“Knowledge is power. Power to do evil...or power to do good. Power itself is not evil. So knowledge itself is not evil.” - Veronica Roth, Allegiant This quote references the age old theme of power versus knowledge. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, a young king named Gilgamesh strives for immortality. Gilgamesh acted for his own glory, and was a tyrant over his own people. This made him act less like a person, and his greed was his hubris. Gilgamesh was power hungry, never straying from his hoarding habits, even in the wake of a friend’s death. Gilgamesh was an example of human corruption through power. With the greed he exemplifies, Gilgamesh’s story followed the archetype of the miser. Gilgamesh’s greed and thirst for power overshadowed
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With his friend's death, Gilgamesh realizes he is mortal, and will eventually die. Out of fear for this, he consults the wise man Uta-Napishti, the only man to ever gain immortality. Uta-Napishti is an example of the the positive life Gilgamesh could leave if he made the correct choices. Uta-Napishti is a god who earned his immortality by surviving a great flood. He tells Gilgamesh of the failures the greedy King has made so far, and ridicules Gilgamesh for not helping others. He called Gilgamesh a fool. "Said Uta-napishti to him, to [Gilgamesh:] / 'Why, Gilgamesh, do you ever [chase] sorrow? / You, who are [built] from / god's' flesh and human, / who the [gods did fashion] like your father and mother? / 'Did you ever, Gilgamesh, [compare your lot] with the fool? / They placed a throne in the assembly, and [told you,] "Sit!" / The fool gets left-over yeast instead of [fresh] ghee, / bran and gist instead of [best flour] / he is clad in a rag, instead of [fine garments,] / instead of a belt, he is girt [with old rope,] / Because he has no advisers [to guide him,] / his affairs lack counsel . . . . . ." (lines 270-277) Gilgamesh's idol calls him a fool for not making better choices. Gilgamesh's seeking power made him a pawn that could be easily used, as Uta-Napishti points out. This focus on choice references the idea of a path to wickedness that will cause evil. It indicates that …show more content…
He goes on a deranged quest to find immortality, a gift that he was warned against finding. He encounters people akin to his possible futures, and both embidy the kinds of oaths he can take in his life. His failures ultimately describe humanity's tendency to turn a blind eye on very real problems, no matter how many warning signs there may be. Gilgamesh's story proves ignorance can really be
With his friend's death, Gilgamesh realizes he is mortal, and will eventually die. Out of fear for this, he consults the wise man Uta-Napishti, the only man to ever gain immortality. Uta-Napishti is an example of the the positive life Gilgamesh could leave if he made the correct choices. Uta-Napishti is a god who earned his immortality by surviving a great flood. He tells Gilgamesh of the failures the greedy King has made so far, and ridicules Gilgamesh for not helping others. He called Gilgamesh a fool. "Said Uta-napishti to him, to [Gilgamesh:] / 'Why, Gilgamesh, do you ever [chase] sorrow? / You, who are [built] from / god's' flesh and human, / who the [gods did fashion] like your father and mother? / 'Did you ever, Gilgamesh, [compare your lot] with the fool? / They placed a throne in the assembly, and [told you,] "Sit!" / The fool gets left-over yeast instead of [fresh] ghee, / bran and gist instead of [best flour] / he is clad in a rag, instead of [fine garments,] / instead of a belt, he is girt [with old rope,] / Because he has no advisers [to guide him,] / his affairs lack counsel . . . . . ." (lines 270-277) Gilgamesh's idol calls him a fool for not making better choices. Gilgamesh's seeking power made him a pawn that could be easily used, as Uta-Napishti points out. This focus on choice references the idea of a path to wickedness that will cause evil. It indicates that …show more content…
He goes on a deranged quest to find immortality, a gift that he was warned against finding. He encounters people akin to his possible futures, and both embidy the kinds of oaths he can take in his life. His failures ultimately describe humanity's tendency to turn a blind eye on very real problems, no matter how many warning signs there may be. Gilgamesh's story proves ignorance can really be