Mortality In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

The Sumerian epic poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Andrew George, is about a man and his friend going on adventures together until tragedy occurs and one dies while the other is left mourning and going on an adventure no mortal man has gone before. There are several themes throughout this epic that people can relate to. One of these themes is life and death. The Sumerians that created this story try to depict their views of mortality and how mortality can affect people and make them fear death. Some will say that one does not need to understand death in order to face reality or to have personal growth because the hardships in life can make one try to better themselves. Others will say that understanding death can crimple someone with fear because they will always know what the end for a mortal is. But this epic tries to demonstrate how death affects everyone and brings about an understanding of reality and life, whether they are the ones whose death approaches, one who greatly fears death, or who are immortal and have no fear of death. I believe that this epic is trying to explain that mortality is about …show more content…
It can take a lot for a person to understand that humans were never meant to leave forever, but that their accomplishments can become immortalized in history. In the epic after Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh begins to fear death, which led him to a journey that most mortals have never taken. He went to the island where Uta-napishti, the mortal who survived the great flood, lives in the hopes that Uta-napshti can help make him immortal just as he. He leaves still being mortal, but with a coral that can make one youthful again. In his journey home he stops by a water pool to bathe and as he bathes a snake eats the coral leaving Gilgamesh devastated. Once he and Ur-shanabi return to Uruk, Gilgamesh proudly shows Ur-shanabi the walls of Uruk that he