Gilgamesh
What makes the story of Gilgamesh an epic? Gilgamesh, the hero of this epic, achieves many feats of skill, which makes him famous, but that is not the reason it is an epic. The epic of Gilgamesh fulfills the requirements of an epic by being consistently relevant to a human society and has specific themes of immortality, friendship, grief, ect. Looking at literature throughout history, one can come to the conclusion that these theme are constantly passed on from one generation to another of humans. It is human nature for people to want to excel in life and strive to make a name in this world for themselves.
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.
Gilgamesh is constantly searching and going on adventures to distance places, defeating the Bull of Heaven, Humbaba, and the lions in the passes of the mountain. He searches for these adventures because he wants to make the most out of life. Just being king and never leaving the city can be boring. Gilgamesh travels to distant forests and crosses “the water of death.” He is searching for something worth living for. Just as we cannot live everyday doing nothing. Gilgamesh and all of us were born with the desire to explore and live dangerously because the feeling of adventure and adrenaline helps us to believe that we are truly “living” life to the fullest.
In his search for everlasting life, we realize that being two-thirds god was not enough for Gilgamesh. He wants to live forever so that no one would ever forget him. But Gilgamesh isn’t the only person who searches for immortality. In many stories there is a search for the “Fountain of Youth.” By drinking this water you would have everlasting life. Fear of death and desire to live forever has driven people to do all they can so that they can extend their existence to as long as possible. This is one of the major themes of Gilgamesh and one of the reasons it is an epic.
Florida became a state in 1845 and almost immediately people began proposing to drain the Everglades. In 1848, a government report said that draining the Everglades would be easy, and there would be no bad effect. Canals and dams were dug to control seasonal flooding. Farmers grew vegetables in the rich soil of the drained land, Ranchers had their cattle graze on the dry land, and new railways lines were constructed to connect communities throughout south Florida; but the ecosystem of the Everglades was not suited for either farming or ranching. The natural cycle of dry and wet seasons brought a devastating series of droughts and floods. These had always been a p...
The controversy in this case was did the search and seizure of Terry and the men he was with violate the Fourth Amendment? This case tried to determine the role of the Fourth Amendment when police are investigating suspicious circumstances on the street, and when there is probable cause to search someone that is displaying questionable behavior (Justia, n.d.).
Terry v. Ohio was in 1968 it had a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that the fourth amendment prohibition on the unreasonable search and seizures is not violated when a police officer stops a suspect on the streets and frisks him or her without probable cause to arrest, if the police officer had a reasonable suspicion of that person had commit a crime in which he can be belief that the person may have a weapons that can be dangerous to a police officer.
Fifty percent of the original wetlands doesn’t even exist today. The water supply in the Everglades is changing and that has affected the Everglades in many ways. For one, population is decreasing and mankind needs to restore it somehow. Next, the Everglades are in need of some money to do that restoration, but where will they get it from? Last, the water supply is poisoning the humanity around it with much bacteria and many bad and dangerous elements. The Everglades water supply affected it in fixing the Everglades and wildlife.
Gilgamesh’s most prominent characteristic is his bravery. This is exhibited when Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to fight Humbaba in the Cedar Forest, one of the most feared beings in the world. “Enkidu said, ‘But how can any man/ dare to enter the Cedar Forest?” (pg. 92). Since Humbaba is so feared, no one dared to fight him. Gilgamesh also went on a quest to find immortality. After his beloved friend Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh decides to try and bring him back by finding immortality. This is an epic journey that humans could never accomplish. “This one who approaches--he must be a god.” (pg. 160). Though Gilgamesh is two-thirds divine, finding immortality is still an incredible feat, regardless of whether he became immortal or not. Not only did this journey require bravery, but it also
The Everglades, also known as the River of Grass, is one of South Florida's most treasured areas. It is an area still full of wonder and mystery. The Everglades is lined with a specific type of limestone bedrock formed by tiny organisms called byrozoans. These animals, though not related to coral, act like coral by extracting dissolved limestone from the sea water around them and using it to construct protective chambers in which to live. They then attach to various kinds of sea grasses on the ocean floor and coat them as well. Individual chambers combine together to form rock-like structures. Over thousands of years, when South Florida was completely submerged, a vast amount of this limestone combined with other ocean sediments and was laid down over the area now covered by the Everglades. Prior to the draining activities of humans and its use as an agricultural area, the Everglades was flooded about nine to eleven months of the year. It also lost only about 0.03 inches of soil per year. After the drainage the Everglades began losing soil at approximately 1 inch per year. Now, however, it is only losing 0.56 inches per year.
