The Theme of Good and Evil in Gilgamesh and Inferno

Culturally, death may be defined as the joining of one’s spirit with that of the ancestors. In the human life, Death is the inescapable fact that is learned by Gilgamesh. In fact, he becomes bitter when he learns that none other than the gods can live forever. Further, the two warriors also remind one another of the shortness of life as they are headed to the lethal confrontation in Cedar Forest (Ceil 76). Gilgamesh then pursues his quest of escaping death to Utnapishtim but later learns that in as much as human beings have to die, their humanity continues hence he should concentrate on living a good life within the time he has on earth.

Evil contradicts God’s Will

In the biblical concept, evil is believed to have been brought by Lucifer because of his pride. The Inferno depicts the taxonomy of the evil initially done by human beings. Dante tends to classify, explore, judge and isolates the kinds of human evil therein. The narration strictly follows the doctrinal Christian values, and that explains the reason for a sin like bribery receiving punishment in the Eighth Circle of Hell while that like murder that appears to be worse gets its punishment in the Sixth Circle of Hell (Carvalho 200). Therefore, the author presents violence to be of a lower degree of evil as compared to fraud. The reason for this consideration is that fraud establishes a more significant opposition to the will of God than violence. In as much as violence acts in contrast to the Love of God that He would want humans to extend to each other, fraud is worse because it constitutes a perversion of the love of God. The sin of deception penetrates against both love and care. However, at the end of the Inferno, a declaration is made that regardless of the type, evil remains evil because it is against the will of God, which needs no further justification.

Good and Evil

There is a constant battle in Ramayana between good and evil. In fact, the heroes therein tend to fight those who disrespected Dharma, which reflects the law of God upon the society (Anderson, and Menen 335). These two aspects are frequently presented as contrasting forces between the human and rakshasa as eternal combat. The rakshasas unveil various vices that include impulses of blasphemy, violence as well as indiscretion while the humans who are exemplary display every virtue therein.

Both Ramayana and Inferno have the exploration of good and evil as a theme. Inferno tends to explore evil and shows various taxonomy of the same in human life that is punishable by different levels of punishments. On the flip side, Ramayana pursues multiple answers that can be found about evil and good. For instance, Ramayana exhibits intense action, magical acts as well as the interaction of animals and humans. Further, Ramayana suggests that good and evil are not innate instead they tend to be the results of made choices. Therefore, as Inferno sticks to the strict Christian doctrines in the perception of evil and good, Ramayana argues philosophically on the same. Besides, Gilgamesh explores death by showing the bitterness displayed when there is a realization that all the people have to die eventually. Similarly, Ramayana also explores this same theme when the old king remembers the sorrow that he bore to people during his youth and how he killed the son.

In conclusion, these texts and the themes that are explored bare relevance in the world today. The choices that we make today as countries, leaders, youths, parents, and children turn out to make our lives better or worse. When a president or a leader makes a wrong choice, the country suffers politically, economically or socially. On the flip side, the vice versa is also true. In as much as there is a constant fight between evil and good within us, our instincts help us in choosing to do the good when we commit to the same.

Works Cited

Anderson, G. L., and Aubrey Menen. “The Ramayana”. Books Abroad, vol 30, no. 3, 2015, p. 335. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/40096345.

Carvalho, Flávio. ”INFERNO”. Nanocell News, vol 2, no. 16, 2015, p. n/a-n/a. Instituto Nanocell, doi:10.15729/nanocellnews.2015.08.17.009.

Ceil, Chenoy. ”Epic Of Gilgamesh”. SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012. Elsevier BV, doi:10.2139/ssrn.2030863.