significant delay involved being in captivity by the Goddess Circe. For one year I enjoyed many pleasures beyond the unimaginable. Being there taught me that with all these pleasures I was still missing one pleasure, the pleasure of being home. Here I am once again, making my way home”. These words were followed by a deep silence on behalf of Gilgamesh.
“It is almost the time” reminded Odysseus. They stood up, picked their concealed weapons and made their way towards the upper deck. “Let us again make a name of ourselves not only on our land in earth but also in this decaying world of the dead!” yelled Odysseus. “For glory!” yelled Gilgamesh. “For our loved ones!” added Odysseus while he withdrew his sword and slashed Charon taking control of the ferry. As they were seen coming towards the palace by Athena, she finished our story by saying “for home…”