The fear of death and the search for eternal life is a cultural universal. The ideology surrounding immortality transcends time and a plethora of cultures. The theme, immortality appears in stories from the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was composed by ancient Sumerians roughly around 600 B.C., to present day works of fiction in the twenty first century. Gilgamesh, a figure of celestial stature, allows his mortal side to whittle away his power after the death of Enkidu. Undeniably, defenseless before the validity of his own end, he leaves Uruk and begins a quest for Utnapishtim; the mortal man who withstood the great deluge and was granted immortality by the gods (Freeman 36). The search for immortality is a universal concept that has presented itself many times throughout the world; it is a concept that stands in hearts of mankind; The Epic of Gilgamesh illustrates humanity’s innate desire to break free from the constraints of the civilized world, while at the same time trying to find the meaning of existence; a theme that that is perpetrated many times throughout the epic. With that being said, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that should not be simply viewed as a text that was written by ancient human civilization thousands of years ago; it should be viewed as a text that highlights humanity’s struggle to overcome the limitations of mortality, and the acceptance of death. This is a theme Enkidu is a vital part of Gilgamesh’s life. At the beginning of the story Enkidu embodies the opposite of Gilgamesh, his other half. After Enkidu’s death Gilgamesh cannot go back to life as it was, he is lost and for the first time in his life, afraid. The fate of all humankind, death, becomes the last obstacle for Gilgamesh to conquer. The dis... ... middle of paper ... ...p. "Lessons from a Demigod." Humanities Jul 2012: 34-8. ProQuest. Web. 14 Feb. 2014. Gardner, John, John R. Maier, and Richard A. Henshaw. Gilgamesh: Translated from the Sîn-leqi-unninnī Version. New York: Knopf, 1984. Print. “Gilgamesh Epic." (n.d.): Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. “Gilgamesh." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. Harris, Rivkah. Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia: The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2000. Print. Jackson, Danny P. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1992. Print Journal Of The Society For Existential Analysis 21.1 (2010): 76-88. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. Sadigh, Micah. "The Foundation of Existentialism In The Oldest Story Ever Told."
Gilgamesh who has always gotten what he wanted could not save Enkidu from death. The death of Eknidu effected Gilgamesh and the way the character would evolve from the death of his friend. The friendship with Enkidu allows Gilgamesh to see the reality of death. When Enkidu dies then Gilgamesh becomes obsessed with his own mortality. “What my brother is now, that shall I be when I am dead.” (Gil. 31)
The Epic of Gilgamesh, although written in the area between the West and East, is a more Western text rather than an Eastern text. Gilgamesh, in its ancientness can be seen as the catalyst for the majority of Western ideologies and texts. The text in its approach to aging, finding the truth and the pursuit of immortalizing oneself are in parallel with how Western beliefs conduct themselves and by extension show how Western motivation for their text could be constructed. In this manner, Gilgamesh is the oldest surviving Western text to pave the paradigm of Western texts rather than Eastern texts.
As Gilgamesh attempts to establish personal significance, he finds himself lacking the understanding of how his own existence is situated between the psychosocial fabric of humanity. This is, of course, the nature of his disposition: his physical composition is figurative of his own enmeshment. Until his exposure to Enkidu, Gilgamesh projects the confused perspective and personal significance, of his compositionally disproportionate man/God-liness. Gilgamesh is trying to figure himself out by taking on the world around him. He is thus confused by inherent discrepancy of his antithetical perspectives (Immortal vs. mortal), and the inability to see the world through an outside perspective entirely. This new perspective is afforded by Gilgamesh’s companionship with Enkidu. It is through the investment of sentiment towards Enkidu that Gilgamesh gains the temporal awareness of the inevitable: Heroic failure, death, uncontrollable loss and mortality’s inexorable triumph over immortality.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, death is inescapable for Gilgamesh. Since Gilgamesh is two-thirds god and one-third human, he is unable to reach immortality because he is not fully a god. The theme of death is a very important theme that is displayed throughout this epic poem. Gilgamesh is faced with the reality of death when his sidekick named Enkidu dies. The gods created Enkidu to be someone who would be stronger than Gilgamesh in order to be able to stand up against Gilgamesh. When Gilgamesh and Enkidu first encounter each other, they wrestle one another to the ground. Once they forget their anger against one another, Gilgamesh announces the two shall form a friendship. Enkidu becomes Gilgamesh’s companion, by accomplishing journeys together. The relationship that Gilgamesh and Enkidu form continues throughout the novel, until the death of Enkidu. “Hear me, O young men, hear [me!] Hear me, O elders [of teeming Uruk,] hear me! I shall weep for Enkidu, my friend, like a hired mourner-woman I shall bitterly wail” (Epic of Gilgamesh 64). The sudden death of Enkidu shatters Gilgamesh and fills him with grief. This is the first t...
