Epic Of Gilgamesh Literary Analysis

“I shall die…Sorrow has entered my heart! I am afraid of death, so I wander the wild, to find Uta-napishti” (Tablet 9.3-5). In the poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, suffers the tragic loss of his dearest friend, Enkidu which results in Gilgamesh wandering the wild in search of the one who can teach him of the secrets to unlock immortality, Uta-napishti. Gilgamesh must travel an immense distance to reach Uta-napishti and sail across a vast ocean using punting poles. The demi-god escapes death and barely reaches Uta-napishti who informs him that he must complete several trials in order to have his wish of immortality granted. Gilgamesh fails to complete the tasks required of him by the immortal Uta-napishti but realizes

Within the poem King Ozymandias implies his goal of achieving an immortal legacy as the pedestal upon which his statues stands reads: ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair” (Shelley, 10-11)! Ozymandias perception of immortality is legacy as he states that one’s “works” are what can allow him or her to live on for all time and eternity. The legacy of which Ozymandias solemnly desires to accomplish can be completed and is not pointless as multiple people have already done so and their legacy, whether good or bad, is still recollected tens to thousands of years

Legacy cannot be controlled but can be achieved. Legacy does not imply or mean that all people must remember who someone was but rather that one’s memory and life lives on in the minds and hearts of some people. Many characters in our society have become “immortals”: biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Adam as well as horrific dictators such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Benito Mussolini. Many people in today’s society will unknowingly create an “eternal name” for themselves as they strive to make the world a better place whether that means discovering a cure for cancer and other life-threatening diseases or destroying ISIS. Others could create names that are never forgotten for the damage they have done to the world. Legacies, whether they be good or bad, are not futile in trying to establish as if they are achieved, they can be immortal and can live on through all