The Gods In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

The gods in the Epic of Gilgamesh are shown with many human qualities. They were regarded as the all-knowing beings in the universe because of their powers, both physical and magical. Though they had everything they could ever want and need, they would quarrel with one another, think of ways to hurt each other, and hold grudges over trivial arguments. It is because of these arguments that humans were caught in the middle of the turmoil.

When the gods or goddesses liked a particular human, they would often respond to their prayers. The deity of the city of Uruk, Anu, responds to the people’s prayers by asking another deity to send a powerful being to kill the tyrant, Gilgamesh. Listening to their cries, “Let her create the equal of Gilgamesh,

Mesopotamian religion offers a glimpse into the afterlife, but it gives very little comfort—the dead spend their time being dead. Shamash, the sun god, gives solace to Enkidu in death by reminding him how magnificent his life has been, and even though Enkidu finally accepts his fate, Gilgamesh is terrified by the thought of his own fate. Gilgamesh is resentful that only the gods can live in immortality and admits his fears when Enkidu attempts to dissuade him from their fight with Humbaba. Uta-napishti attempts to show Gilgamesh that death is inevitable for him, being that immortality is ordained by and for the gods. “Man is snapped off like a reed……but the day of Death they do not disclose.” (Table X, pg. 86-87). Mesopotamian culture was focused on the longevity of their city and to ensure entrance into the after-life, though it was not a sure thing, because no one who had died could tell them if their efforts to please the gods paid off. They only hoped that their valiant efforts to live a long prosperous life, pleasing the gods was enough to gain a pathway to heaven. Uta-napishti’s rendition of the flood reveals how absurd searching for immortality is for Gilgamesh, since death is intertwined within the fabric of creation. However, even though humans die, humanity continues to live on. The lesson that Gilgamesh brings back from his quest is that death is an inevitable and inescapable fact of human