Themes In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the themes of coping with loss and death and the presence of fear and uncertainty in one’s life are of significant relevance as the story unfolds. The main character Gilgamesh and the supporting character Enkidu develop a strong bond throughout the story. After Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh transitions from a high point in his life filled with glory and adventures to a time of misery and grieving. This leads Gilgamesh to set into perspective his own existence. From this point on, Gilgamesh dreads death and the uncertainty that surround death. Especially during the time when the story develops people had a pessimistic outlook on death and life which intensifies his fear. Loss and death and the presence of fear and uncertainty are themes recurring throughout the story and are reflected in the sorrows, lamentations and fears of the main character Gilgamesh.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is about the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh whom is describe in the story as two third god one third human to illustrate his glory and his superiority above regular humans being. However even thought he was gifted physically, he did not possessed

Things are not created to last forever; they are created to serve a temporally purpose. Utnapishtim debated this theme of no permanence to Gilgamesh and said to him the following “Do we build a house to stand for ever, do we seal a contract to hold for all time? … Does the flood-time of river endure? He wanted to make Gilgamesh see that what he seeks it is not achievable that things are not mean to last forever because what purpose would you serve by lasting forever. Also it is mention how human’s destinies are created by god’s who give you full disclosure but death is kept a secret to humans. Therefore because of this uncertainty Gilgamesh wanted to skip deaths and achieve immortality and be release from his