Gilgamesh Candide And Things Fall Apart Optimism Analysis

Two understand how the gods influenced our hero, Gilgamesh, one must first look at the various ways the gods meddled into his life. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale of a half-mortal man whose quest to break his own boredom turns into a tale of friendship, immortality, and kingship. However, his tale would not have been able to happen if it was not for the influence of the various Sumerian deities. After the people of Uruk complained to the gods about Gilgamesh’s child-like behavior, the goddess Aruru creates the man that will become Gilgamesh’s closest friend, Enkidu. Enkidu was created as an equal to the king so that Gilgamesh would have a way to occupy his time. Unfortunately, after the two friends defeated the giant Humbaba, a terrible demon creature, the god Enlil becomes enraged, but despite Enlil’s best effort, he is unable to punish the two.

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

Gilgamesh, on the other hand, is not so lucky. His weakness is something that he cannot escape. Since Gilgamesh is part human, death is an inevitable fact of life. Gilgamesh’s fate is first foreseen when he has a dream about a wild man Enkidu. Gilgamesh tells his mother,” Stars of the sky appeared, and some kind of meteorite of Anu fell next to me. I tried to lift it but it was too mighty for me, I tried to turn it but I could not budge it. – I loved it and embraced it as a wife. I laid it down at your feet, and you made it compete with me. (220-231)” Gilgamesh learns his destiny is to love Enkidu, but the gods create Enkidu to destroy Gilgamesh. When the goddess of love sends the bull of heaven to kill Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeat the bull, but the gods are not happy. As punishment, they speak the curse of death upon Enkidu. Heart-broken

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu helps act as a catalyst for the transformation of Gilgamesh’s character from an undefeatable god-like brute into a complex thinker. In the eyes of Gilgamesh, he is unstoppable and is willing to challenge death itself so long as he is remembered as a hero by his subjects. With Enkidu’s help, Gilgamesh learns to become a better person as a ruler, not as a better warrior. Although not blood related, Enkidu was like a brother to Gilgamesh and the duo shared an inseparable bond. Throughout the epic, Enkidu teaches Gilgamesh that he is not unstoppable, being stubborn will not stop him from dying, and that there are no easy solutions to life.

     Another aspect of the story that has some comparison to my own life is Enkidu as a friend to Gilgamesh. I, as all kids do, had a best friend in elementary school, and in the third grade he moved away. I have never seen him since nor will I probably ever see him again. My friend did not die like Enkidu, but he did go away. As a nine year old this was something I had never dealt with before. Looking back upon the situation I learned a great deal from my friend leaving. I learned how to say goodbye to someone forever and that I might not always see the people around me again. Gilgamesh had different influences from his friend’s death, but he did come to a realization like me. Enkidu was Gilgamesh’s best friend and his best guide to the real world. “‘My friend, the great goddess cursed me and I must die in shame. I shall not die

In the Epic Of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is described as a 2/3rd devine and 1/3rd human. He was a very arrogant man, who was very full of himself. Gilgamesh meets a monster like human with long brown hair named Enkidu. Initially Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought, however they quickly found out that they were equal in strength and speed.

Beginning with Gilgamesh, his entire life he was known as a tyrant king. He became so arrogant and erratic that the gods were forced to create another being in order to challenge him. This being, Enkidu, was sent so they could “contend together and leave Uruk in quiet” (The Epic of Gilgamesh 4). This is a perfect example to the fact that Gilgamesh was arrogant and unpredictable. With that being said, he is referred to as a hero for he was the almighty presence in the kingdom. Before Enkidu was created, there was no creature powerful enough to challenge Gilgamesh. This was in part due to him being two-thirds god, however his human side was still generations ahead of anyone else. All in all, Gilgamesh was a mighty human, and a dominant force.

