Defining Humanity in The Epic of Gilgamesh
Fifteen Works Cited Stories do not need to inform us of anything. They do inform us of things. From The Epic of Gilgamesh, for example, we know something of the people who lived in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the second and third millenniums BCE. We know they celebrated a king named Gilgamesh; we know they believed in many gods; we know they were self-conscious of their own cultivation of the natural world; and we know they were literate. These things we can fix -- or establish definitely. But stories also remind us of things we cannot fix -- of what it means to be human. They reflect our will to understand what we cannot understand, and reconcile us to mortality.
We read The Epic of Gilgamesh, four thousand years after it was written, in part because we are scholars, or pseudo-scholars, and wish to learn something about human history. We read it as well because we want to know the meaning of life. The meaning of life, however, is not something we can wrap up and walk away with. Discussing the philosophy of the Tao, Alan Watts explains what he believes Lao-tzu means by the line, "The five colours will blind a man's sight." "[T]he eye's sensitivity to color," Watts writes, "is impaired by the fixed idea that there are just five true colors. There is an infinite continuity of shading, and breaking it down into divisions with names distracts the attention from its subtlety" (27). Similarly, the mind's sensitivity to the meaning of life is impaired by fixed notions or perspectives on what it means to be human. There is an infinite continuity of meaning that can be comprehended only by seeing again, for ourselves. We read stories -- and reading is a kind of re-telling -- not to learn what is known but to know what cannot be known, for it is ongoing and we are in the middle of it.
To see for ourselves the meaning of a story, we need, first of all, to look carefully at what happens in the story; that is, we need to look at it as if the actions and people it describes actually took place or existed. We can articulate the questions raised by a character's actions and discuss the implications of their consequences.
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
The main character in the book The Epic of Gilgamesh, is Gilgamesh himself. In the beginning of the book one realizes that Gilgamesh is an arrogant person. Gilgamesh is full of himself and abuses his rights as king. He has sexual intercourse with the virgins of his town and acts as though he is a god. Throughout the story, many things cause Gilgamesh to change. He gains a friend, he makes a name for himself by killing Humbaba, and he tries to become immortal because of the death of Enkidu. Through these main actions his personality changes and he becomes a better person.
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.
The epic yarn Gilgamesh leaves me somewhat discouraged when I finished the book. This pessimistic ending is not the happy ending I was expecting to see considering the tragedies throughout of the rest of the story. The entire last part of the book, starting with Enkidu’s death, is nothing but more sorrow for Gilgamesh. The book seems to give Gilgamesh hope and then beat him down with more tragedy. It is almost as if the more he tries, the worse it gets for him.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh should be extremely civilized. After all, Gilgamesh is not just royalty but a king, and as a king he would have the reputation of being the epitome of civilized in this modern society. However, on the spectrum of civilization, despite being the protagonist and a king, Gilgamesh is considered extremely savage and uncivilized in the beginning of the story.
... Theory is instrumental in explaining how the mind can be considered an entity that is separate from the body. We can come to this conclusion by first understanding that we are real, and we cannot logically doubt our own presence, because the act of doubting is thinking, which makes you a thinker. Next, we realize that the mind, and all of its experiences and thoughts, will remain the same no matter what changes or destruction that’s endured by the body. Then we can grasp that we are our minds and not our physical bodies. We can use a number of examples to illustrate that these concepts, including the movie The Matrix. Finally, we can disapprove John Locke’s objections to the Dualist Theory by identifying that the mind is capable of conscious and unconscious thought; therefore, it cannot be divisible like the body. Hence the mind is a separate entity from the body.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest known stories, recounts the tale of the reckless King Gilgamesh and his adventures with his friend Enkidu, a natural man created by the gods from clay to humble and teach Gilgamesh to become a better ruler. Through Enkidu’s death, the once fearless Gilgamesh becomes fearful of his own inevitable demise and journeys to find immortality. However, by finding compassion for his humanity, he is able to come to terms with his mortality and continue living wholeheartedly as the ruler of Uruk. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh learns to accept his mortality by gaining compassion for himself.
... a great leader or an effective president. Perhaps the mystique surrounding Kennedy is related to his untimely death, his charismatic personality, or the "Camelot image" that he and his family portrayed. This War veteran sacrificed many things for this country that most political leaders today wouldn’t care about. It takes a true hero to change the world for the better good. John F. Kennedy is a bittersweet reminder of an innocent era that has long since passed.( Petersen 24).
Analysis of the Character of Gilgamesh In the epic Gilgamesh, there are many complex characters. Every character involved in the story has their own personality and traits. The main character in the novel is Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is a character who is very self-confident.
The king of Uruk, who lived around 2600 B.C.E, Gilgamesh, was one-third man and two-thirds god (Gilgamesh, 61). Known as present day Iraq, Mesopotamia was where the ancient sto-ry “The Epic of Gilgamesh” was originated. The story talked about Gilgamesh’s relationship be-tween his close companions. Meeting the immortal flood survivor and giving him eternal life was Gilgamesh's long journey. The Epic of Gilgamesh teaches about the Sumarian society.
William Golding illustrates World War II through young boys in this novel. Technology is one of the major destructors of a civilization. Jealousy is another destructor that ruins the good nature between men and brings out the beast from within. The author has chosen to show the evil in man though young boys to allow the world to understand how unethical the war was. The symbols, character, and setting are shown to correlate with the outside world. The novel just reinforces the idea of the savage within each and every human being.
In conclusion, it is hard to grasp the true meaning of the story unless the story is read a second time because of the author's style of writing.
People that are diagnosed with Dementia have an advanced brain disorder that can make it progressively more difficult for them to think clearly, remember things, communicate to others, or even take care of themselves on their own. I have been personally affected by this disorder through members of my family and that is why this particular lecture caught my attention the most. I didn’t realize how serious this disorder can be and how much it not only impacts a person’s memory loss, but many other aspects of their life. The topics that interested me the most and ones I wanted to learn more about were normal aging memory loss versus symptoms of Dementia, how families cope with a loved one with Dementia, and the difference between Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
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.
Many themes are incorporated into the story line of Gilgamesh. These include three very important concepts: death is inevitable, immortality is unachievable, and friendship is a necessity.