Epic of Gilgamesh Essay example

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The Epic of Gilgamesh Assignment Gilgamesh Is an epic poem telling the tale of the great mythical creature himself, and the friendships. losses, lessons and gory battles he goes through. Throughout the story, Gilgamesh seems to be looking for something. What is it? Perhaps a sense of overpowering like the gods and even to be immortal would be the ultimate want for Gilgamesh. But, as most things don't end as planned, he doesn't find this immortality, instead he finds physically nothing whatsoever. He finds his voice and his own self acceptance and maturity. This he found through the bond he gained an the friend he lost, allowing him to feel appreciation and giving him experience with real life he had not yet realized could happen without the strenuous power of being a God.

It seems that, even without concretely saying it in the poem, Gilgamesh really just wanted to find and obtain a higher power, such as the immortality of the Gods. From the beginning of the prologue, Gilgamesh is known as this great and powerful man who abuses the power he has and acts like it’s never truly enough for him, “The city is his possession, he struts through it, arrogant his head raised high, trampling it’s cictizens like a wild bull. He is king, he does whatever he wants…”(pg.72- Author) this quote shows how Gilgamesh is seen by the people of Uruk as intimidating and fearless towards anyone, for he has greater power on land. But, he wants more as we see the story progress, “«If only I could find the one man whom the gods made immortal, I would ask him how to overcome death»” (pg.159-Gilgamesh himself) he says this after his great other, Enkidu has died, as a gesture of hope and willingness to travel great lengths to find immortality, what he truly is looking for throughout the poem.It’s interesting to see how this death that he experiences, actually creates a sense of determination in Gilgamesh that wasn't always there and helped him find what he really needed over what he wanted.

By the time Gilgamesh overcomes his self-absorbed arrogance, he does actually find something. Not something physical, like a magic bean or a flying carpet, no he finds something much more precious, personal and noteworthy. He finds his voice, along with a sense of self-acceptance. Enkidu’s life and death gave Gilgamesh an experience he had not yet had, one of loss and love for someone real not just a love and lust for sex and power, like his old ways. He thrives to find this “immortality”, but instead found himself, a much more mature self in fact. “After he sent out the proclamation, he went to the treasury, unlocked the door and surveyed his riches, then he brought out priceless jewel-studded weapons and tools with inlaid handles of ivory and gold and he heaped them up for Enkidu, his friend, an offering to the Gods of the underworld.”(pg.155-Author) Not once was it mentioned that Gilgamesh had made this type of offering before Enkidu came along, meaning he found a way to give into the seniority of the gods and accept the hierarchy he lived in. Another point that proves the great findings of Gilgamesh, was how at the very end of the poem the last verse is repeated, but this time by Gilgamesh himself. I think this represents a lot about what he found, being his voice and his representation of his city of ‘Great Walled-Uruk”.

Deep down inside the giant seven foot man, he was always in a way seeking his own voice. Gilgamesh himself might not have known it, but even if he was looking for a voice through immortality, he still wanted to be apart of his city and be with his citizens, god or not. I believe this because, no one can go looking for anything without finding other hidden discrepancies along the way, which is exactly what happened to Gilgamesh. He found this because he
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