Giglamesh_Succeeds

Gilgamesh Succeeds Gilgamesh was a king who had been ordained unparalleled gifts by the gods. His gifts consisted of great knowledge, physical perfection, and exposure to the unknown. The knowledge Gilgamesh had was beyond experience and what can be learned from a book. “This was the man to whom all things were known.” (Sanders, p.12) Secrets of the world were revealed to him. He was supplied with endless amounts of power, wealth, strength and information. He was given the life of a mortal with the abilities of a god, as he was two thirds god and one third human. He had the best of both worlds. However, these gifts caused Gilgamesh to become spoiled and ungrateful. He was blind to the needs of others as he abused his power. He took what he wanted without care for the suffering it would cause others. He was much like an over indulged child who needed to learn some humility. Teaching a god-like, spoiled king what it means to be human would prove to be a difficult task. However, Gilgamesh’s creators harnessed his arrogance by introducing love and loss to his mortal life. His loss caused him great grief and he began to fear the inevitable, death. His desire for immorality sent him on an epic journey. He would fail in this quest, but he would triumph in his journey to humanity. The story of Gilgamesh begins in a description of his failure at being king. However, being king is not all that Gilgamesh is. He is a man, he is a god, he is a hero, and he is a warrior. He is extraordinary. These roles set him apart from the people he rules in Urak. His inability to relate to being a normal man results in his inability to be a good ruler. (Abusch, p.614) Gilgamesh is a living, breathing oxymoron. He knows his place on a battle field. He leads his troops to victory. It is outside of that battlefield that Gilgamesh feels lost. “Because of his extraordinary energy, his rule is oppressive and he stands in isolation from other human beings.” (Abusch, p.614) Being a god and being human pulls him in different directions. He cannot find his way. He does not know what his true purpose is. The introduction of Enkidu, his other half, his brother, “his own reflection”, is his salvation as a human being. (Sanders, p.13) Enkidu is sent by the gods in response to the cries of his subjects for relief of his rule. However, Enkidu is not only there to rescue the people of Urak from Gilgamesh’s tyranny, he is sent to rescue Gilgamesh from himself. Gilgamesh dreams of Enkidu and discusses the coming of Enkidu with his mother. His mother helps him to understand his dream, “… you will love him as a woman and he will never forsake you. He is the brave companion who rescues his friend in necessity.” (Sanders, p.15) This dream allows Gilgamesh to truly accept Enkidu and the role Enkidu will have in his life. Enkidu’s role is to motivate Gilgamesh, pushing him to do things to ensure his fate. Gilgamesh is very influenced by Enkidu as he truly loves him and trusts him. Enkidu is a friend that truly understands the essence of Gilgamesh and the sacrificial role he must play in his life. (Sasson, 269) In fact, it is very apparent that Enkidu is more intuitive than Gilgamesh and he sees the warning signs found in Gilgamesh’s dreams, “The meaning of your dream is this. The father of the gods has given you kingship, such is your destiny, everlasting life is not your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed. He has given you power to bind and to loose, to be the darkness and the light of mankind. He has given you unexampled supremacy over the people, victory in battle form which no fugitive returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this power, deal justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly before Shamash.” (Sanders, p.17) Enkidu knows that these dreams are very important because they prepare Gilgamesh for the events that will occur in his life. The dreams are full of significant warnings that Gilgamesh fails to heed even with Enkidu’s help. The failures that Gilgamesh faces are planned by his fate. As much as Enkidu is there to assist Gilgamesh and to love him, he is part of the lesson of humility. Therefore, when Enkidu and Gilgamesh go to kill Humbaba, Enkidu gives Gilgamesh bad advice. He instructs Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba who is begging for mercy. This seals the fate of Enkidu. He dreams that the gods have decided that they both must die and he immediately becomes very ill. Enkidu soon dies and Gilgamesh is stricken with despair. He roams all over the woods weeping and praying. He begins to realize his own mortality and his fear of death forces him further into this journey for immortality. He seeks Utnapishtim, “whom the gods took after the deluge; and they set him to live in the land of Dilmun, in the garden of the sun; and to him alone they gave everlasting life. (Sanders, p.30) He kills lions, crosses dangerous waters, and braves twelve leagues of total darkness. He comes across Siduri, “the woman of the vine, the maker of the wine.” (Sanders, p.32) This is an important meeting because Siduri explains to Gilgamesh what it means to live as a human. She tells him that he cannot live forever, but there are things in life which a man can enjoy, “fill your belly with good things; day and night, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this is too the lot of man.” (Sanders, 32) Gilgamesh does not accept Siduri’s counsel. He is still angry and hurting over the death of Enkidu. His pain blinds him and he smashes Utnapishtim’s boat. He still cannot accept his fate. Utnapishtim also counsels Gilgamesh and explains that nothing in this world is permanent. He devises a test where Gilgamesh cannot sleep for six days. Gilgamesh fails this test and moves on to yet another. He is to find a plant that restores youth. He finds this plant, but it is stolen by a serpent. Again, Gilgamesh has failed to find immortality. He returned home a weary man. In the city of Urak, Gilgamesh engraved his story on a stone. His journey was one of many failures and loss. He was defeated in love and doomed to die as a normal man. However, he didn’t fail. His story is a lesson to us all. It is not how you die, it is how successful you are at living. Gilgamesh lived as an extraordinary man. His epic journey was a lesson in humanity. Works Cited Abusche, Tzi. “The development and meaning of the Epic of Gilgamesh: an interpretive essay” The Journal of the American Oriental Society. 121.4 (October-December 2001): p614. From Literature Resource Center. Sanders, N.K. “The Epic of Gilgamesh; An English Version”. Penguin Classics 1960, second revised edition 1972 Sasson, Jack. “Some Literary Motifs in the Composition of the Gilgamesh Epic” Studies in Philology 69.3 Detroit: Gale Research, (July 1972): p259-279