Essay Example on The first work is The Epic of Gilgamesh an epic Poem

The first work is The Epic of Gilgamesh an epic poem composed by an anonymous group of authors from ancient Mesopotamia This story follows Gilgamesh the King of Uruk and his struggle to avoid death and his obsession with his own inevitable mortality The depiction of the underworld in this epic comes from the nightmares of a dying Enkidu In these nightmares Enkidu is snatched by a creature with hands like lions and nails like an eagle's talons turned into a dove and led to the underworld termed The House of Darkness Enkidu describes the underworld house where those who enter do not come out along the road of no return to the house where those who dwell do without light where dirt is their drink their food is of clay where like a bird they wear garments of feathers and light cannot be seen they dwell in the dark and upon the door and bolt there lies dust The Epic of Gilgamesh Lines 161 167 Here Enkidu observed royal crowns tossed aside and gathered in heaps the royals whom the crowns belonged and who had once ruled the land now served Anu and Enlil cooked meats 

The Asphodel Meadows was a place for the souls of the common or ordinary people who did not commit any great crimes nor did they accomplish any greatness or recognition It was where mortals who did not belong anywhere else in the Underworld were sent Tartarus was the place where the truly awful people were sent and where they would experience punishment for their sins for all eternity While in Hades Odysseus also speaks to a number of other souls including Agamemnon Achilles Patroclus Antilochus and Telamonian Aias whom he had fought with or against during the Trojan War Before he goes Odysseus also sees Minos Orion Tityos Tantalos Sisyphos and Herakles well known mythical Greek figures The final piece of literature that I will be looking at that depicts a different view of the afterlife is Plato's account of Socrates defense at his trial for wickedness and corruption of young minds known as The Apology There is a stark difference between the depiction of the afterlife in this account compared to that of Gilgamesh or The Odyssey While both of these epics depict a well established idea of what the afterlife is supposed to be in The Apology Socrates recognizes he doesn't know what awaits him in the afterlife but he does not fear death precisely because he doesn't know what awaits him in the afterlife Socrates stated that those who fear death are ignorant because the afterlife might be a good place and that those who fear death cannot possibly know death to be either good or bad Upon receiving the death penalty Socrates remarks to the jurors who voted to release him that death might be a good thing and that either death is release from earthly worries and not to be feared or death is passage to higher plane of existence where souls of notables and heroes such as Homer and Odysseus reside The idea of the afterlife that appeals to me the most is Plato Sacrotes depiction in The Apology The