How Did Gilgamesh Become Human

Gilgamesh expresses sorrow to Ur-shanabi over losing the regenerative plant. Gilgamesh’s human side opens up more as the story continues and becomes prominent especially in his lament over the plant. Gilgamesh used to dominate nature and all its animals as his godly self but now he is more of a mere human vulnerable to the wild. Gilgamesh had “toiled [his] arms so hard” that he “ran dry the blood of [his] heart” (XI 311-312). His blood running dry implies he was close to death. Gilgamesh’s mortality comes to light and further emphasizes that Gilgamesh has been on a journey to become human the whole time. Although he is one-third man, Gilgamesh has not shown much humanity until now that he has gone through so many tests. Gilgamesh also asks Ur-shanabi “for whom” he has worked until death for (XI 312). Gilgamesh expresses a mood of quitting. He implies …show more content…
This human feeling brings Gilgamesh closer to humanity by expressing something that gods or demigods usually do not. Gilgamesh’s human side made an error which made him lose his “bounty” to “the “Lion of the Earth”” (XI 313-314). Human Gilgamesh “ha[s] done a favour” to “the “Lion of the Earth”” which Gilgamesh hates and would take back (XI 314). Gilgamesh’s journey has exposed his mortality, thus, what he values most is life and that is why he considers the plant a bounty or treasure. Furthermore, Gilgamesh’s mortality is again clear when he refers to the snake as “Lion of the Earth” because he used to dominate lions which are seen as the fiercest creatures of the wild, but his dream’s downfall is brought by a snake, a fierce creature that often lives in burrows in the ground. Gilgamesh becomes vulnerable to the very types of creatures he was greater than. The human part of Gilgamesh has become more powerful throughout his journey and wishes to complete his transformation into a full