Even a king, such as Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh, must learn the hard lesson that he can not escape death. At the beginning of the poem Gilgamesh believes wholeheartedly that as long as he dies a glorious death and lives on in the memories of the living then he has accomplished something near immortality and he will be satisfied. This is seen after Enkidu tries to convince Gilgamesh not to fight Humbaba because he fears his friend will die. Gilgamesh responds by telling him that all men eventually die so he should not worry about it and that the only things that live on are the brave acts they did. When Enkidu is cursed with an inglorious, painful death Gilgamesh realizes that there is no glory in death. After mourning his fallen friend
