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Character essay on the epic of gilgamesh
Epic of gilgamesh literary analysis
Character essay on the epic of gilgamesh
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People don’t get to the end of their lives thinking they should have spent more time at work. Both The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Last Lecture show how our life journey is an epic in itself and meant to be lived day by day. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh slowly figures out that everything he wants is not possible. He wastes his time throughout the early stages of the story trying to accomplish his goals when he could have relaxed and enjoyed himself. In The Last Lecture, it is the opposite for Randy Pausch when he finds out that he has terminal pancreatic cancer. Randy decides to speak publically and inspires others not to waste their time and enjoy life to the fullest. Both of these people are similar when they face challenges in their …show more content…
In reality he should be living life until it's his last and not worry in the world. He thinks by fighting Humbaba it will enchant him everlasting life as well “The meaning of the dream is this. The father of the gods has give you kingship, such is your destiny, everlasting life is not your destiny”(Penguin Classics 70). Gilgamesh was told by the god that he should focus on being a king and enjoy his life instead of searching for everlasting life. Randy Pausch talks about his cancer to others and how he receives the news. He writes about how he knows himself too well and how others do to “Anyone who knows me will tell you I’ve always had a healthy sense of myself and my abilities”(Pausch 66). This shows that Randy lived his life to the fullest and to what he could do and not worry about his legacy and fame. With my own life, I have faced depression head on. I was like Gilgamesh. I was on the search for happiness and only hope it’d come in a box with smiley faces on it. I had to live day to day I realized that happiness will build over …show more content…
He expresses these feelings and makes his whole search public “Bitterly Gilgamesh wept for his friend Enkidu; he wandered over the wilderness as a hunter, he roamed over the plains; in his bitterness he cried, ‘How can I rest, how can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my brother is now, that shall I be when i am dead. because I am afraid of death I will go as best I can to find Utnapishtim whom they call the faraway, for he has entered the assembly of the gods’”(Penguin Classics 97). The despair that Gilgamesh feels is fear for that will soon be him and triggers his instincts to start his adventure for everlasting life. In “The Last Lecture”, Randy writes about how a person's life and time is so valuable that it shouldn't be wasted trying to achieve something that will not happen “ picked up a can of soda, turned it over, and poured it on the cloth seats in the back of the convertible. My message: People are more important than things. A car, even a pristine gem like my new convertible, was just a thing.”(Pausch 70). Randy demonstrates to his niece and nephew that valuable items like his brand new convertible isn't worth worrying or stressing about. With my own experiences and challenges that came along with depression were the drugs, rumors, friends, and the entire school. I was turning into a druggie that no one wanted to be associated
True love and immortality in life would be a dream come true to many people. To spend time with a special someone; the person one feels closest to; the so-called soul mate and to never have that high feeling of emotion end mentally and physically would greatly appeal to most people. But when death steps into the picture, even with all the pain and devastation, one starts to re-evaluate themselves and realizes the important things in life and puts it all into perspective. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the main character, Gilgamesh, is a powerful, arrogant king and part god. Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s partner, is animal-like but later takes on more humanistic traits such as his contemplation’s of death. The friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is a very powerful, loving friendship. Enkidu is Gilgamesh’s soul mate, not only acting as his friend but as a lover too. Enkidu’s presence in Gilgamesh’s life allows Gilgamesh to see what is truly good in life and to accept his mortality much easier.
This journey in particular was a hard one for Gilgamesh, not only because he was without his best friend but because it was just a physically demanding journey in and of itself. At several points during the journey it is easy to tell that Gilgamesh is growing afraid of death, and is frantic of sorts to find immortality. He is faced with many tests along the way, but in the end reached Utanapishtim, the survivor of the flood, and is at the verge of finding immortality. However things just do not go his way. Utanapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to a week without sleeping in order to gain the coveted virtue of immortality, however Gilgamesh fails almost instantly. Gilgamesh will not become immortal that way, but there is one other way. There is a plant that Gilgamesh can find and gain immortality from if he is pricked by it. However, after Gilgamesh finds the plant, he goes for a swim and a snake steals his plant and gains the immortality instead of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is simply not cut out for immortality like he thought he was. Gilgamesh is heartbroken about not gaining immortality and letting his best friend down, so he returns to
After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh embarks on a crusade to bring Enkidu back to life. His quest takes him traveling across the sea of death in search of Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh spends a lot time and effort in search of Utnapishtim. He travels great lengths, as well as risks his life in attempting to bring life back to his lost friend. His journey finally takes him to Urshanabi. Urshanabi’s presence gives Gilgamesh a spark of hope of getting his friend back. Urshanabi then shatters this hope when he says; “The stone images are destroyed. If you had been as reverent with them as with your friend, they might have helped you cross." (p.69)
After encountering the death of his friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh realizes that all men will die. Gilgamesh evolves from the beginning of The Epic of Gilgamesh as an unruly king to a realistic king who’s life ends in death. In the end after accepting that he too must die and be subject to fate, Gilgamesh settles back into his city setting, only this time to be a wise king rather than the foolish hero he once was.
Gilgamesh, feeling the fear of his own mortality, sets out on a journey to search for a way to preserve himself. Although the journey that he endures is much larger than life, Gilgamesh comes to realize that he can never achieve immortality. Before the creation of Enkidu, Gilgamesh is a man without an equal match. He is an individual with overwhelming power, and it is because of this that makes Gilgamesh a very arrogant person.
“You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted him death, but life they retained in their own keeping,” Siduri talking to Gilgamesh. (Gilgamesh 4). The epic of Gilgamesh has an abundance of parallels to the trial and tribulations of any human life. Gilgamesh’s story is humanities story of life, death, and realization. The awaking of Gilgamesh from a childish and secure reality connects my own life experiences to the epic tale.
