Analysis Of Gilgamesh's Journey To Wisdom

Gilgamesh’s Journey to Wisdom

In the epic poem Gilgamesh, retelling by Herbert Mason, Gilgamesh goes on a journey to find a way to reserve death for this friends, Enkidu. Through his journey, Gilgamesh experiences different challenges that end up giving him wisdom on the grieving process. Enkidu’s death benefits Gilgamesh, but not in his way Gilgamesh expects. Gilgamesh expects to resurrect Enkidu with the help of Utnapishtim, but instead Gilgamesh gains wisdom about death from his journey. Gilgamesh has never felt as much pain as when he finds out that Enkidu is dead. This is what sets him onto his journey. When Enkidu dies Gilgamesh feels guilty and sad,for his blood was on his hands. It was Gilgamesh’s idea to kill Humbaba, and he

After Utnapishtim informs Gilgamesh about the plant he ventures to the lake to retrieve this wonder. Once he does Gilgamesh experiences immense euphoria, “Gilgamesh was alone again, but not / With loneliness or the memory of death” (86). This was the first time since the death of Enkidu Gilgamesh feels no grief. The idea that his friend can be saved is so empowering that it overpowers the idea of grief and death. The view of death Gilgamesh has is naive, like a child’s view on death. He stills believes that ENkidu can be saved until the serpent ate the plant. When the serpent ate the plant it shed its skin, leaving it’s old life behind and started a new one, just like death. When Gilgamesh rose from the water he realized what happened. “The plant was gone; the discarded a skin of the serpent was all he saw. Hew sat down on the ground and wept” (87). At this moment Gilgamesh realized that all hopes were lost for the revival of this friend Enkidu from the dead. It is a crude awakening to the true world of death and now Gilgamesh truly grieves when he knows he can do nothing to revive his

This could show that Gilgamesh gave up and he didn’t learn any from his journey, gaining no wisdom. I think this would be a nice view on Gilgamesh’s journey because Gilgamesh did learn and he did gain wisdom and this quote provides a view into Gilgamesh’s mind, it tells us that Gilgamesh has felt the pain of his friends death, and he doesn’t wish that pain on anyone else. On the other hand, we can say that Gilgamesh didn’t gain any wisdom because he never gave up the fact that Enkidu was dead and never got over the grieving process, this argument could be made when the plant is eaten, “The plant was gone; the discarded a skin of the serpent was all he saw. Hew sat down on the ground and wept” (87). Gilgamesh was so sad because he held the plant that could being Enkidu back to the life. Concluding that Gilgamesh never got over the grieving process because he grieved when the plant was eaten. If he was truly done grieving then he would have not cried when the plant was eaten because he would be understood that death is a graceful thing and that everyone deserves that