The Epic of Gilgamesh is seen as the oldest great work of literature, dating back to ancient Mesopotamia. It depicts the great king Gilgamesh, whose tyranny was ended by the arrival of Enkidu, a wild man who soon became Gilgamesh’s closest companion. As the tale progresses, Enkidu dies, forcing Gilgamesh to begin a long journey resulting in him eventually accepting his own mortality. Both Enkidu’s death and Gilgamesh’s journey can be analyzed through Van Gennep’s lens of the rites of passage, as both pass from a pre-liminal to liminal, to post liminal stage, leading to a new position in either society or in a personal understanding of immortality.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh were the main characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the city of Uruk, King Gilgamesh was a merciless ruler, a strong man, and had long, beautiful hair. Under Gilgamesh’s rule, the people asked the gods to generate their tyrannical king’s competitor. To cease Gilgamesh from dominating people, Enkidu was developed. Enkidu was a hairy-bodied man raised by animals. He was prepared to accept the challenge. The two men were almost iden-tical in their courage and physical abilities. Gilgamesh had a vision ...
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the first recorded story, follows Gilgamesh as he struggles to deal with mortality, loss, and his limitations as a human. As these ideas develop through the death of Gilgamesh’s friend Enkidu, a central theme around mortality emerges, refines, and develops. During Gilgamesh, readers are shown that one’s acceptance of mortality is important for recovering from a loss, and for accepting the limitations you have as a human.
Gilgamesh, The Epic of. Vol. A. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner, et al. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2012. 95-150. Print.
The ancient Mesopotamian writing, The Epic of Gilgamesh, gives readers insight into the traditions and customs of the people who wrote it. Like all epics, The Epic of Gilgamesh is the story of a heroic national figure: this epic gives the story of the life of Gilgamesh from his birth as two-thirds god, one-third man to his death. Throughout the epic the importance of loyalty is addressed. In The Epic of Gilgamesh readers see that loyalty is the most important aspect of a Mesopotamian relationship and that there are always consequences for violating trust.
The Epic of Gilgamesh. Trans. Benjamin R. Foster. Text. Martin Puncher. New York: W.W and Company, 2013.Print.
The “oldest story in the world,” Gilgamesh, tells a story of a man’s life and how he struggles with the fact that he is not immortal and that his life will someday come to end. The poem portrays evil, innocence, love, and even history. With all of these factors taken into consideration, there are literary devices like figurative language, mood, symbolism, and plot used throughout the entire reading. All of these literary devices play a huge role in Gilgamesh, but the ones that seem to portray and affect the poem in the most accurate ways are point of view, characterization, and theme.
While it is certainly true that Gilgamesh pursues heroism, he does it passively and as a secondary pursuit to his quest for everlasting life. When Gilgamesh is questioned at the beginning of his journey, he admits that after Enkidu’s death, his “life is nothing” (98). This reveals that death conquers all emotions and ambitions, making all other pursuits and desires meaningless. The Epic of Gilgamesh serves as a testament to human life, and in doing so, illuminates what it means to
"Epic of Gilgamesh." Academy for Ancient Texts. Ancient Texts Library. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. .
The stories of the hunt for immortality gathered in the Epic of Gilgamesh depict the conflict felt in ancient Sumer. As urbanization swept Mesopotamia, the social status shifted from a nomadic hunting society to that of a static agricultural gathering society. In the midst of this ancient "renaissance", man found his relationship with the sacred uncertain and precarious. The Epic portrays the strife created between ontological nostalgia for a simpler time and the dawn of civilization breaking in the Near East. In this Epic, Gilgamesh is seen trying to achieve immortality through the methods of both the old and the new. His journeys through the sacred and the profane in many ways characterize the confusion arising from the unstable social climate. Therefore, the society, by writing the story of Gilgamesh, guarantees not only his immortality, but the immortality of the new order being established.
In conclusion, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a great example of a hero’s journey and how a hero goes through the three stages of departure, initiation, and the return. This epic poem is also an example of Joseph Cambpell’s