The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem about an arrogant king that is always searching for glory and immortality. This king, Gilgamesh, is two thirds god and is the mightiest person in and around Uruk. He is joined by his friend Enkidu, who the gods also created as two thirds god, on this journey until he becomes sick. Leading up to Tablet IX, Enkidu has a dream that he is going to die and after being in bed sick for ten days, he dies. Gilgamesh is depressed and mourns his death for a week before moving on. In Tablet IX, Gilgamesh’s actions show that the death of Enkidu has changed the way he views death and mortality.
Gilgamesh was always someone who went into each of his battles with the mindset that he would win and he never feared death even when
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“I saw lions, and I was terrified! / I raised my head in prayer to Sin, / to… the Great Lady of the gods my supplications poured / forth, ‘Save me from …!” (Tablet IX 49). Gilgamesh, who was not scared of dying when he fought Humbaba or the Bull of Heaven, is now scared of being killed by lions and prays to the gods for help to survive. This not only shows his fear of death, but also shows a more mortal, human-like quality by him praying to the gods for help, when before he was so arrogant and confident in his abilities and thinking he would not die, he would have never even thought of praying for help to survive. He later comes into contact with the scorpion-beings who are guarding the gate to the rising and setting of the sun. “Trembling terror they inspire, the sight of them is death, / their frightening aura sweeps over the mountains.” (Tablet IX 50). “When Gilgamesh saw them, trembling terror blanketed his face, / but he pulled himself together and drew near to them.” (Tablet IX 50). Gilgamesh is once again terrified of something that would have never frightened him before realizing the reality of his death after Enkidu’s. Although he is terrified, he composes himself and approaches them because he knows in order for him to attempt to attain immortality, he must keep his journey going and cannot stop
Gilgamesh is a character that evolves throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh. The lord of wisdom, Gilgamesh realized he did not know everything. He humbled himself to lessons of life. As Gilgamesh progresses he becomes less interested in worldly pleasure and more in tune with the value of life and the reality of death. Gilgamesh evolves into a better king because he allows all his challenges in life to make him better and more humbled. Gilgamesh says before his death, “For myself I have gained nothing; not I, but the beast of the earth has joy of it now.” (Gil.
Gilgamesh’s most prominent characteristic is his bravery. This is exhibited when Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to fight Humbaba in the Cedar Forest, one of the most feared beings in the world. “Enkidu said, ‘But how can any man/ dare to enter the Cedar Forest?” (pg. 92). Since Humbaba is so feared, no one dared to fight him. Gilgamesh also went on a quest to find immortality. After his beloved friend Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh decides to try and bring him back by finding immortality. This is an epic journey that humans could never accomplish. “This one who approaches--he must be a god.” (pg. 160). Though Gilgamesh is two-thirds divine, finding immortality is still an incredible feat, regardless of whether he became immortal or not. Not only did this journey require bravery, but it also
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.
Gilgamesh’s aversion to growing old and eventually dying is the most sympathizing and acknowledged part of Gilgamesh that is a clear echo to the Western
The whole reason Gilgamesh takes this journey to search for eternal life is due to the death of Enkidu, with whom he was close with. Before all of the events occurred, Gilgamesh had never thought about the topic of death. It’s as if it never crossed his mind; as though he would live forever. He went through phases along his journey. The first was not accepting reality, the second was fighting for eternal life, and the last was accepting reality. Now, his aspirations for immortality are no longer apparent as he enters the last stage.
Gilgamesh the king is a myth beholding various heroic traits shared in multiple other stories and myths for that fact. Towards the beginning of Gilgamesh’s myth, he chooses to conquer the beast of the jungle, Humbaba, and sets himself the goal to do so. Heroes must have a goal or else there is nothing for that hero to accomplish, and create a story of. However, once Gilgamesh accomplished his goal of defeating the terrifying Humbaba, he experiences a greater loss than the hero ever imagined possible, the loss of his best friend Enkidu. Although, once Gilgamesh realized what he had done was certainly the wrong choice of action, he devoted all of his time and effort into reviving his friend. On his journey for the search of eternal life, hero Gilgamesh essentially “descends into darkness” both mentally and literally while he enters the underworld to obtain his desire. Here Gilgamesh realizes that what he did was selfish and wrong, and that he is also not the only person who is of value in his life. Subsequent to Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh becomes aware that his decision to murder Humbaba was once again wrong and resulted in his own depression and loss. Throughout the duration of a myth, the hero mu...