Maintaining ecological diversity is necessary for the survival of a biological community. In the United States, American citizens are on the verge of irrevocably damaging one of the country's most unique and diverse treasures - the Florida Everglades. This national park is now the only remaining patch of a river that used to span 120 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay. Dikes and levees created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1940's drained this river to reduce flooding and increase useable water for the development of the region. This major diversion of water lead to a trickle down effect causing the continual decline of the environmental state of the Everglades. Since then, debates over the Everglades' future have silently raged on for years about how, why, and when the restoration will begin. This ongoing, but virtually unproductive effort has cost taxpayers a great deal without any apparent benefits. Recently, this debate has been amplified by the voices of the sugar industry in Florida, which was attacked for its major contribution to pollution of the Everglades. Now debates rage on with a new effort called the Restudy. Backed by the Army Corps of Engineers, this effort would change the flow of the Everglades, potentially restoring it into the viable community of life that it used to be. The question now is, will this latest attempt to restore the Everglades ever be realized (thus ending the cyclic Everglades debate) or will it simply add up to one more notch on the bedpost of inadequate and failed attempts to save this national treasure. The world is watching to see how the United States will handle this unprecedented cleanup.
The first part of the hero’s journey is the call to adventure. This is the voyage that the hero is asked to go on in order to accomplish greater good for human kind. This is the hero’s chance to help his or her community, family or friends by embarking on a long journey and challenging his, or herself. Gilgamesh does not go on a journey to help others, he goes to make himself look better. “ I have not established my name stamped on bricks as my destiny decreed, therefore I will go to the country where the cedar is felled” (page 70). This passage shows that the only reason that Gilgamesh wants to go on a journey is for fame and popularity.
The differentiation between open fields and private property must be made before one can proceed to form an opinion regarding the constitutionality of a warrantless search of an open field. Oliver v. United States is a case in which police officers, acting on reports from neighbors that a patch of marijuana was being cultivated on the Oliver farm, entered on to private property ignoring “No Trespassing” signs, and on to a secluded open portion of the Oliver property without a warrant, discovered the marijuana patch and then arrested Oliver without an arrest warrant. The Maine Judicial Court held that “No Trespassing” signs posted around the Oliver property “evinced a reasonable expectation of privacy,” and therefore the court held that the “open fields” doctrine was not applicable to the Oliver case.
The Everglades has been a foundational part of Florida ever since it was discovered. Its swamps have taken hold of the bottom quadrant of the Florida peninsula with its majestic swamps and exotic wildlife within. However, with Florida's population growth since the turn of the twenty-first century, the Everglades has been threatened by man (Everglades). The Everglades has sustained substantial damage due to over-drainage, runoff of nutrient pollutants, like phosphorus, and the spreading of algae and other plants that upset the ecosystem of the swamp. A greater amount of restoration must be done in the Everglades, otherwise, the whole ecosystem of the swamp could be destroyed.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, there are many complex characters. Every character involved in the story has their own personality and traits.
After being rejected from human society, the creation “declare[s] everlasting war against the species, and more than all against him who had formed [the creation], and sent [the creation] forth to this insupportable misery” (Shelley 97). The creation’s new-found passion for revenge dominates his last innocent and pure feelings. Each hate-oriented action, committed by the creation, traces directly back to the unjust villagers and his cruel abandonment. The murders of William, Clerval, and Elizabeth represent the creation’s spite toward Frankenstein while framing Justine for William’s death portrays the creations hatred for even the best of humanity. However, without exposure to the corrupt ways of humans, the creation could not posses enough wickedness to follow through with his hateful actions. Therefore, the corrupt taint the creation with vengeance. On the other side, the corrupt taint Dorian Gray with a loss of remorse. Devoting himself to the words of Lord Henry, “He becomes indifferent to the effects of his actions which not only destroys others (in ways never specified) but also leaves him fatally marred” (Aubrey). Before Lord Henry’s influence, Gray possesses a kind spirit that would be unable to bear such burdens. Lord Henry’s leadership desensitizes Gray to the effects of his own sin. Although people cannot
In many literary works we see significant transitions in the hero's character as the story is developed. This is also true in the Epic of Gilgamesh with its hero, Gilgamesh. In this narrative poem, we get glimpses of who Gilgamesh is and what his purposes and goals are. We see Gilgamesh act in many different ways -- as an overbearing ruler resented by his people, a courageous and strong fighter, a deflated, depressed man, and finally as a man who seems content with what he's accomplished. Through all of these transitions, we see Gilgamesh's attitude toward life change. The goals he has for his own life alter dramatically, and it is in these goals that we see Gilgamesh's transition from being a shallow, ruthless ruler to being an introspective, content man.
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.
In order to be considered an epic poem there has to be a hero who goes on a journey and returns having obtained some object or knowledge that will help them throughout their life. This was also the argument of a famous scholar of Greek myth who said, “all heroic quests can be summarized in one verb: ‘to get.’” He also said that they must realize that there is something that they are lacking or receive some order to search for something. He believes that the only way for this quest to be a success would be for the hero to bring something back after having used force or a form of negotiation. In the epic of Gilgamesh, however, he goes on this quest in order to find immortality but he doesn’t come back with what he was initially searching for.