The fear of death lies both unconsciously and consciously in any human beings; this transition of fear can be clearly seen from The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Andrew George. Gilgamesh, who was once a tyrant king, learns to become a great king through the realization of mortality from two significant journeys: the journey to the Cedar Forest and the underworld of Utnapishti. These journeys lead Gilgamesh to discover the value of life and the truth behind humanity. Gilgamesh’s first journey to the Cedar Forest with Enkidu is a sign to defeat mortality through the emotion of love. When Gilgamesh and Enkidu become friends, they decide to kill Humbaba who lives in the deadly Cedar forest. Although fear and terror invade their minds, …show more content…
He begins his journey to seek for Utnapishti, who was once a human and was granted eternal life because he saved humanity from the terrible flood instructed by Enlil. Utnapishti questions Gilgamesh what has he done to gain immortality and tests him a week without sleeping, “But you now, who'll convene for you the gods’ assembly, so you can find the life you search for? For six days and seven nights, come, do without slumber!” (George 95) Sleep symbolizes death, but it is also fundamental for a body to operate just like food. Since Gilgamesh is a human and has a physical body, he fails the test and realizes there is no way to escape from death. Full of despair, Gilgamesh is informed about a plant that grows in the sea could bring back youth, “There is a plant that [looks] like a box-thorn, it has prickles like a dogrose, and will [prick one who plucks it.] But if you can possess this plant, [you'll be again as you were in your youth.]” (George 98) He dives into the sea to cut the plant, yet a snake smells it and steals it. Gilgamesh returns to Uruk and accepts he is mortal, however, civilization is not and humankind will always …show more content…
In the first journey, Gilgamesh and Enkidu enter the Cedar Forest that is forbidden to mortals so they could be honored as related to ‘heroism’. It is a sign of ‘rebirth’ as Gilgamesh and Enkidu persuade themselves they could make their names everlasting. They explore their true selves through fear and death and demonstrate companionship that is greater than individuality. The transition of Gilgamesh's fear of death starts here: he collapses when Enkidu dies as he is left alone. The second journey is to seek his soul as a sign of ‘death’. Gilgamesh has found his answer to the question of death: it is nature and unpreventable. The ironic role of the snake that steals Gilgamesh's plant frees himself from his overthinking of death. Instead, he starts to think like a true king and rules his empire with glory since
In the beginning of the book, Gilgamesh appears to be selfish. Gilgamesh’s “arrogance has no bounds by day or night” (62). Even though he is created by the Gods to be perfect, he misuses his powers and gifts for his own earthly pleasure. He has sexual intercourse with all the virgins of his city even if they are already engaged. Through all Gilgamesh’s imperfections and faults, he learns to change his amoral personality. The friendship of Enkidu helped to change his ways, for only Enkidu, who “is the strongest of wild creatures,” (66) is a match for Gilgamesh. Through this companionship with Enkidu, Gilgamesh starts to realize his incapabilities and need for his friend. When they fight Humbaba, they both give moral support to each other when the other is scared. Another event that changes Gilgamesh’s character is the death of Enkidu. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh goes through the suffering of losing a loved one. Gilgamesh experiences a pain, which no worldly pleasure can ease. By this experience Gilgamesh starts to understand his vulnerability toward death and pain. Losing his best friend causes Gilgamesh to be melancholic. At this point Gilgamesh is humbled by the fact that even he could not escape the wrath of death. Gilgamesh goes from this arrogant king to a lonely grieving person with fear of death in his heart.
During the Man’s journey, they encountered a group of people on the Road. The Man quickly told the Boy to “‘keep your face down. Don't look’… He wallowed in to the ground and lay watching across his forearm. An army in tennis shoes, tramping. Carrying three-foot lengths of pipe with leather wrappings” (McCarthy 91). Whenever a group passes by on the road, the Man and Boy hide in hopes that the people will not know they were there. They fear for their lives because they don’t know if they are cannibals or the Good Guys. A conflict on the road could lead to all their supplies being taken, getting injured, or killed. Approaching their enemies would not help them succeed in accomplishing their task, unlike Gilgamesh. In his journey for immortality, he told Enkidu, “The fierce giant Humbaba lives at the base of the Cedar Mountains… Come with me to slay him, and then we will have banished all evil from the land” (“Gilgamesh” 34). Gilgamesh’s mission requires him to face many enemies and run towards death to see if he is worthy of immortality. Without killing the giant Humbaba or the lions to pass through the mountains, he would have never discovered the secret to becoming immortal and would always be unsatisfied. The two heroes face their enemies in two vastly different
After encountering the death of his friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh realizes that all men will die. Gilgamesh evolves from the beginning of The Epic of Gilgamesh as an unruly king to a realistic king who’s life ends in death. In the end after accepting that he too must die and be subject to fate, Gilgamesh settles back into his city setting, only this time to be a wise king rather than the foolish hero he once was.
