The Fear Of Death In The Epic Of Gilgamesh And The Stalker

Further analysis of the poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, described the characteristic of king Gilgamesh from the beginning, middle, and end. Throughout the poem, there are immature and petrified moments of Gilgamesh, but more importantly he learned to grow as he explore his journey. Friendship, love, and fear appears to be essential in this poem. Why are those terms relevant ? and how does it connect with the trait of Gilgamesh ?, let’s continue to find out the truth about Gilgamesh.

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

The maturation of Gilgamesh and his desire to acquire wisdom throughout his journey is quite apparent. By overcoming difficulties such as upholding Uruk, becoming friends with Enkidu, and various other scenarios, Gilgamesh proves that he did in fact grow up throughout the epic.

One of the overarching themes that spanned over the many books we read over the semester, was the nature of love and the search for meaning. Love is an inherent aspect of humanity, and while it is an often inexplicable and complex sentiment, it is intrinsically connected with mankind's search for meaning in life. Love often leads a person in directions that they do not expect, and this is obvious in the very different applications of love in different books. However, one common idea about the relationship between love, suffering, and wisdom, can be argued for based off the ancient texts that we read. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Antigone, and The Tale of Genji, love is used as a vehicle for wisdom through suffering and loss.

Many stories address the importance of companionship in one’s life and how a closeness with another person can lead to a mutual improvement on both sides of the relationship. The ancient Sumerian epic Gilgamesh explores the relationship between two soul mates, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, whose story was immortalized because of their dependence and trust in each other. Gilgamesh would not have been able to reach his full potential as a king, warrior, or person if it was not for the influence of Enkidu.

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 is full of unexpected challenges; it is how we deal with them that either makes us stronger or weaker as an individual. We either grow up mentally from the challenges we face, or we don’t grow up at all. One challenge that we are all going to have to face, if we haven’t already, is what it feels like to lose a loved one. No matter what we do, we can’t prevent it. We are all going to have to experience grief and learn how to cope with our losses. However, in the story of one man who couldn’t take the fact that someone as powerful as himself could lose a loved one, had no other choice but to learn the hard way of how to cope with his loss. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a retold story by the best-selling author, Herbert Mason, tells the story of a king who was two thirds god and one third man. He was full of pride and made himself superior to others. Because he was so arrogant and oppressive to his people, it seemed that he needed companionship from someone that was the opposite of himself. He needed a friend that would show him how to be humble and have consideration for others. When he meets and befriends his perfect companion, they become unstoppable as they love and protect one another like brothers. However, these friends couldn’t be more opposite; one was two thirds god and one third man, while the other was an animal like man. This is the story of two beings becoming human together. This is the story of a king who thought that he was so mighty and powerful that he

men, hear me! Hear me, O elders of teeming Uruk, hear me! I shall weep

The story about Gilgamesh is one of the earliest pieces of world literature dating back to the second millennium B.C.E. This story has been evolved gradually over a long span of a millennium, and has been enjoyed by many nations. The Epic of Gilgamesh teaches life lessons that apply to the past and present while revolving around the question of what it means to be human, and to experience the phenomenon of friendship, love, and death.

In the ?Epic of Gilgamesh,? Gilgamesh deals with an issue that nearly destroyed him. He sought after immortality so much that he put his own life on the edge. Centuries later, this quest unites our high tech, fast paced culture with the remote and different culture of Gilgamesh. Humanity has yet to find the secret of letting go of the idea of everlasting life.

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.

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.

Nature in the Epic of Gilgamesh appears to be either man’s greatest enemy or his ally, depending on whether he can conquer it at all. Those who cannot conquer nature, fear it greatly. Those who can conquer nature however, seem to gain immense personal power from doing so. Gilgamesh is an example of the latter. There is one aspect of nature that both parties fear, and will both inevitably be conquered by, that aspect is death. Gilgamesh himself is incredibly afraid and leery of death. After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh mourns for him “six days and seven nights” then proceeds to wander the earth. However, before he sets off wandering, he “slaughtered fatted cattle and sheep” and “heaped them high for his friend”. Gilgamesh performed these