Futile Essay Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Even the most awe inspiring people and events are forgotten with time. But the inevitability of legacy does not stop every great hero from searching for it, from Odysseus and Achilles from Ancient Greece to Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars. Like every quest for immortality, Gilgamesh’s journey, motivated by pride and fear, is fruitless. Gilgamesh’s lifelong journey for immortality and kleos is undeniably futile, yet he is never able to accept his fate. Scientifically speaking, everything that lives will die. It is a fact, whether our protagonist admits it or not. However, in mythology, certain individuals are occasionally granted immortality. Even though Uta-napishti is immortal, Gilgamesh can not change his fate because endless life is not earned, it can only be gifted by the g-ds. When Shamash, g-d of sun, justice, and travellers, tells Gilgamesh his objective is impossible, it is confirmed that Gilgamesh will die. The g-ds are the only ones with the power to give Gilgamesh immortality, but they have decided not to.
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Why engage in a hopeless battle? They are blinded by fear of death. Gilgamesh says in Tablet IX, “I am afraid of death, so I wander the wild, to find Uta-Napishti,” (9.5). This paranoia consumes Gilgamesh’s thoughts to a point where he can not accept his mortal fate, and this fear of death translates into hubris. Even when the g-ds tell him that death is inescapable, he continues on his journey, forced by his pride to prove himself above fate. When he finally returns to Uruk, still one-third human and fully mortal, Gilgamesh is bitter, saying “had I only turned back, left my boat on the shore” (11.319). He regrets not reaching his goal, but has not learned from his mistakes. Immediately he continues work on his legacy, which he believes can live on even when he
Why engage in a hopeless battle? They are blinded by fear of death. Gilgamesh says in Tablet IX, “I am afraid of death, so I wander the wild, to find Uta-Napishti,” (9.5). This paranoia consumes Gilgamesh’s thoughts to a point where he can not accept his mortal fate, and this fear of death translates into hubris. Even when the g-ds tell him that death is inescapable, he continues on his journey, forced by his pride to prove himself above fate. When he finally returns to Uruk, still one-third human and fully mortal, Gilgamesh is bitter, saying “had I only turned back, left my boat on the shore” (11.319). He regrets not reaching his goal, but has not learned from his mistakes. Immediately he continues work on his legacy, which he believes can live on even when he