Throughout humanity's many adventure stories, the search for immortality is a very common theme. Many heroes have made it the goal of their journeys and adventures. This is no different in The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey. The heroes of both are tempted by the offer of immortality, but each of them refuses it for their own reasons. In The Odyssey, Odysseus rejects the goddess Calypso's offer of immortality long after discovering the true nature of the afterlife following a journey. in Hades. In Hades, he meets Achilles who tells him: “I prefer to be a slave on earth for another man. rather than reigning here below over all the breathless dead” (“Odyssey”, 265). Considering such strong words coming from someone who has experienced the afterlife, all the horrible sights of the underworld and the fact that Odysseus himself is fleeing the underworld; one would be led to believe that Odysseus would accept any offer allowing him to avoid a fate in the underworld. Along with these reasons, Odysseus endured many trials and tribulations during his travels that could convince him to accept the offer of immortality. Despite all these perfectly sensible reasons for accepting the offer of immortality, Odysseus sticks to his guns and turns the offer down. One of his reasons is that he realizes that an immortal life would be long and boring, and that Odysseus lives for excitement and glory. This, however, is not the most important reason why Odysseus refuses this offer of immortality. This is presented from line 236 of Book V where Odysseus openly admits that Penelope cannot compare in beauty or stature, but he still pines for her. This concept also comes with Odysseus' determination to create... middle of paper... and the theme of immortality. However, everyone presents it in different ways. The Epic of Gilgamesh presents true immortality in the form of deeds and actions that will keep your names in the memory of the people forever. In The Odyssey, immortality is presented as something less important than your family and the people you love. This is reflected in each of the heroes' decisions to refuse immortality; Gilgamesh refuses because he knows the suffering will never be worth it and Odysseus knows he would never see his family again if he accepted the offer. The moral really is to consider all the consequences before agreeing to something that seems perfectly fine. The Odyssey. Trans. Fagles, Robert. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Print. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Trans. Foster, Benjamin R. New York: WW Norton & Co Inc, 2001. Print.