Epic Of Gilgamesh Poem Analysis

Gilgamesh is an epic poem about the struggles of a tyrant. Gilgamesh, a two third god, one third human that is a tyrant over his civilization in Uruk. Gilgamesh was so harsh that his people cried out to the gods for help. The gods responded quickly, sending the goddess of creation, Aruru, to create a double of Gilgamesh to balance out the tyrant. The double, named Enkidu, does not do his job, but instead encourages Gilgamesh to be brave and try to control nature. He boosts Gilgamesh’s ego enough to offend the gods. The gods react by killing Enkidu, which sends Gilgamesh on a search for immortality after grieving for a few days. Gilgamesh searches for Utnapishtim, the only human to ever become immortal. Utnapishtim tries to discourage him, …show more content…
Gilgamesh should do what he can in the time he has left to keep himself happy, as long as it doesn’t include hurting others. As king, he should seek to be loved and admired by his subjects, as well as leave more good in the world once he dies than was in the world previously when he entered it. I would follow my advice to the best of my ability, however I know that when I do what makes me happy I will struggle with the possibility of judgement from my peers. This fear would not last long though, it would quickly be replaced with courage that would push me to do what made me happy.
The story of Gilgamesh is the story of a king learning how to deal with his problems. Although the novel ends on a slightly unfinished note, it ends with Gilgamesh taking a step back to look at how wonderful his kingdom is. We are unsure if this means he has changed, but we see a slight shift in perspective for Gilgamesh, where he is now able to be grateful for all that he has in his life. With this change in perspective, we see that he has given up on immortality, however we also see that he understands that only memories are forever and that he should make them while he