Untitled Essay, Research Paper

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, the hero of this epic, achieves many

feats of skill, which makes him famous, but that is not the reason it is

an epic. The Epic of Gilgamesh fulfills the requirements of an epic

by being consistently relevant to a human society and carries immortal themes

and messages. By looking at literature throughout history, one can

infer the themes that are consistently passed on to other generations of

humans. It is in human nature for people to want to excel in life and

strive to make a name in this world for themselves. We want to be

remembered by name or for something we have done. Most, who actually

succeed, are forgotten about in a matter of years. However, some are remembered

for tens, hundreds, and even thousands of years, because of their great

intellectual achievement to feats of outstanding skill.

Gilgamesh is not only a character of a story; he is actually a portrayal

of people and how they act out of human nature. He, like many of us,

does not want his existence to end when he leaves this world. He is

not content with what he has, good looks, money, and power, and desires more

in life. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that we, as people, can relate

to. There are similarities between Gilgamesh’s journey and our

own journey through life. Some of the texts that will be compared with

The Epic of Gilgamesh, are the Bible, and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn. The characters of these stories are all have that

burning desire to be successful in life, which we can relate to. These

texts span across different time periods and societies illustrating how human

nature, particularly the desire to obtain more than one possesses, plays

a significant role throughout written and present human history.

It is in human nature to want to be recognized and receive what one think

he or she may deserve. In the Bible, one of many themes is the quest

for something greater than what the seeker currently has, in terms of stature

or wealth. One of many examples is the theft of Esau’s birthright by

Jacob. In Genesis 25: 27-34, Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born

Son, Jacob wanted more than his proper inheritance, he wanted the rights

as the first born son. His brother Esau was hungry and asked for some

soup that Jacob was cooking. Jacob answered, “I will give it to

you if you give me your rights as the first-born son.” Jacob could

not be content with what he already had. He wanted a larger portion

of the inheritance entitled to the one who is the first-born as well as the

title. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh seeks to gain more fame

by attempting feats of great proportion. One of the feats is the slaying

of Humbaba, the giant beast who is the keeper of a !

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forest. By doing so, Gilgamesh becomes famous for killing the dreaded

Humbaba, even though it does not pose any threat to people who stay out of

that particular forest. “Together we will accomplish

a work the fame of which will never dieyour dream is good, your

dream is excellent, the mountain which you saw is Humbaba, Now, Surely, we

will seize and kill him.” He does this is for fame as well as

access to the cedar trees. After this event, he announces to every

person he meets, “I killed the watchman of the cedar forest,

and I killed the lions in the passes of the mountain.” Both Gilgamesh

and Jacob wanted more than they had. Jacob already had an inheritance

coming to him, but desired more of it as well as recognition as the

first-son. Gilgamesh already had good looks, strength, and kingship,

yet he had to go out and kill Humbaba to gain fame and rights to cedar trees

for it. Jacob still would have gotten part of the inheritance without

taking t!

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he first-son birth rights from his brother, and Gilgamesh still could get

access to the cedar trees without killing Humbaba, yet that was not enough

for them.

Most people would not find their life as fulfilling without adventure.

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck sees life as an

adventure and lives it out in that fashion. Huck runs away from home

and lives through many perils for basically sheer excitement. “We

said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places

do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel

mighty free and easy, and comfortable on a raftwhat he (Tom)

had planned in his head from the start was for us to run him down the river

on a raft, and have adventures plumb to the mouth of the

river” Huck was expected to live a normal life, learning

manners and conforming to social norms, yet that did not please him.

He looked for adventure in life and realized that a life on a raft would

be more fulfilling. The Epic of Gilgamesh carries the same theme because

Gilgamesh is constantly searching and going on adventures to distance places,

kill!

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ing the Bull of Heaven, Humbaba, and the lions in the passes of the

mountain. He searches for these adventures because he wants to make

the most out of life. Just being king and never leaving the city can

be monotonous and boring. Gilgamesh travels to distant forests and

crosses “the waters of death” for, what amounts to, an adventure. He

is searching for something worth living for. Just as we, as people,

can not live everyday doing absolutely nothing. This theme tells us

that we all need some adventure in our lives to make it worth living.

It is just like riding a roller coaster, living for the anticipation of the

ride and the adrenaline rush. Huck, Gilgamesh, and all of us were

born with the desire to explore and live dangerously because the feeling

of adventure and adrenaline helps us to believe that we are truly

“living” life to the fullest.

All of Gilgamesh’s excursions were driven by the need for adventure

except for the last.. The last journey was the search for everlasting

life. Being two-thirds god was not enough for Gilgamesh. No,

he wanted immortality. He wants to live forever so that no one would

ever forget him. “Tell me truly, how was it that you came to enter

the company of the gods and to possess everlasting life?” But

Gilgamesh is not the only person who searches for immortality. In many

stories there is a search for the Fountain of Youth. The water from

this fountain would restore youth to the old and one would never have to

die. Fear of death and desire to live forever has driven people to

do all they can so that they may extend their existence to as long as

possible.

Because of the Bible, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Epic of

Gilgamesh is clearly has consistent relevance historically. In today’s

society, all these stories still remain relevant. People are striving

for more today. There is nothing good that people don’t want more

of. They want more power, more value, more money, more sex, and the

list goes on and on. That is the motivation for science, technology,

and economics. Just as Gilgamesh killed Humbaba for fame and bragging

rights, people today say they have slept with celebrities and seen aliens.

Today, in our advanced society, people are still looking for immortality.

People do not have the maturity to accept death. This is why there

has been an enormous growth in the health care industry. People want

to live longer youthful lives. People want wrinkle-free skin in their

50’s. People want to play sports in their 60’s and 70’s. At the same

time, people are striving to live over a century. Gilg!

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amesh approaches this cause with a less scientific approach by seeking out

the god Utnapishtim and asking for immortality. He is told that he

needs to get a piece of the plant of everlasting life. He ends up failing

and Gilgamesh is forced to face death. Death will always be a given

in a human society, but the way we perceive it will determine our

maturity. This book clearly portrays themes that are consistently relevant

throughout history and today. Humans rarely change in their nature,

and therefore some aspects of humanity will never be absent. Humans

will always fear death because it will always remain an unknown because the

dead can not relate their observations. And people will always fear

the unknown because of possible harm. Men and women will also always

deem themselves as superior over nature because humans are superior in the

sense that they can exterminate any living being. Humans will always

strive for more because there is a true social Darwinism, survival of the

fittest. In order for people to live, they must always be above the

line of absolute poverty. In the human perspective, the greater the

amount of money you have, the farther you have “to drop” to get below the

poverty level. It is basically a bigger buffer zone in terms of economic

status. Therefore, in a human society, there will always be certain

inalienable aspects of humanity. The Epic of Gilgamesh fulfills the

requirements of an epic by being consistently relevant to a human society

and by carrying immortal themes and messages. Epics will always be

present because there are certain themes about humanity that can not be

denied. In this era, it is easy to say that the world is rapidly

changing. But, humans aren’t changing with it and there lies the root

of most of the problems in society. We must recognize and maybe change

the world to be more suitable for humanity.