Death and Immortality in The Epic of Gilgamesh The search for immortality has been a major concern for many men and women all throughout history. True love and immortality in life would be a dream come true to many. To spend time with a special someone, the person one feels closest to, and never have to say good-bye 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. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh explores the possibility of immortality following the saddening death of his friend and brother, Enkidu.
The search for immortality seems to be an obsession for many men and women all throughout history. In the Epic of Gilgamesh a man investigates the possibility of immortality following the saddening death of his friend, his brother Enkidu. That man, Gilgamesh, feeling the fear of the possibility of his own mortality which was before unrealized before the death of Enkidu, searches for a way to preserve himself.
“You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted him death, but life they retained in their own keeping,” Siduri talking to Gilgamesh. (Gilgamesh 4). The epic of Gilgamesh has an abundance of parallels to the trial and tribulations of any human life. Gilgamesh’s story is humanities story of life, death, and realization. The awaking of Gilgamesh from a childish and secure reality connects my own life experiences to the epic tale.
Gilgamesh is not only a character of a story; he is actually a portrayal of people and how they act out of human nature. he like many of us, does not want his existence to end when he leaves this world. He is not content with what he has, good looks, money, and power and desires more in life. In the story of Gilgamesh we, as people, can relate to. There are similarities between Gilgamesh’s journey and our own journey through life.
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.
The theme of death being inevitable leads to another theme, similar to the first. This is that immortality is unachievable, shown through similar examples as the first theme. Gilgamesh realizes that immortality is not obtainable after his quest for it. He discovers that the quest was pointless, because he will die regardless of the steps to prevent his death in the future. "'Never has a mortal man done that, Gilgamesh'" (Tablet IX, Column III, 8). "'The fate of mankind overtook him... In fear of death I roam the wilderness...Me, shall I not lie down like him, never again to move?'" (Tablet X, Column II, 3, 8, 13-14). "'From the beginning, there is no permanence'" (Tablet X, Column VI, 32).
Gilgamesh has to cut one-hundred and twenty poles to push the boat with, for each one can only be used once in order to avoid touching the "waters of death" (IX.196-217). Against all odds, Gilgamesh makes it to the other side of the sea and meets Utanapishtim. Twice Gilgamesh is given the opportunity to gain eternal life, and twice he fails. Utanapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for "six days and seven nights," but Gilgamesh falls asleep almost immediately (XI.210-17). Out of pity, Utanapishtim tells Gilgamesh about a plant that has rejuvenating powers.
Gilgamesh goes on to seek eternal life. Death had never been a topic he had to deal with. Jacobsen explains, “death, fear of death, has become an ob...
This story teaches that death is an unavoidable and inevitable circumstance of mortal life, which is the most significant precept Gilgamesh learns. Gilgamesh is resentful that only the gods can exist eternally. Gilgamesh is frightened by the idea of his own destiny. Mesopotamian divinity proposes a perception of an afterlife; the deceased spend their period being dead in a netherworld. Death is inevitably entwined within the structure of creation. Life is also entwined, although mortals die, humanity maintains to live. The message that Gilgamesh returns with from his adventure is not primarily about death, but about life. Fragment of a tablet of The Epic of Gilgamesh is figure C down
Gilgamesh is an epic of great love, followed by lingering grief that causes a significant change in character. It is the story of a person who is feared and honored, a person who loves and hates, a person who wins and loses and a person who lives life. Gilgamesh's journey is larger than life, yet ends so commonly with death. Through Gilgamesh, the fate of mankind is revealed, and the inevitable factor of change is expressed.
The Epic of Gilgamesh has an ultimate theme of the rules of mortality and immortality according to Mesopotamian literature, and fits directly into the description of a true epic poem. Gilgamesh’s ultimate dedication to a friend, rather than himself, completes the idea of an accomplished mortal life according to the deities during his final journey. An epic poem requires a hero that exemplifies the ideals of the type of society the literature is created in, which in this case is reflected through Gilgamesh’s strength, and, in the end, his dedication to the city he
... Gilgamesh is unable to go back to get another plant because he lost both the boat and his tools. Gilgamesh has the hope that this plant will free him from his burden of the idea of death; he says “I myself will eat it and so return to my carefree youth” (80). After the snake took the plant away Gilgamesh began to weep “Thereupon Gilgamesh sat down weeping, His tears flowed down his face” (81) showing that Gilgamesh is saddened by his reality. At this point Gilgamesh tells Ur-Shanabi “I have come much too far to go back, and I abandoned the boat on the shore” (81).