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The Impulsive Behavior In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

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Gilgamesh appears to be impulsive throughout “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. In the beginning pages of the story, he is a ruthless tyrant because “his human form [is] unable to contain the restless vigour of divinity” (38). A person who is restless can oftentimes make impulsive decisions and do impulsive things. Examples of this behavior surface through his actions as a tyrant. As king, Gilgamesh is quick to stop weddings, and take the bride as his own. Considering that the elders condemn him for doing so, it is clear Gilgamesh has no legitimate reason. He simply takes brides away because he can, and he wants to. Furthermore, the manner in which he interrupts weddings, alone and unarmed, exhibits his hasty decision making, Though most impulsive
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Instead of feeling safe under a divine ruler, people feel threatened and pray to gods to protect them. Gilgamesh oversteps the family boundaries, and this constant violation causes Gilgamesh to lose favor and love from his own subjects. A good king can lose the favor of his people because without them, the glory of being a monarch diminishes, losing the respect and loyalty from his subjects. As a result, Gilgamesh’s corruption prohibits him from calling himself a great king among other

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Source of Strength In both The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Andrew George, and The Odyssey translated by Stanley Lombardo, the royal protagonists are kings. In both, Gilgamesh and Odysseus are renowned kings who go on harsh journey’s being obstructed by the gods. Both are considered one of the strongest people of their times. Interestingly, Gilgamesh and Odysseus are reasonable different types of king, the former being more harsh.

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One of the largest and most technologically advanced empires of the ancient world was the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which existed from 911 BC to 609 BC. The empire exerted its influence over much of the Near East through military conquests and political methods during this period. The cultural and political values of the Neo-Assyrian Empire are shown through the texts from the epic of Gilgamesh. The emphasis on strength, power, and control depicted by the Gilgamesh texts is one of the most notable aspects of the Neo Assyrian Empire.

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Gilgamesh is an epic hero in the story Gilgamesh: A New English Version because he endured a long journey. A common trait that all epic heroes share is their long journey that they must travel in search of triumph, treasure etc. Some evidence for this is "At four hundred miles they stopped to eat, at a thousand miles they pitched their camp. They had traveled for just three days and nights, a six weeks’ journey for ordinary men. " Ordinary people could never have traveled this length hence why they're epic.

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Response to Assignment #3 The story of Gilgamesh is about a man who is transformed from be a prideful king to being a realized king who people centered. Gilgamesh is a man who takes advantage of the women in his city. The men within the city truly hate him because they are unable to defeat him in any of his sporting events. Overall, Gilgamesh was a prideful man who no one can stand up to.

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The Epic of Gilgamesh is about a two thirds mortal and one third immortal King named Gilgamesh. Throughout this story, Gilgamesh has multiple dreams from good to bad. Dreams play a big role in The Epic of Gilgamesh because it’s how the gods and mortals communicate with things that may happen in the future. The first interaction with a dream is when an axe was displayed, and it made Gilgamesh upset. Gilgamesh also saw a man in this dream which he loved like a woman then, considered him as his brother.

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Gilgamesh is a powerful yet emotional king. Gilgamesh shows his weak side by saying “I have wept for him day and night…” After this he remains an epic hero in my opinion. The text states he went on a great dangerous journey and survived and killed the guard of The Cedar

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An example of his emotions can be seen as “Gilgamesh had peeled off his clothes, he listened to his words and wept quicktears, Gilgamesh listened and his tears flowed.” (Anonymous and Sandars). Gilgamesh initially is not particularly loyal to anyone. However, after Gilgamesh encounters Enkidu and the two go on adventures together, Gilgamesh loyalty changes to being with Enkidu, which can be seen by Gilgamesh outpouring of emotions upon Enkidu’s death. Gilgamesh’s shift in loyalty proves that humans can shift their loyalty based on a set circumstances in this case meeting with a life long friend.

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Throughout ones’ life, they will face challenges and temptations in which they cannot overcome, despite the consequences that may occur. This appears to be true in the Epic of Gilgamesh when Gilgamesh is given two tests that will prove that no matter how hard he tries, he will fail and come to realize he is not immortal, and cannot escape death. Gilgamesh relates to the eating of the apple in the Garden of Eden because although it was spoken to be poisonous and will cause death, the temptation from the serpent led them to their fatality. Gilgamesh and Enkidu set off on their journey to steal trees from a cedar forest, which is forbidden to mortals. Once they arrive, they have to fight and kill Humbaba, which is the guard of the trees in the forest.

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After reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, the reader can see how the transformation of the characters plays such a huge part of the whole story. Gilgamesh starts out as a terrible ruler. The story begins with a description of Gilgamesh and the type of person that he is. “Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children;.

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I who know him, I am terrified.” (pg.80). This quote shows that Gilgamesh is getting in over his head and is fighting with no purpose. “Gilgamesh, you are strong, but what is the Country of living to you?” (pg. 72).

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Through suffering, they learn the nature of reality and accept their limitations. Gilgamesh suffers from attempting to obtain glory and immortality. In the beginning, Gilgamesh tyrannized

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Another obvious proof that conform the existence of human characteristics in the epic is eating. Even though all living things in this world eat in order to survive, humans' style of eating differs them from the other living things such as animals. Only humans have unique traditions or methods of eating; however, this epic has a part where Enkidu a human was eating as animals because he was born and live between beasts. After Enkidu was prepared to challenge Gilgamesh, Shamash was preparing him to eat and become as humans when the harlot asked him to eat, "Enkidu ate the bread until he was sated. He drank seven juglets of the beer.

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Heroes are people who conquer all evil, do the impossible, and help everyone but oneself. Throughout time what one considered a hero has changed, the modern definition of a hero is a typically a man, who is admired as a result of his/her courage, achievements, or braveness. However, back when The Epic of Gilgamesh was written, a hero was someone godlike with courage, and ability to do selfless acts. Based on this definition, it is clear that Gilgamesh strives to be a hero. Not only does he conquer evil and battle monsters, he also does the impossible and obtains new knowledge of death.

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The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest story known to mankind, being written on Sumerian clay almost five thousand years ago (Garone). Since the story was originally known orally, the culture and themes from The Epic of Gilgamesh must have existed long before it was finally inscribed (Mark 4). Having known this, the cultures and themes can be compared to today’s society, discovering about how they have shifted and evolved, and also observe how they are similar. The ancient days of Gilgamesh has brought culture that has greatly influenced today’s society. Because Gilgamesh was set around the time of late Babylonian or early Sumerian society, the Babylonian and Sumerian cultures also play a role in shaping the world into what is is today (Mark).

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