Sigmund Freud Analysis

Sigmund Freud is a man who explored the human psyche more than anyone else before him. He worked on an in depth analysis of the human mind in order to understand why people behave the way that they do. Many times the theories that he pioneered were extremely controversial but they also seemed to influence the ideas of both, thinkers of his generation, and future thinkers. In his book, Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud discusses his take on how society is related to each individual. Today, Freud’s theories are still notable and can be related to different aspects of our lives. To understand his theories better, we can apply them using our own knowledge of the ideas. One way to do this is by applying the ideas to characters in stories, like The Epic of Gilgamesh for instance. Shamash, the Sun God in The Epic of Gilgamesh, embodies both Gilgamesh’s and Enkidu’s ego and superego as described by Freud in Civilization and Its Discontents because he uses his power to guide, as well as protect, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, along with his knowledge of right from wrong, to influence Gilgamesh and Enkidu as evidence by his instruction of how to handle different situations and his disapproval when they act out of line. Shamash is one of the main gods that greatly affects the outcome of the story. If we take a closer look at Shamash and his relationship with Gilgamesh and Enkidu, we will have a better understanding of just how important Shamash is.
In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud describes the ego as being “partly conscious and contains the defense mechanisms and the capacities to calculate, reason, and plan.” (Civilization and Its Discontents, 165) The ego prevents us from purely acting on urges alone and helps to give us a sense of...

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... to do next, and plan a successful attack. This is a perfect representation of Freud’s idea of the ego. Shamash does, however, experience discontents. Since he is the guide to virtuous living and truthful action, or deeds, he is aggrieved when people disregard his ideas, such as Enkidu did. It is these discontents that go into making Shamash the ideal superego. He can use his knowledge and reasoning to make people feel guilty and apologetic for their actions.
Overall, Shamash represents some of the key ideas that Freud had developed and presented in Civilization and Its Discontents. This is just one example of how Freud’s ideas can be applied to analyze why people behave certain ways. There are many functions of our conscious and unconscious mind that are difficult to understand, but Freud provides an excellent breakdown of his theories that can be very relatable.