Faiza Basharat

CMP2800

“The Epic of Gilgamesh” is a marvelous universal story that is still read all around the world. It has lasted so long because the story is fascinating in many ways and has great morals. In this, Gilgamesh is presented as a powerful, heroic yet a very cruel ruler of Uruk who is also the son of Ninsun. Gilgamesh is so powerful that he can rape women at his own will and rule his kingdom brutally without having anyone stand against him or say anything to stop him. He was known to be one tough, unchallenged ruler until one day when Enkidu was born. Enkidu was just as strong as Gilgamesh. Enkidu was born into the wilderness by Goddes Auru. Enkidu was discovered by a hunter who later sent a prostitute to tame him. When Enkidu slept with the woman he was no longer accepted by the animals. Then the Harlot teaches him everything he needed to know to be a man and live in a civilized world. Enkidu was furious when he heard about Gilgamesh and his brutal acts towards the people of the city, therefore he challenges Gilgamesh for a fight that he wins remarkably. After the tough battle, we see that both Enkidu and Gilgamesh make up and become friends.

Gilgamesh the Man himself had a good meaning to the story. He was a bad man till he found a friend, Enkidu, who made him realize the difference between right and wrong, who kind of completed him, and they both had a very good relationship together since the first and last they battled. Enkidu plays such an important role in Gilgamesh’s life. After Enkidu’s death Gilgamesh is not able to go back to normal life as it was, he becomes lost and for the first time in his life, is afraid and is desperately trying to defeat the limitations of mortality. The thing that makes the concept involved in immortality remarkable is the plain fact that even though “Epic of Gilgamesh” story was created by the earliest form of human civilization, it still contains pieces of characteristics that modern day people can still relate to.

At the end of the story, Gilgamesh returns to his city as a person who no longer desires for eternal life, he fights death, no more, and he holds death as a concept that is limited to his life. Fearing death is a part of the human condition; hence, humans are constantly on a search to understand the world around them. No matter how much people try to find answers to what happens after death, there’s no proven answer to this. Instead of seeking answers to that, humans should just try to accept death as a natural part of life.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that should not be read as a text that was written by ancient human civilization; it should be read as a text that high points humankind’s struggle to overcome the restrictions of mortality, and the acceptance of death.