Gilgamesh

A detailed Summary of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a series of poems written on clay tablets over five thousand years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. It is quite possibly one of the earliest works of literature ever found and even today has the power and literary strength to capture a reader's attention. The hero of the story, Gilgamesh, is unsatisfied with facing eventual death, and goes on a journey to find immortality. Through his travels the ideas of tragedy, the search for knowledge, adventure, and most importantly, the limitations of human freedom, can be found.

There are several different levels of the limitations of human freedom present in The Epic of Gilgamesh. There are cases of the lack freedom of man to nature, man between man, man to king, and man between the gods. Within these categories examples can be found which parallel to everyday life today, and others to life in ancient Mesopotamia.

The first instance of the limitation of human freedom that is present in the story, which is relevant to actual life, comes quite early. A young trapper is having trouble with a wild man. The trapper is "frozen with fear" (63) every time he sees this man and "dare[s] not [to] go near him" (63). He is suppressed by fear, and as a result he loses the abilit

Death, in ancient Mesopotamia means the complete equality of all men, even kings, in the underworld. A king no longer has control over the people he used to rule, men are the same as their once king. However this comes only in death, the end of life, the end of any sense of being free. The one and only true way to be ultimately free, is to live forever. Gods are the only ones who can enjoy total freedom, they are immortal. Gods created man, they "allotted to him death, but life they retain in their own keeping" (102). Gilgamesh becomes aware of the fact that he too is a man, and like all men, is "afraid of death" (104). Gilgamesh goes on a search for everlasting life, he travels long and hard for the "life which [he is] searching" (106) until he finds a plant that will give him immortality. On his journey home a serpent "[rises] out of the water and snatch[s] it away" (117) from him, before Gilgamesh can enjoy the effects of this plant. The serpent plays the role of a god in this example. It takes away, or never lets Gilgamesh have eternal life, just as gods do to mankind. Humans are inevitably going to die, which directly limits our capabilities for total freedom.

Man should not have the right to immortality. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, mortals closest member to divinity, Gilgamesh, "who is two thirds god but one third man" (98) cannot even complete the test of staying awake for seven nights in the process of earning the chance for everlasting life, thus a reason why man cannot be equal to the gods. As well "all men are deceivers ... even [Gilgamesh] will attempt to deceive" (114) in his quest to obtain immortality. For instance Gilgamesh tries to trick his tester by saying he passed his challenge, not knowing that a loaf of bread had been placed next to where he had been sleeping for every night that he slept. There are seven loaves in total. He says "I hardly slept when you touched and

Some common words found in the essay are:
Epic Gilgamesh, Enkidu Gilgamesh's, epic gilgamesh, human freedom, everlasting life, free life, ancient mesopotamia, live free life, limitations human freedom, everyday life, wild beasts, death life, material world, animal kingdom,

Approximate Word count = 1283
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English