The Epic of Gilgamesh

I first learned about The Epic of Gilgamesh in my 9th Grade Ancient History class. At the time, I was intrigued by the reported similarities between Utanapishtim and Noah. I finally decided to give it a read. On the surface, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a simple myth which exhibits similarities to other classic myths and stories. However, despite the many missing lines and lost passages, the story retains a power and universiality which speaks to us even today.

Gilgamesh is a god-like king, but he oppresses his people. To bring him into line, a rival is created in the woods -- a natural man named Enkidu whose path takes him to the city of Uruk to confront the tyrant. Instead of conflict, a friendship blooms between the two men. They adventure together, but anger the gods, who take their revenge on Enkidu. Gilgamesh is left alive and alone to face his own mortality. His fear and grief lead him across the world to seek the only man who has ever been granted immortality, Utanapishtim, survivor of the Great Flood.

Kovacs has done a good job with her translation, which is accessable even though it is fragmentary. One has to be prepared to work with this poem, because so much has been lost since it was written down in 800 BC. But if you are willing to put some effort into reading the (or one of the) oldest surviving work(s) of literature, it is well worth your time.

I recommend this work.

Enkidu's condition worsens. He prophesies that Gilgamesh's life and world is changed forever, and dies. Gilgamesh mourns and travels to seek Utnapishtim, the survivor of the universal flood, in the hopes that he will be able to bring Enkidu back to life. Gilgamesh is able to get past the Scorpion people at the gate of Mashu, he treads the dark Road of the Sun, and enters a valley. He lives for a while with a barmaid named Siduri on the coast, and she tries to persuade him to stay. He leaves her, however, and in a rage destroys the stone images that might have led him across the sea to Utnapishtim. Ultimately Urshanabi the boatman permits him to cross. Gilgamesh finds Utnapishtim and they become friends. Utnapishtim does not like immortality, and tells Gilgamesh about the flood. He later becomes annoyed at Gilgamesh's insistence on finding immortality for Enkidu, and sends him back without his friend. At the last minute, Utnapishtim is convinced by his wife to tell Gilgamesh of the immortality plant at the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh finds it, but it pricks him as he grabs it. He places it on the shore while he bathes. Unfortunately, a serpent eats the precious plant while he is in the water. Gilgamesh returns to his city of Uruk, where all have forgotten who Enkidu was. Gilgamesh decides that he must abandon his own grief as well.

The tale of Gilgamesh is interesting because it addresses many of humanity's eternal questions, including the meaning of friendship and the desire to be immortal. It also reflects ancient history, religion, and culture

Unlike some translations that go tablet by tablet, this translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs presents the epic as more of a narrative. The two most famous of these would be "The Story of the Flood," with its obvious parallels to the stories of a great flood in the Bible and Ovid's "Metamorphoses," and "The Coming of Enkidu"/"Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Death of Enkidu," which Captain Jean-Luc Picard narrates in the Star Trek: Next Generation episode "Darmok." Both of these are relevant points because in working from the known to the unknown they are both avenues of introducing Gilgamesh to which students will readily await. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the fundamental mythic tale in Western Civilization, but tends to be relegated to the shelf in most classes unless in happens to be included in an anthology. His quests for the Spring of Youth and immortality have been echoed in so many other tales. I have always thought that Gilgamesh is a more important figure than Beowulf (an admittedly minority opinion), but clearly there is much more to "The Epic of Gilgamesh" than a series of fights with beasts.

One important moral value that one learns from this epic is the impact of suffering a deep lost. Gilgamesh suffered from the terrible death of his best friend Enkidu. After killing the bull of heaven, sent down by the goddess of love, Ishtar, the gods decided that Enkidu should be chosen to die because he wasn't two-third god and one third man like Gilgamesh. In the aftermath of Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh deeply suffered from his lack of presence. It has occured to many of us to lose a very special and dear person to us. To endure life without the presence of that special person is hard, sometime almost impossible to bare. Thus, Gilgamesh who refused to live this sadness undertakes a long journey, commonly referred to as a quest, in search of eternal life in order to revive his greatest pal. Unfortunately, he fails his quest. Conclusively, we learn from this part that it is very tough to lose a person who means so much to us. Especially when we know that we will never see them again.
The search for eternal life teaches a very meaningful message. In order to revive his dead friend, Gilgamesh was strongly determined to face the dangers and perils on his journey in order to find the source of eternal life. Despite his strenght of mind, Gilgamesh fails his search. By this failure, we come to know that eternal life is out of man's reach as long as he lives on earth.
One learns multiple lessons from the story of The Gilgamesh. However, the central importance of the story is the portrayal of the epic hero. Epics are intended to teach a moral value through the epic hero. One learns from The Gilgamesh that death is inescapable, although many may try to break away from its bondage.