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that deals with various sub conflicts that are known to create a lasting impression on how we view the characters and their status in the general schemes. Sub conflicts like Immortality vs mortality, betrayal, death, violence and sorrow, gives us a grand perspective of how negative and pessimistic the general schemes and plot of the Epic truly is. Today I will be arguing that The Epic of Gilgamesh takes a pessimistic view on mortality. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the main character Gilgamesh is conflicted with the death of his best friend Enkidu, in fear of death; he goes to Utanapishtim who is an immortal that is also human. Utanapishtim tells Gilgamesh about the cure and where to find it; Gilgamesh finds the cure but sets it
Gilgamesh’s bargaining during his stages of grief shows a refinement of acceptance of mortality when the author writes, “He yearned to talk to Utnapishtim, the one who had survived the flood and death itself, the one who knew the secret.”(pg. 55) Gilgamesh, still unwilling to accept mortality kind of sees that as a human there is nothing he can do, and tries to get an unworldly being like Utnapishtim to help him. Likewise, Gilgamesh still doesn’t understand that nothing he does will change what has happened. He still believes that while he can’t bring back Enkidu himself directly, that if he goes on this journey he can bring his friend back through Utnapishtim’s eternal life. For instance, through Gilgamesh’s bargaining you can see that Enkidu’s death has brought grief to Gilgamesh because of his unwillingness to accept mortality, but has also had further pushed Gilgamesh’s hubris and stopped him from understanding his limitations as a human. Gilgamesh’s anger during his stages of grief shows the refinement of the acceptance of mortality when the author writes, “He struck at everything in sight. He hurried with his ax drawn from his belt down to the shore to find this Urshanabi. Coming upon some stones that stood in his way he smashed them into a thousand pieces.” (pg. 66) Gilgamesh’s anger shows that he is starting to see his limitations. He starts to
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 second significant change in Gilgamesh was caused by the loss of his brotherly companion, Enkidu. Gilgamesh couln't bear the loss of a love so powerful. Despite his astonishing power and leadership, something in his life was missing. Moreover, he wept for seven days and nights, thinking his friend would come back because of his weeping. It is in this stage of the epic that one can see the truly sympathetic and compassionate side of Gilgamesh. The grief in his heart had far surpassed the magnificent pride that he had previously displayed so boldly. Enkidu's death left Gilgamesh frightened and confused. However, the despair in his heart was so great that he could not rest; would he ever be at peace? Thus, he became terrified of his own death.
This shows that Gilgamesh is strong and is not afraid to fight. Here the reader is unable to see if he fears death, but he faces a challenge head on. This shows a lack of fear of the unknown in regards to a fight. He is sure of himself and knows that he will win regardless of his opponent. As we read further, we are told about Gilgamesh wanting to go into the forest to kill the monster Humbaba.
One of the main themes in the epic is that death is inevitable, which is shown through Enkidu's death. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh becomes very worried, because he realizes for the first time that everyone is going to die at some point in time. The fact that Enkidu is a close friend makes it even more visible to Gilgamesh that everyone is mortal. Then, along with this realization, comes the theme of denial. Gilgamesh does not want to accept the fact that he will die. He denies the truth, because he does not want to think about the truth or cope with the tragedy that has struck him. "And he-he does not lift his head. 'I touched his heart, it does not beat'" (Tablet VIII, Column II, 15-16). "'Me! Will I too not die like Enkidu? Sorrow was come into my belly. I fear death; I roam over the hills. I will seize the road; quickly I will go to the house of Utnapishtim, offspring of Ubaratutu. I approach the entrance of the mountain at night. Lions I see, and I am terrified. I lift my head to pray to the mood god Sin: For...a dream I go to the gods in prayer: ...preserve me!'" (Tablet IX, Column I, 3-12).
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.
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.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest text in history. Gilgamesh is a powerful king and an awe-inspiring warrior who is 2/3 divine and 1/3 human. I think it is interesting that the epic has so many factors that I can relate to in our current time. There are a lot of lessons that can be gained from reading the epic. The text relates to me as a college student in a various ways. It has a few key experiences that reminds me of my own personal life experiences. The epic is an important text that should be read because it has life lessons for modern humans from centuries ago.