—Anonymous
Is the Epic of Gilgamesh a Great Work? To be brutally honest I am not quite sure whether or not I would consider the Epic of Gilgamesh to be a great work. Sure, the piece itself contains many different messages that can be interpreted and derived from the epic but I don’t believe that means it is necessarily a great work. I do believe that having open interpretation in a piece is conducive to creating a great work, but doesn’t mean it will ultimately end up being one. To me a “Great Work” has to… Leave me with a question to ponder and think about outside of the story. (Hopefully a question that cannot be answered in a single statement) Be enjoyable to read In this case, The Epic Of Gilgamesh does leave me with questions to ponder outside of the story for example… “To what extent is death a motivator in my life”. This question was brought to light when Enkidu passes away in the epic which sends Gilgamesh into a desperate frenzy to attain “Eternal life”. When I read this scene, it made me question how much I let death change or influence my life. To be honest, I really don’t ever think about it, Death is something I believe will come for me when it is supposed to. However, I have realized that this isn’t the case for everyone and sometimes it influences the risks people end up taking. What I find funny about this whole situation is that we’ll actually never know when Death comes. So in a sense it motivates me to continue through my day because why worry about something you can’t control? As for my first requirement, The Epic of Gilgamesh meets my expectations as it has made me consider what influences my choices in real life. As for the second requirement… Let’s say I didn’t enjoy reading the book that much. According to human psychology, as humans, we are more inclined to recall the first part of a sequence of events or the last part. (Along with anything you had an emotional attachment to) This is probably why I felt I didn’t enjoy the book. To start it off, the ending to the Epic of Gilgamesh is unnerving to the audience as we never truly figure out if Gilgamesh continues to develop as a character. As a reader, you want to see character progression and to see Gilgamesh become a benevolent dictator to the people of Uruk but instead, the book ends exactly the way it starts. On the walls of Uruk. Along with that, telling the tale of the new Gilgamesh we begin to see, we are given several other interpretations of the piece which begin to completely muddle the story. Although this provides other perspectives on certain characters, these additions aren’t very pleasing as it leaves the audience with an inconclusive ending. As a result of the uncertainty towards the ending of the book, the ending was not very pleasing to me as a reader. Perhaps that’s just how I feel about reading however. I do believe I have a preference for happy endings even though that’s not how it always is. In conclusion, because the Epic of Gilgamesh didn’t fulfill both of my requirements, I don’t believe that this text should be regarded as a “Great Work”. Once again, this is only my opinion though.
