Essay on The Theme of Knowledge in Gilgamesh and Genesis

The story of “Gilgamesh” depicts all of the heroic triumphs and heart-breaking pitfalls a heroic narrative should depict to be able to relate to today’s audience. However, “Gilgamesh” was once considered a lost and forgotten piece of literature for thousands of years, so there is a tremendous gap between the time it was created and the time it was translated into language that today’s audience can understand. That gap in history makes several aspects of the story of “Gilgamesh” strange and unfamiliar because what we now know about ancient Middle Eastern cultures and languages is a lot less than what we know about the cultures that prospered after ancient Middle Eastern cultures. Much of the content in the story of

There was a time when gods and demons roamed the earth. A time when humanity lived at the mercy of divine beings, who executed their wills against the humans, following their own selfish desires and placing humans in a position of piety to these dominant beings. This time on earth is one of great men who fought against these demigods, giving them great fame passed on as stories in the oral tradition. Though it is unrealistic to believe that these men truly fought against divine beings, their stories played a role in the ancient world, which was the beginning of the formation of society and civilization. The epics of “Gilgamesh” and “The Ramayana of Valmiki” both served their societies as an outline of a moral code,

Gilgamesh, written by David Ferry, illustrates a story about a man who knows everything, but continues to try and learn more. Although Gilgamesh may be arrogant, he still remains a great ruler and commander of Uruk. Throughout the book, the adventures of Gilgamesh fit Joseph Campbell’s idea of the hero’s journey. After analyzing the pieces to the hero’s journey, Gilgamesh is proven to be a true hero because his journey parallels that of the hero’s journey described by Campbell. The latter part of this paper will prove Gilgamesh is a hero using Campbell’s model, by analyzing the pieces of the hero’s journey: separation or departure, the initiation, and the return.

1. At the very beginning of the work, Gilgamesh is described as one “who knew the ways, was wise in all things” (1.2). How does this establish the central role of knowledge and wisdom in the epic?

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale from ancient Babylon. Its hero, Gilgamesh the king of Uruk, is two-thirds god and one-third man. Throughout the epic, which consists of three stories, the character of Gilgamesh is developed. This is accomplished by changing the vices he possesses at the start of the epic, and replacing them with virtues he receives by its completion. “A virtue is a quality of righteousness, goodness, or moral excellence; any good quality or admirable trait of a character.” (Halsey Collier’s Dictionary 1114) “A vice is an immoral or harmful habit or practice; fault or fall” (Halsey Collier’s Dictionary 1111). Gilgamesh is not the only character in the

The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An

The epic of Gilgamesh is a tale that displays multiple didactic messages throughout the course of the story. These morally oriented instructions that shape the epic’s characters are very much applicable to our current lives. Messages like: the importance of perseverance, that drive that pushes you to excel, the down side of sexual passion when not tempered, and how we need to keep our pride under control, not letting it cloud our judgement. These principled themes, among others, are clearly visible to the eyes of the audience.

     In the epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh embarks upon a quest seeking immortality as a means to peace, meaning, and joy in life. He tries to reach it in many different ways, each as unsuccessful as its predecessor. The two main types of immortality are physical and through the actions or achievements of ones life. Gilgamesh tries first through his actions, but then undergoes a transformation which leads him to next attempt physical immortality. He eventually comes back to the point at which he began; however, now he realizes that the beginning point was always the object of his quest. Uruk, his city, is his legacy and the key to his quest. This lesson underscores his humanity, for often we cannot truly learn a

This connects to a creation myth’s purpose of detailing the origin of good and evil. These myths provide examples of some of the earliest human beings doing things which anger the gods in authority over them. As a result, they supply

While the women in the Epic of Gilgamesh may not be the primary focus of the epic, which instead recounts more of Gilgamesh’s own trials and travails, they still play quite vital roles in their interactions with both Enkidu and Gilgamesh. Women such as Shamhat, Ninsun, and Ishtar in The Epic of Gilgamesh are often portrayed with a particular emphasis on their intrinsic connections to civilization—and in the case of Shamhat and Ninsun, in terms of their motherly characteristics as well—which serves as their primary influence over men. When taken into account with Gilgamesh’s overarching quest for immortality, this inherent connection that women have with civilization, and particularly so through their roles as mothers of not just a single character, but in general of the entire progeny of civilization itself, lends to the notion that women themselves are the very progenitors of civilization who will ultimately uphold Gilgamesh’s own quest for immortality.

The very first appearance of wisdom appears in the very beginning, “I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was a man to whom all things were known… he was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things,” (EOG 1). From this short phrase, it is clear that wisdom and mysteries will play a huge role in the plot of the story. Not only this, but the reader is also being told that he is about to learn the deeds of Gilgamesh. The idea of innocence and how knowledge makes people lose their innocence also appears in chapter one, “he was innocent of mankind; he knew nothing of the cultivated land,” (EOG 4).

At an early point in history, The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Genesis were two texts that set the framework of the entire world. They were two epics that established the foundations of religion, literature, and all other standards that were followed by every category of people. Both texts entice the audience through antique language, and the stories of epic heroes and immortal gods. Sin-Leqi-Unninni and the many writers of the Bible use love as their central theme, yet it unfolds as having distinguishing effects on all characters throughout both texts. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the author conveys love as a motivational factor for helping Gilgamesh and other characters transition into better individuals, whereas in the Old

Though separated by geography and beliefs, ancient peoples worshipped gods and idealized systems which created the basis of their cultures. Ancient works and writings such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, Hebrew Scriptures, and the Bhagavad Gita, preserve the interactions of gods and mortal religious figures. While fragmented and lost to time, the remnants of Mediterranean, Hebrew, and Hindu writings, like many other religions, show the relationship between the divine and their worshippers, through the importance of humans, their actions, and the roles of their gods.

The following above connects to the beliefs in the “Epic of Gilgamesh” and the religious system

Gilgamesh is a brave demigod who goes on an adventure to kill a creature that all men fear a 6 week travel for normal man but a 3 day travel for Gilgamesh and his companion cause it talk's about how they walked there the desert and took a break were Gilgamesh travels to the top of a mountain and speaks to gods. Or when they are going threw the desert and have to dig up a well and fill up there water pouches thanks to the god of