The Journey of Gilgamesh
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- Category: English: Poetic Works
- Date Submitted: 02/24/2014 08:30 PM
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The Journey of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale on the friendship between Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by Aruru to rid Gilgamesh of his arrogance and their search for an adventure. The author of The Epic of Gilgamesh is unknown. As in many other mythological texts, one of the main themes of this ancient text is the journey or quest of the hero. Gilgamesh goes on many adventures which constitute his journey to find himself and change.
At the beginning of Gilgamesh’s story, he is arrogant and evil. As the king of Uruk, he does not take good care of his people and treats them horribly. He thinks that he is the best man alive and that the world revolves around him. Three quotes from the text can prove this statement. The first quote at pages 46-47 describes how Gilgamesh acts with his people. The quote goes like this: “No son is left with is father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; […]. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior’s daughter nor the wife of the noble; […]”. This quote shows perfectly how poorly the king of Uruk treats his people. The second quote at page 52 explains what Gilgamesh wants to do to access the Land of the Cedars: “I am committed to this enterprise: to climb to the mountain, to cut down the cedar, and leave behind me an enduring name.” This quote shows arrogance because he says that he wants to conquer Humbaba so that he can be known as the amazing and incredibly strong man who defeated Humbaba, the ferocious giant. Someone shouldn’t want to eliminate evil for the enduring name that comes with it. They should want to do it so that the evil disappears. The third quote at page 52 is a bit different from the two last ones. It is the counsellors of Uruk talking, not Gilgamesh. It goes like this: “Gilgamesh, you are young, your courage carries you too far, […]”. This is basically their way of telling Gilgamesh that he thinks too much of himself and that he should stop...
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale on the friendship between Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by Aruru to rid Gilgamesh of his arrogance and their search for an adventure. The author of The Epic of Gilgamesh is unknown. As in many other mythological texts, one of the main themes of this ancient text is the journey or quest of the hero. Gilgamesh goes on many adventures which constitute his journey to find himself and change.
At the beginning of Gilgamesh’s story, he is arrogant and evil. As the king of Uruk, he does not take good care of his people and treats them horribly. He thinks that he is the best man alive and that the world revolves around him. Three quotes from the text can prove this statement. The first quote at pages 46-47 describes how Gilgamesh acts with his people. The quote goes like this: “No son is left with is father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; […]. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior’s daughter nor the wife of the noble; […]”. This quote shows perfectly how poorly the king of Uruk treats his people. The second quote at page 52 explains what Gilgamesh wants to do to access the Land of the Cedars: “I am committed to this enterprise: to climb to the mountain, to cut down the cedar, and leave behind me an enduring name.” This quote shows arrogance because he says that he wants to conquer Humbaba so that he can be known as the amazing and incredibly strong man who defeated Humbaba, the ferocious giant. Someone shouldn’t want to eliminate evil for the enduring name that comes with it. They should want to do it so that the evil disappears. The third quote at page 52 is a bit different from the two last ones. It is the counsellors of Uruk talking, not Gilgamesh. It goes like this: “Gilgamesh, you are young, your courage carries you too far, […]”. This is basically their way of telling Gilgamesh that he thinks too much of himself and that he should stop...