Importance Of Enkidu's Life In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

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The Epic of Gilgamesh, written in 2000 B.C., is considered to be the most famous piece of Mesopotamian literature.1 Throughout the poem, many themes are displayed, but the main ones were death and the wrath of gods. This shows that in ancient Mesopotamia, citizens had a negative view on the after life and pessimism played a major role in their day to day lives. To summarize, Gilgamesh was king of Uruk, a demigod, and a hunter. Enkidu was a man who spent his life in the forest with animals, until seduced by a harlot and became civilized, he then began his friendship with Gilgamesh. Ishtar, the patroness of Uruk, proposed to Gilgamesh and because he denied her, sent a Bull of Heaven to punish him. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were victorious against …show more content…
Enkidu's dream was so vivid that Gilgamesh immediately believed it. Enkidu's description of the afterlife was not something to look forward to, especially for a high ranking king. Gilgamesh was probably royalty his whole life so an afterlife of being poor, a servant, and only eating dust and clay would be pretty humiliating for him. This led Gilgamesh to completely obsess over the idea of his own death and wouldn't stop until he found Utnapishtim, the one who has entered the “assembly of the gods” after the great flood. On his way to consult with him, Gilgamesh encountered Siduri, the divine wine maker, and he exclaimed “Since I have seen your face do not let me see the face of death which I dread so much.”6 This shows how frightened he was of facing his own mortality and coming to terms with the fact that he will die and there is nothing that will prevent …show more content…
During this time, Mesopotamian deities had a semi-mutual relationship with humans. The gods would demand people to praise them and if the humans did that, they would be rewarded. This was not always the case, considering the temper of some gods. After Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh about the great flood, he explained to him that the quest for immortality is a futile one. To be created means to eventually die, thus making death inescapable. The will of the gods always outweighs a person's will, which can bring forth a hopeless outlook on life. At the end of the excerpt, Siduri gives Gilgamesh the advice to “Fill your belly with good things, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice... for this too is the lot of man.”7 However, Gilgamesh went on to see Utnapishtim with the same attitude as before, did not take the advice, and was still overcome with
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