Karma
Some individuals have something to believe and some of them rely just on themselves. Some mortals believe in Gods and some of them are atheists. We can’t say that they are wrong or right. It depends on the environment and people who surround them. In Gilgamesh and the Odyssey characters talk with Gods, trust them and worship them. However, the immortals have their own attitudes, own characters and own rules. In each story some Gods do punish because of vindictive and some are merciful.
In Gilgamesh, Ishtar, goddess of love and sex, tortured Gilgamesh by cursing his best friend Enkidu because Gilgamesh didn’t want to marry her. By her anger, Ishtar wanted take advantage of Gilgamesh, saying to her father:
Well then, Father, pretty please, the Bull of Heaven,
So I can kill Gilgamesh on his home ground.
If you don’t give me the Bull of Heaven,
I’ll strike […] to its foundation,
I’ll […],
I’ll raise up the dead to devour the living,
The dead shall outnumber the living! (pages 48-49)
Because of her feelings of rejection, not satisfaction of her desire she wants to destroy not only the Gilgamesh, but also the entire of kingdom. Here we can see how Ishtar behaves like humans and doesn’t face judgement. According to our modern definition of a God, she is not fair to Odysseus and his friend Enkidu. Thinking of her own desire, they send sickness to Enkidu and he ends being dead. Where is the fairness of the Gods? Does he deserve to be dead?
In the Odyssey, the god Poseidon punished Odysseus by keeping him lost from his hometown and family to take revenge for his son Cyclops. There is a repetition of actions as God Ishtar did for her own relief as Poseidon did to fulfill his peace of mind. Homer writes it in lines 75-85 Book 1:
Because Odysseus blinded his son, the Cyclops
Polyphemus, the strongest of all the Cyclops,
Nearly a god. The nymph Thoosa bore him,
Daugther of Phorcys, lord of the barren brine,
After mating with Poseidon in a scalloped sea-cave.
The Earthshaker has been after Odysseus
Ever since, not killing him, but keeping him away
From his native land. But come now,
Let’s all put our heads together and find a way
To bring Odysseus home. Poseidon will have to
Put aside his anger. He cant hold out alone
Against the will of all the immortals.
As we can see, Odysseus blinded Poseidon’s son. In his punishment, Poseidon shows more mercy to Odysseus than Ishtar shows to Gilgamesh. However, Poseidon takes revenge of Odysseus, which allows him to be ruled by emotions like mortals. Moreover, it shows that he didn’t behave godly by just thinking of his own satisfaction.
Considering these epics, if we have bad or good days, does it mean that God sending a karma for us? Is it a punishment for disappointing the Gods? As it was mentioned in these books, they give punishments because Gilgamesh and Odysseus was mistaken or dissatisfied them. If God wants to reward humankind, does it mean that humans deserve that? If God wants to punish humankind, does it mean that God will send torture or mercy like the Gods in Gilgamesh and Odyssey did?
The world is an odd place. More than often we’ve heard of “bad things happen to good people” vice versa, or we blame God for bad things happening to us, or praising God for the grateful moments in life. What’s up with that? Or some people even go as far to blaming their horoscope for what’s going on in their life at the current moment- sometimes things just happen without reason!
Piety was important for the Gods in the Odyssey- they always wanted to be respected and expected obedience. If they were disobeyed, Gods expelled their wrath and fury. They were part moral, so they often also behaved irrational and emotional like children.
For example, in the Odyssey, when Ares and Aphrodite were caught in their affair, both were humiliated by the male Gods. This was well-deserved- if we bring this into our world today, anyone caught in an affair should be punished by their God. And often they do- might not be right the very next day, but overtime. Often times when something bad happens to us, we think, “oh, so maybe this is karma from what happened last time”.
But similar goes for humans doing good. “Do good and good will come to you”. It is true in my opinion. Even if bad things happen, try not to overthink it. We live in a world where good and bad things happen, whether you believe in a God or not. We get what we deserve.