Existentialism In Gilgamesh

20 million dead and one man responsible. That one man would be known as Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party. One question arises when discussing the immoral things that this one man did to humanity and that is was Hitler born with the mindset that he had to kill off all those innocent people or was he 100 percent in control of choosing his destiny? This brings up a very controversial issue as many believe that man has the freedom to do what he pleases and to define himself by his own choices, while others believe that man is born with a set purpose in life and cannot stray away from that. This question is especially important in the essay from Jean-Paul Sartre’s essay “Existentialism” and the book Gilgamesh. The main characters in Gilgamesh, …show more content…
Jean Paul Sartre had a lot to say about this issue in his essay “Existentialism”, where he argued that man is brought into this world with nothing and he is only defined by the choices he makes. He believed that man was not only responsible for his actions, but in fact the actions of all men. His views on existentialism also relate to Stephen Mitchell’s translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh, especially when discussing the two main characters, Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Gilgamesh was the powerful King of Uruk and when he started to become to proud and arrogant of his authority the gods created a wild man named Enkidu to humble him. After a fierce battle between the two in which neither of them are bested, they become friends and set out on many journeys throughout their life in search for true immortality and eternal life. Shortly after they kill the powerful demon Humbaba, Enkidu dies which frightens Gilgamesh and forces him to search for eternal life even more because e doesn’t want to die off like his friend Enkidu. Sartre would say that Gilgamesh and Enkidu had the freedom to do whatever they wanted and were not forced to do