Humbaba

strength. After Gilgamesh meets Enkidu, Gilgamesh decides to go fight Humbaba, despite Humbaba’s overwhelming strength. Gilgamesh says “In the Forest…

“Because they slew the Bull of Heaven, and slew Humbaba…between [Gilgamesh and Enkidu] let one of them die” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 7.5-8)! In the poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, demi-god and king of Uruk, suffers a tragic loss as his close friend, Enkidu, who assisted him in building an “eternal name,” is sentenced to death. Subsequent to the slaying of the monstrous guardian of the Cedar Forest, Humbaba, and the Bull of Heaven, the gods choose Enkidu to pay the ultimate price in…

After hearing this, Gilgamesh decides that they will both go to the forest and destroy the giant named Humbaba. The temporary refusal that is shown in this novel, is what happens next. Enkidu warns Gilgamesh of the fight he is about to enter, he exclaims that “…weakness overpowers whoever goes…

would follow. Enkidu replies with the dangers there are to fighting Humbaba and that Gilgamesh would get hurt. Gilgamesh, as arrogant as he was, denied his inevitable defeat and forced Enkidu to join him in battle. While during the battle, Gilgamesh realized he would not win without the help of Shamash, the God of the sun. Once getting help from Shamash and Humbaba surrendered, Gilgamesh changed his mind and did not want to kill Humbaba because he “was moved with compassion,” even though he knew…

Ethical issues, which, according to BusinessDictionary.com, "a problem or situation that requires a person or organization to choose between alternatives that must be evaluated as right (ethical) or wrong (unethical)," are seen in many works of literature. For example, in Louisa May Alcott 's Little Women, the main character, Jo, struggles with not knowing whether or not she wants to marry her best friend because she wants to focus on her future. Another example is from Victor Hugo 's Les…

Death is feared by many people because of the simple fact that is it unavoidable, well unless you are granted immortality like a god. Throughout “The epic of Gilgamesh” we are shown that Gilgamesh and Enkidu fear dying without being remembered. The pair of friends go on various journeys for the simple pleasure of having fame and being seen as heroes throughout Uruk. Gilgamesh and Enkidu face great despair that completely change their perspective about what life and death really means. At the…

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher as well as an apprentice of Plato. He founded a school and studied many different things. One of the things he studied was poetry, or as he referred to it, Poetics. Aristotle’s Poetics consists of a list of principles which he believes makes up “good” literature. These principles include plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. Aristotle felt that in order for a piece to be considered “good” literature it must include those things, but was…

Over history various accounts of heroes and their conquests have been conveyed through way of novels, epics and poems. Each story had placed a foundation of qualities for the heroes they depicted. One of the oldest accounts is The Epic of Gilgamesh. This Epic does a good job of setting standards for qualities of heroes. Other tales or novels have derived their storyline from The Epic of Gilgamesh. From Gilgamesh the qualities that can be derived are bravery, strength, compassion, and…

the afterlife. The people of this time believed in many gods and claimed that the gods were responsible for every natural occurrence. Heaven is not attainable for the people of this time, and this is just one of many reasons to be pessimistic. Humbaba was assigned as a terror to human beings, and Gilgamesh was…

Gilgamesh the Immortal The concept of human mortality and our death being inevitable has been an ongoing theme in literature, stories, and even the human mind. It can be said that death was still a key concern for Mesopotamian society and many other civilizations who retold the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, because survival was still a concern. The story was centered around the main protagonist Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk who was two thirds god and his inevitable realization that death is imminent. The…