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In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu knows that his fate is death after he falls ill. While dying, he begins to grow worried due to the dreams he has of Gilgamesh not saving him from danger as he thought he would. His worry causes him to curse those who love him, like Shamhat, a woman who turned him from a beast into a human, and gave him Gilgamesh. Enkidu then immediately regrets the curses he puts on Shamhat after an unidentified voice, similar to God, explains that Shamhat has given him Gilgamesh, and Gilgamesh, “will have the people of Uruk shed bitter tears for [him once he passes], [and] he will make the pleasure-loving people burdened down for [him]. (lines 99-100).
In this tale, a godly man, Gilgamesh, develops a friendship with beast-turned-man, Enkidu, who begins to teach Gilgamesh about the world and helps him to grapple with challenges. After one challenge in particular, a battle with the giant Humbaba, Enkidu dies abruptly, leaving Gilgamesh alone again, and forcing him to overcome adversities by himself. Gilgamesh is initially despondent, but these adversities eventually give him the strength to grow in wisdom and appreciation. Gilgamesh flourishes from his failures because he can finally understand the meanings of life and death, accept
However, even if Enkidu saw this as a terrible course of action, he tried to contain this fear. Gilgamesh listened to his friend's concerns but did not agree, and astonished at Enkidu's fear asked why already is he afraid saying that there is nothing to fear. Even when they stop to visit Gilgamesh's’ Mother, Enkidu still contains his fear but reminds Gilgamesh of the dangers but again disregards them and is stubborn to continue with his plan. As they arrived on the edge of the Forest, night had come upon them, as they both dreamt Enkidu
Gilgamesh is somewhat bitter with the fact that only gods are able to live forever. When he thinks about death he is very uncomfortable because he feels that he is a mighty warrior of a man and the only thing that will ultimately end him is death. We also see how the death of his beloved friend Enkidu drives him to the edge of the earth in attempt to prolong or completely liberate himself from the same fate. This is a valuable lesson for mankind throughout history. No matter what you may feel or become in the
Although nothing is mentioned in the text about Enkidu’s death, the gap will be filled by showing him suffering and taking his final breath. Gilgamesh will be shown cursing the gods, and he will start to
When Gilgamesh decides that he wants to fight Humbaba, he refuses to listen to Enkidu’s worries and protests, “You [Enkidu] speak unworthily…I must set my hand to cutting a cedar tree,/I must establish eternal flame” (Putchner et al 111). This displays Gilgamesh’s impatience because he will not listen when his friend wants him to slow down and think about his choices. He refuses to stop when people ask him to nor will he think about anything else than what he wants to do. Gilgamesh’s impatience when asked to think about what he is doing showcases that he is not a virtuous
After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh goes wandering in his quest for immortality. Upon meeting Utapinishti, Gilgamesh observes that Utapinishti seems no different from himself, and asks him how he obtained his immortality. Utapinishti, a mortal man who is now a god, explained to Gilgamesh that death is our certain destiny, even if we don’t know when it will happen. Utnapishtim goes on to say that Gilgamesh inherited his father’s mortality and, like everything else in the mortal world, he is subject to death. (Gilgamesh 93).
He wanted to explain to him that grieving is not going to solve any of his issues. He wanted him to understand that only god live forever, humans does not. Gilgamesh is 2/3 God and 1/3 man he have such strange supernatural
Gilgamesh goes to get the plant in hopes of returning to Uruk and sharing the plant with the elderly. All hopes are tarnished when a snake steals the plant in the middle of the night. Once Gilgamesh realizes, he watches as the serpent slithers away with new skin growing back making it young again. Although eternal life was what Gilgamesh wanted, failing the tests he was given showed that he was meant to be mortal.
Through Enkidu’s death, he is slowly surpassing his fear and overlooking it. He realizes that death is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Gilgamesh is still selfish, only thinking of himself. He acts as if he was the only one to experience a death of a
Since Gilgamesh and Enkidu are presented as inhuman. Both of them have attained humanity when Enkidu died. Enkidu feels fearful when he is dying, as well as feeling depressed that he is leaving Gilgamesh (55). Thus, through suffering he becomes more mature and obtains the characteristics of
In order to Gilgamesh to achieve immortality, he must be able to transcend the one weakness that makes man human: sleep. Sleep and death are two sides of the same coin in that the body rest and does not “live” and do any actions. The fact that Gilgamesh cannot overcome the need to sleep, the weaker counterpart to death, means he is not worthy of immorality. Sleep is deemed important to the Samarian culture, because when you dream you acquire important information of the future and receive some sort of enlightenment from their past experiences.
The human experience is something that everyone goes through during their life. Some of the elements that make up the human experience are love, death, birth, friendship, sex, work, war, fate, and destiny. The element that every human will face at one point in their life is death. Death is an inevitable factor in someone’s life that they cannot avoid. Different cultures and religions view death differently and everyone’s stance on death varies.
A Hero’s Quest for Immortality Gilgamesh, just like any other heroes, receives a vision from the gods pertaining to his fate, “The father of the gods has given you kingship, such is your destiny, everlasting life is not your destiny.” It makes no sense at first but as the story progress, we found out that Gilgamesh was never meant to live eternal life. The quest for immortality is a common theme in mythologies. Heroes undergo challenges against gods and supernatural creatures in order to get the desired item that would restore one’s youth.
Yet it holds the same human experiences, same human emotions, and same human ambitions. It holds the same sentiments we hold dear today, such as life and friendship in utmost importance. It speaks of human ambition to be remembered and to live forever, that can be found even up to this day. Gilgamesh attributed his immortality with enduring monuments, such as the city of Uruk, modern day individuals, in the same manner, attribute their immortality with the name they made for themselves. The truth of society, how nature works, and how human beings relate with each other, and how man’s actions can influence other things, are greatly intertwined.
