The Themes Of Death In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

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

The earliest surviving literary work, dating from 2100 BC in the Sumerian city of Uruk, The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of a hero’s journey to immortality. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written by the Sumerians in their akkadian text and translated by George Smith in the early 1870s, follows the main character Gilgamesh, the unjust and cruel king of Uruk, and his friend Enkidu on their journey to achieve greatness in which Enkidu dies, prompting Gilgamesh to seek immortality. In the story, Enkidu’s character serves as a foil to show and exaggerate Gilgamesh’s immorality and bravery.

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.

This journal article examines 3 versions of the Gilgamesh Epic: the Old Babylonian version; the Eleven-Tablet version; and the Twelve-Tablet version. Though all 3 versions deal with the issues and choices of human beings and also with the inescapable issue of Death, the 3 different versions focus on 3 different aspects of Gilgamesh. The Old Babylonian version is the oldest, probably written during the Old Babylonian Period of 2003-1595 BC, and focuses on the fight of hero vs. man. The Old Babylonian version was circulated in the Near East and underwent many revisions. One of those revisions was the Eleven-Tablet version, which focused on the fight of hero vs. king. The Eleven-Tablet version, written in the later second millennium, adds to the beginning and end of the Epic, plus the Utnapishtim meeting, and shows the Gilgamesh-Ishtar passage that was added in Tablet 6. Another revision of the Epic was the Twelve-Table version, which focused on the fight of hero vs. god. The Twelve-Tablet version adds a translation of the second half of "Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld" and changes the nature of the Epic by showing a conflict between Gilgamesh's two identities as god and man, and the rules controlling life in the

11). By announcing this, Gilgamesh realized that he too one day would be dead like Enkidu. In refusal to accept such a future, Gilgamesh began his quest for eternal life. To achieve it, he journeyed to find Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim and his family were the only survivors of a great flood wrought by the gods to destroy humanity. As a reward for their survival, the gods gave the family eternal life and sent them to live “...in a remote island paradise beyond the waters of death” (p. 12). Utnapishtim’s island corresponds to the situational archetype of a garden where death does not exist. In such a garden, beauty and innocence are unspoiled. When Gilgamesh finally met Utnapishtim, Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh the story of the great flood, and then he revealed to him the secret of eternal life by saying, “...it is a mystery of the gods that I am telling you. There is a plant which grows under the water… which restores… lost youth to a man” (p. 14). In telling Gilgamesh this information vital to his quest for everlasting life, Utnapishtim became a mentor. He also became a secondary form of divine help to Gilgamesh because Utnapishtim received his knowledge from the gods.

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

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.

A recurring theme within the Epic of Gilgamesh is the inevitability of death. Gilgamesh, two parts God and one part human, is the king of Uruk. He has a strong desire to be immortal and is seemingly spiteful of the gods’ ability to possess this trait. Later on in the epic when Gilgamesh meets Enkidu who eventually becomes his counterpart and faithful sidekick, Gilgamesh realizes that now they may together have the ability to do an extraordinarily defining deed that will allow them to theoretically live forever. Gilgamesh and Enkidu come to the decision that they must kill Humbaba after they realize that the only way in which they will be able to live on forever is through the fame in which this action will bring.

There once lived a king, the great king of Uruk in Mesopotamia. This great leader was Gilgamesh. His preserved epic is of great significance to modern day culture. Through Gilgamesh, the fate of mankind is revealed, and the inevitable factor of change is expressed. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is a great love, followed by a lingering grief that cause a significant change in the character of Gilgamesh.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a testament to the changing of the basic day-to-day lives of the denizens of early Mesopotamia. The Epic of Gilgamesh is not only the first epic poem, but the first literary work that questions what it means to exist. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a sign that for the first time in the long course of the history of mankind that the common people had the cultural capacity and the ability to truly question what happened when life stopped and death began.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, perhaps the most important literary piece of Mesopotamia, displays a world in which even the mightiest of human beings possessed little freedom to control their own fate due to an insurmountable environment. The Epic of Gilgamesh’s plot centers on Gilgamesh’s unavailing struggle to find eternal life. Naturally, he comes close but ultimately fails. A key aspect of Gilgamesh’s endeavor is his quest for wood in a cedar forest guarded

Enkidu views death as the painful and sorrowful thing that undergoes in human life. Death is something that is sorrowful, and that creates a loss of identity in Gilgamesh life (Ceil, 2012). He understands death as a negative factor that aims at destroying the unity of the community and all its components. Gilgamesh articulate death through loss of the morality values, and he doesn’t seem to understand life and its functionality.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, we’re taught to appreciate life until the end. At the start of the story, Gilgamesh is a powerful, but inconsiderate king. He wants so much, but instead of working for it, he relies on fear to make other people do what he wants “So he made his men to work, the women do his beck and call, they wished that he was gone.” (song, line 11-12) That is, until he meets Enkidu. The two fight, but “They both gave up, the battle ends and they decide to be best friends.” (song, line 29-30) Enkidu loyally accompanies Gilgamesh until he is struck with an illness and dies. After that, Gilgamesh becomes consumed in his task to become immortal. During his journey, Shiduri attempts to tell Gilgamesh that he will never obtain eternal life, but should cherish the life he’s got left and “spend it in happiness, not despair.” (456) because what is the point in living forever if you don’t know happiness? After Gilgamesh loses the plant meant to give him eternal life, he is in a state of complete anguish. He feels like everything he did was in vain. The epic ends with him admiring his magnificent city and appreciating its beauty and the work put into it. In a way, nothing significantly changes, but at the same time, to him, everything does.