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The Repetition Of The Inequality In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

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One of most widely related tales of it’s kind, The Epic of Gilgamesh highlights the struggle of man to accept his own mortality. As a tale that was often recited orally, the epic contains several instances of repetition that create connections between the various adventures Gilgamesh embarks upon. This stylistic and structural feature of the epic likely served as a functional tool to assist in the memorizing of the tale as well as an important literary purpose. The use of repetition throughout the epic leads not only to the tale coming full circle, giving a sense of ritualistic closure, but the repetition also conveys a sense of futility in Gilgamesh’s search for immortality. The mirroring of the opening and closing scenes gives The Epic of …show more content…

Within The Epic of Gilgamesh the structural choice to repeat the opening lines in the closing bring the narrative full circle, creating symmetry and giving the epic a fulfilling conclusion. The epic opens with a description of the events that will follow. “He who saw the Deep, the country’s foundation, [who] knew . . ., was wise in all matters! [He] . . . everywhere. . . and [learnt] of everything the sum of wisdom. He saw what was secret, discovered what was hidden, he brought back a tale of before the Deluge. He came a far road, was weary, found peace, and set all his labours on a tablet of stone. He built the rampart of Uruk-the-Sheepfold, of holy Eanna, the sacred storehouse. See its wall like a strand of wool, view its parapet that none could copy! Take the stairway of a bygone era, draw near to Eanna, seat of Ishtar the goddess, that no later king could ever copy! Climb Uruk’s wall and walk back and forth! Survey its foundations, examine the brickwork! Were its bricks not fired in an oven? Did the Seven Sages not lay its foundations? [A square mile is] city, [a square mile] date grove, a square mile is clay-pit, half a square mile the temple of Ishtar: [three square miles] and a …show more content…

R. The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. London: Penguin, 2003. Print. Tablet I, lines 1-23) This introduction lays out all the events of the epic plainly for the reader. Opening the epic this way leads to Gilgamesh’s accomplishments throughout the epic becoming the starting point for Gilgamesh’s development. This opening leads to Gilgamesh’s greatest accomplishments becoming something easily anticipated by the audience. As an opening it sets the stage for the events of the epic, serving as a brief summary, but once it combines with the closing lines it becomes apparent that it serves a deeper purpose of completing the circuit of the epic’s narration. “‘O Ur-shanabi, climb Uruk’s wall

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