Socrates states that “the unexamined life isn’t worth living for a human being.” He wants to explain the message of how little time we are given as humans. Humans only live for second compared to the grand scheme of things. For this exact reason so many people strive to do something that matters in their life, like Gilgamesh. If we do not do something memorable as humans, then we will be forgotten about; Who wants that? We will not be remembered in the long run. Initially, Gilgamesh’s intentions are cruel and selfish. When he is gone all, he wants is to be remembered as this amazing brave person. By the end of the novel Gilgamesh learns how he can be remembered in another way.
“By day and by night his tyranny grows harsher” (3) is initially
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When he meets Uta-napishti he tells Gilgmesh what he did to become immortal. Gilgamesh informs him that he too wants to be immortal so Uta-napishti gives Gilgamesh three tests that he ends up failing. Once he fails Gilgamesh asks, “What should I do where should I go?” (97) “Wherever I turn, there too will be death” (97) Gilgamesh now realizes that no matter how hard he tries, he can not escape death. Everyone faces death no matter how hard we try to beat it. For Gilgamesh he either wants to be remembered for something immaculate when he dies, or to have the gift of immortality and now he feels as though he will get neither. Uta-napishti saves one more test for Gilgamesh. He tells Gilgamesh about a plant that lies in the bottom of the ocean and if he can posses it then “you’ll again be as you were in your youth” So of course Gilgamesh goes to the bottom of the ocean, gets the plant, and brings it to the surface. Instantly, the plant is snatched away by a snake. Socrates is known for his irony and I also think this part is very ironic. The story ends where it began, with the walls of Uruk that Gilgamesh built. He spends the whole book in search of something that will make him live on forever, he wants a life that is examined by generations to come. Which is in fact ironic because he already had something that he will be remembered for, the walls of Uruk. After Gilgamesh fails his last test for immortality he ventures back to his city of Uruk in a boat with Uta-napishtis boatman. On his way back, he sobs and then he beings to examine the beautiful walls of Uruk that he created. He realizes that he had wasted his time all along, he says “what thing would I find that served as my landmark? Had I only turned back and left the boat on shore!” (99) Gilgamesh realizes that his legacy has been there all this time, he regrets going on his