Gilgamesh, a great leader, who was identified in a particular society. At a young age was incredibly strong and handsome and although his people loved him dearly, "his arrogance has no bounds by day or night" (4). He was unafraid of man or beast and he did whatever he wished even when it hurt his people "yet the king should be a shepherd to his people" (4). His people of Uruk became distressed and they asked the gods to intervene and teach their young ruler to be a kind and wise king. The gods of Ancient Babylon listened and they created Enkidu, a wild beast-like man to become Gilgamesh's companion and guide. Although he looked along the lines of a wild animal, Enkidu had many traits that Gilgamesh lacked, such as kindness

Perhaps one of the main reasons the Epic of Gilgamesh is so popular and has lasted such a long time, is because it offers insight into the human concerns of people four thousand years ago, many of which are still relevant today. Some of these human concerns found in the book that are still applicable today include: the fear and concerns people have in relation to death, overwhelming desires to be immortal, and the impact a friendship has on a person’s life. It does not take a great deal of insight into The Epic of Gilgamesh for a person to locate these themes in the story, and even less introspection to relate to them.

In the story of The Epic of Gilgamesh, the main character named Gilgamesh, changes in different ways as he evolves in his adventures of his life. The story starts out showing a mean Priest-King named Gilgamesh, who rules the kingdom of Uruk. He is cruel, selfish and tyrranical. As the story goes on Gilgamesh’s character experiences different circumstances to eventually make him look at his pathetic life, and realize he wants to be humble as well as find his true happiness and destiny.

Gilgamesh was a little strange because he might have been known a sparkling hero, but he was also considered a bad king at the beginning of the Sumerian work because he was known as a bad ruler, arrogant, oppressive, and brutal. He wanted to do his own thing and didn’t want to listen to others. The people of Uruk were so tired of his behavior they needed some help from the Sumerian gods. Gilgamesh is familiar to today’s audience because he goes through some things that I’m everyone goes through. Something bad had to happen to Gilgamesh in order for him to change his behavior. He befriended a guy name Enkidu, which was someone that was supposed to handle Gilgamesh bad behavior. Enkidu eventually died during their bad adventures they encountered

The second significant change in Gilgamesh was caused by the loss of his brotherly companion, Enkidu. Gilgamesh couldn't bear the loss of a love so powerful. Despite his astonishing power and leadership, something in his life was missing. He wept for seven days and seven nights, in hope of bringing Enkidu back to him. Gilgamesh said, "I thought my friend would come back because of my weeping. Since he went, my life is nothing". It is in this stage of the epic that we see the truly sympathetic and compassionate side of Gilgamesh. The grief in his heart had far surpassed the magnificent pride that he had previously displayed so boldly.

“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.” (Harry S. Truman) The stories of Gilgamesh and Candid have underlying themes of optimism. This is because both, Gilgamesh and Candid faced horrible tragedies in their lives. Through their tragedies though, they both chose to push through these challenges and make the best out of their situations. They went through horrible trials and when one would think that they should give up they still try to find the best out if a bad situation. This shows true optimism because they did not dwell on the bad days. Instead, they made the best of their situation

Gilgamesh was the son of the goddess Ninsun and the former King of Uruk Lugalbanda, this made him one-third man and two-thirds god. He was created by Nintu, who is the great Mother Goddess, out of clay. Many other gods had given him other qualities during his creation like beauty, courage, and wisdom. Gilgamesh lived without any fear and did whatever he pleased even if it meant hurting others. His behavior was so unruly

Gilgamesh was said to have been two-thirds god and one part man and this self-description may have originated from the above mentioned Sumerian desire to deify their kings. Carl Jung seems to describe this as when "the gods first lived in superhuman power and beauty on top of snow-clad mountains or in the darkness of caves, woods, and seas. Later on they drew together into one god, and then god became man" (Jung, p. 102). Gilgamesh's heroic journey has been exalted because it is more than just a great adventure story, it is also an incredible intellectual pursuit (Rosenberg, p. 173). Not only must he have great courage and determination to defeat the obstacles before him, Gilgamesh must also possess undeterred patience, internal fortitude, and willful self-examination (Rosenberg, p. 173). "For at another level, one is to