Fear Of Afterlife In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

If Gilgamesh was not so hubristic as to want to “stamp [his] fame on men’s minds forever” (94) by winning in battle against Humbaba, Enkidu would have lived. His death ravages Gilgamesh, who sets his sights on achieving immortality so that he may never experience the very human fate to which his soulmate fell victim. Gilgamesh devotes years of his life to seeking immortality, but his quest ends in vain. The damage that Gilgamesh’s hubris caused is apparent; he experienced awful heartbreak and sacrificed many years of his mortal life in an attempt to preserve it. However, Gilgamesh’s story ends with an interesting conclusion: instead of suffering for the rest of his days due to his tragic flaw, Gilgamesh is able to accept that “[t]here is no way to overcome death” (63) and

The Epic of Gilgamesh is essentially a story about a hero going through the foundations of the human condition. Birth, growth, emotions, aspirations, conflicts and mortality are all characteristics of the human condition, and this piece covers all six of them. On the day of Gilgamesh’s birth, “two-thirds of him was divine, one-third of him was human” (39). This means he is born off-balance, incomplete and arrogant. Due to this, the Gods are forced to create Enkidu to temper him, helping Gilgamesh grow. After becoming close friends, they continue to grow through conflicts with Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Regrettably, these conflicts lead to the death of Enkidu. Now Gilgamesh is forced to deal with his emotions. Unable to accept his mortality,

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the world’s oldest existing stories that were collected in Mesopotamia. It is a story about a heroic king named Gilgamesh, who treated his people in a nasty way. He was a domineering, and cruel leader, feared by many because of his unnatural strength. He forced his people into labor in order to expand his kingdom. The people cried unto the gods and they created Gilgamesh’s equal Enkidu, who they later became friends. Gilgamesh witnessed the death of his close friend Enkidu, and this made him to search for immortality because, he was afraid to die. However, he learnt that, no human was immortal, and that he was destined to die, just like his friend Enkidu.

In The Epic, Gilgamesh’s understanding of his mortality is almost dismissive; he argues that since all men die anyway, that then they might as well risk their lives to make a name for themselves. Gilgamesh does not question the value of “making a name for himself” in a world where all great heroes are forgotten-it is enough to use his allotted years to achieve fame and glory. In this case, Gilgamesh believes that the value of life is to be remembered after death. Gilgamesh’s mortality and fear of death reflect on his human side and is consistent with the human condition of fearing death. However, Enkidu views death differently. Gilgamesh rouses Enkidu with a speech, explaining to him that since all men die anyway, they should not fear

Life and human fortune was very instable in Mesopotamians’ eyes. People just observed death and afterlife from a distance and some made them into a series of myths. For instance, “The Epic of Gilgamesh” expresses its idea on eventual death. No matter how hard Gilgamesh tries to lengthen his life, his death is predestined. The Mesopotamians viewed afterlife as an inevitable end.

The epic gives insight to the ways in which ancient Mesopotamians valued life. This becomes most obvious when Enkidu reveals to Gilgamesh his nightmare of the dark and enslaving afterlife as he is dying (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 2). This leaves Gilgamesh with extreme terror of death which provokes his desperate attempts to escape it. Giving death fearful and dark characteristics communicates that the afterlife is a harrowing experience and life is the individual’s harmonious experience. This serves to establish that ancient Mesopotamians sensed that life was something to be cherished and conceived of in a positive light. In addition, Mesopotamian life views are also illustrated when Gilgamesh must accept that he will not receive his requests for immortality from the gods (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 2). This suggests Mesopotamian society believed wise men should be grateful for their destiny and that he or she should not reach beyond what they are given. In doing so, this

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s pursuit for immortality is marked by ignorance and selfish desire. Desire and ignorance, as The Buddha-karita of Asvaghosha suggests, pollutes man’s judgment resulting in his inability to break the cycle of birth and death. At the core of Gilgamesh’s desire resides his inability to accept the inevitability of death, making his rationality behind the pursuit of immortality ignorant and selfish. Implicitly, Gilgamesh’s corrupt desire for immortality conveys that Gilgamesh does not mature as a character.

“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.

Life, Death, and Legacy: Mortality and Purpose within Ancient Mesopotamian Cosmology How does humanity come to terms with our mortality? How do we continue to live our lives in the face of impending death? These questions are so central to human existence that mankind's earliest text, The Epic of Gilgamesh, focuses on life and escaping mortality. The literature contemplates death, legacy, and the principles of a life well lived as it follows King Gilgamesh's, the legendary Babylonian, pursuit of renown and eternal life. The Epic of Gilgamesh characterizes death as inevitable and unstoppable; quests for immortality will fail.

After seeing his friend died, Gilgamesh was not confident of his immortal life. He found himself being scared of dying. The death of Enkidu drove him to search for the power of immortal life and this took him on a long journey. Gilgamesh’s journey was not like a normal journey. In his

This search in a way help Gilgamesh come over his fear of death. It may help him also get over his death of his best friend and learn to grow as a person. He changes completely by the end of it for a good reason. His friend death was a way to push him to become a better person and fulfill his other half without Enkidu doing that for him. An example of him becoming the knowledgeable one is how he talk to Enkidu about the underworld. ‘“Any man who goes down today into the underworld, take in the secret things my words uncover. Here is my advice. Take it.”’ (Gardner 253). He tells them things the men who enter the underworld not to do because he knows the horror that Enkidu has told him about being there. He advise them to not do these things

Although, eternal youth was offered to him in the form of a plant. When the supply of this was made to Gilgamesh, he did whatever it took to capture this plant. A sense of meaning came back into his life at this moment. When this occurred, the final transition of Gilgamesh

Death is a very large theme in the "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Being that this epic largely represented the Sumerian and Mesopotamians idea I believe the feeling of Gilgamesh himself on death and it 's aftermath would be very much the same for most of the society in the time that it was written. Gilgamesh was largely afraid of dying and did everything he could to avoid this inevitable fate.

It’s a universal fact that everything dies and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Humans are no exception. Most people are afraid of dying and the afterlife; whether it be for the fact that we have no idea what the afterlife holds, they aren’t ready to leave their loved ones behind, or the million of other excuses that people give on their death beds. We can see that people have always been scared of dying since the beginning of humankind. The Epic of Gilgamesh, is one of the earliest writings that humans have, shows how panicked of dying and the afterlife they were back in the 2800 B.C.E., probably even farther in the past.

With the death of his dearest friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh now begins to actually fear death and begins searching for the one man that was made immortal by the gods to ask him how to overcome death. In Gilgamesh’s own words, the death of his friend Enkidu has shaken him to the core. When speaking of his death he says “Enkidu, whom I so loved, who went with me through every hardship. The fate of mankind has overtaken him. Six days and seven nights I wept for him…I was frightened..I have grown afraid of death, so I roam the steppe, my friend’s case weighs heavy upon me..my friend whom I loved is turned into clay…Shall I too not lie down like him, and never get up forever and ever?” (pg. 78) Where before Gilgamesh wanted immortality so that he could continue a life of fame and