The quest for immortality after the death of Enkidu is the first sign that Gilgamesh has changed. Gilgamesh becomes frightened when he realizes that he isn’t immortal. After the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh tries to find immortality by trying to cross the ocean to find it. He sounds pathetic as he rambles of his reason for trying to find everlasting life. His state of being at this part in the book, which is the end, is completely different from his arrogant beginning of this epic. Gilgamesh has gone from arrogant to scared.
The theme of death being inevitable leads to another theme, similar to the first. This is that immortality is unachievable, shown through similar examples as the first theme. Gilgamesh realizes that immortality is not obtainable after his quest for it. He discovers that the quest was pointless, because he will die regardless of the steps to prevent his death in the future. "'Never has a mortal man done that, Gilgamesh'" (Tablet IX, Column III, 8). "'The fate of mankind overtook him... In fear of death I roam the wilderness...Me, shall I not lie down like him, never again to move?'" (Tablet X, Column II, 3, 8, 13-14). "'From the beginning, there is no permanence'" (Tablet X, Column VI, 32).
Character deficiencies and external events force these three characters to embark on a journey that may be physical, metaphorical, or both. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, but he is not a kind or gentle ruler. The narrator describes Gilgamesh as "surpassing all kings, for his stature renowned" (I.30) and yet the people pray to the gods for help because Gilgamesh "would leave no son to his father" (I.67) or "girl to her mother" (I.73). In other words, Gilgamesh sees nothing wrong with taking what he wants from his people, including their lives. However, when Gilgamesh's best friend dies, he finds himself face-to-face with his own mortality, which he is not prepared to accept as inevitable. Gilgamesh states, "I have grown afraid of death . . ." (IX. 5). He decides to continue wandering the land un...
Perhaps one of the main reasons the Epic of Gilgamesh is so popular and has lasted such a long time, is because it offers insight into the human concerns of people four thousand years ago, many of which are still relevant today. Some of these human concerns found in the book that are still applicable today include: the fear and concerns people have in relation to death, overwhelming desires to be immortal, and the impact a friendship has on a person’s life. It does not take a great deal of insight into The Epic of Gilgamesh for a person to locate these themes in the story, and even less introspection to relate to them.
In many literary works we see significant transitions in the hero's character as the story is developed. This is also true in the Epic of Gilgamesh with its hero, Gilgamesh. In this narrative poem, we get glimpses of who Gilgamesh is and what his purposes and goals are. We see Gilgamesh act in many different ways -- as an overbearing ruler resented by his people, a courageous and strong fighter, a deflated, depressed man, and finally as a man who seems content with what he's accomplished. Through all of these transitions, we see Gilgamesh's attitude toward life change. The goals he has for his own life alter dramatically, and it is in these goals that we see Gilgamesh's transition from being a shallow, ruthless ruler to being an introspective, content man.
Gilgamesh is an epic of great love, followed by lingering grief that causes a significant change in character. It is the story of a person who is feared and honored, a person who loves and hates, a person who wins and loses and a person who lives life. Gilgamesh's journey is larger than life, yet ends so commonly with death. Through Gilgamesh, the fate of mankind is revealed, and the inevitable factor of change is expressed.
Although Gilgamesh may still be afraid of death it is notable to see how the idea of death changes from ones youth to adulthood. We can also see that how one experiences death can determine what they will feel about death. We see that during his youth Gilgamesh was carefree, not afraid to face challenges that could result in death. In fact he enjoyed them and ridiculed those who showed an ounce of fear while facing a battle. As he witnesses his close friend die he begins to fear his own death. He is afraid of wasting away and dieing in bed. At the end he comes to the realization that no matter what he did he cannot escape death and maybe it is time to live instead of worry about death that awaits him.
Gilgamesh is an example of someone who had many flaws and faced many struggles but, in the end, changed his attitude and became a better person. In the beginning of Gilgamesh, he is described as doing whatever he wants and being juvenile in a way. For example, in the text it says, “he was their shepherd, yet powerful, superb, knowledgeable and expert, Gilgamesh would not leave young girls alone, the daughters of warriors, the brides of young men.” With his second half, Enkidu, they entered into the first step in becoming a hero according to Campbell, the separation, by going on an adventure. At this point in the story, Gilgamesh is very arrogant. While traveling to Cedar Forest, Gilgamesh tells Enkidu, “let me go in front of you, and your voice call out: ‘Go close, don’t be afraid!’ If I should fall, I should have won fame. People will say, Gilgamesh grappled in combat with ferocious Humbaba… ensure fame that will last forever.” Next is stage two, the initiation, of the Campbell’s hero journey. Gilgamesh undergoes a trail to begin his transformation, he must fight the Bull of Heaven. Gilgamesh’s supportive side is starting to show when he tells Enkidu that they will win if they fight together. After killing the Bull of Heaven, Gilgamesh’s confident attitude is shown once again. The next trial he faces is the death of Enkidu. He starts to show emotion when he says, “for you Enkidu, I, like your mother, your father, will weep on your plains… I will lay you to rest on a bed of loving care… and I myself will neglect my appearance after your death.” At this point his character has been greedy and then he showed his fear and supportive side. The last stage in the hero’s journey is the return. Enkidu’s death sent Gilgamesh on an adventure to fight death. From this adventure he learned his biggest lesson from Utnapishtim. He learns to appreciate life, and
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a moving tale of the friendship between Gilgamesh, the demigod king of Uruk, and the wild man Enkidu. Accepting ones own mortality is the overarching theme of the epic as Gilgamesh and Enkidu find their highest purpose in the pursuit of eternal life.