Epic Of Gilgamesh Research Paper

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest pieces of literature that chronicles the journey of a young king of ancient Uruk, which was a city-state in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and is presently known today as Iraq. In 2700 B.C.E., the ancient story “The Epic of Gilgamesh” was written in the Sumerian language (the earliest Mesopotamian language) on twelve clay tablets (Puchner33). Gilgamesh, who was created by the gods, was two-thirds god and one-third man. This creation of god and man gave him a perfect physique and a know-all intellect. Gilgamesh was renowned as the greatest of kings and as the builder of Uruk's temples and the city's gigantic walls. King Gilgamesh had qualities that one would need to excel as a ruler, both brain and brawns, yet he chose to rule with selfishness and caused the people of his kingdom to live in fear. The king flaunts his power and inevitably shows his weaker position in most altercations. Gilgamesh has many trials, some he fails, and some he succeeds. Gilgamesh uses his faults and the assistance of the gods to fuel his desire to succeed as a man. The epic teaches the power of friendship, the anger of the gods, and also, overcoming the fear of death, which are exemplified through his journey, and those encountered along the path. The beginning half of the story …show more content…
Upon traveling through the land of darkness, through the garden of the gods, and across the waters of death, Gilgamesh arrives ashore where Utnapishtim lives. He tells the story of Enkidu's death to Utnapishtim. He asks Utnapishtim to give him the secret to eternal life. Utnapishtim advises Gilgamesh that death is necessary because it is the will of the gods. Gilgamesh pursues the issue further until Utnapishtim tells him that he and his wife were granted immortality by the gods because they survived a great flood in Babylonian and also reveals the greatest secret hidden from