Everyone has their own internal opposition that they sometime struggle to deal with and The epic of Gilgamesh is a proof of it. During our journey on earth, we, sometime find ourselves in opposition with our own self and as we tend to better ourselves, we will look and do everything possible to have what we want. But the result that we get in life does not always please us and that result can occur to better or devastate us. The Epic of Gilgamesh shows how internal opposition led the main character Gilgamesh to becoming a better person.
Gilgamesh who was half god was considered as a hero in his town and wanted his name to be heard until the end of time (tablet1). But, he had not thought of his life ending and he was not afraid of it, but he was afraid of his name not being heard or not being honored until the death of his friend Enkidu. As everyone can be affected by the loss of their loved ones, Gilgamesh was affected by the death of Enkidu and this started to make him think. Apart from his faults, he was praised as a god since he was half god in his community. To illustrate it, people of Uruk say Gilgamesh was his name from the day he was born two thirds of him god and one third human (tablet 1, 45).
Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu felt their lives incomplete in their own ways. This is the reason why they went on their journeys to learn more about the world since they thought that it would be beneficial for them. When they came back, both of them acquired the knowledge they went to look for, but they received, and interpreted it differently. For instance, Gilgamesh and Enkidu went to the forest of cedar to kill Humbaba (tablet 5-240) and add more things on what they had already achieved. When they came back, Gilgamesh and Enkidu were admired by everybody in Uruk and acquired fame but as a result, one of them had to die (tablet 7, 1).
Since the beginning of time, men have always been rebels against themselves, gods and their destiny. They have been fighting among themselves, going beyond what the gods say and refusing to follow their destiny. And Gilgamesh is not the exception because he refused to accept mortality and wanted to find a way to escape from it. After killing Humbaba (tablet 5-240), Gilgamesh made the goddess Ishtar mad. As a result, the gods decided that Enkidu had to die and this pained Gilgamesh since Enkidu was the only friend he had. That is when this powerful man decided to leave his community and went to seek for immortality (tablet 9, 5).
Enkidus death brought a shock in Gilgameshs life and this changed their whole story, the fact that he did not obtain the eternal life that he was looking for shows us how human beings lives are limited. As he was intrigued by this question of mortality, he went to look for Uta-Napishti the only human to have ever escaped death, to ask for his secret so that he would be immortal as well since this made him think of his own death (tablet 9,75). He did not want to face death because he did not want to stop doing all he had already achieved.
After the long journey that Gilgamesh did, he was disappointed. He acquired the knowledge of immortality from Uta-napishti and his wife. These ones told him not to sleep for six days and seven nights but Gilgamesh failed to do so. As he failed, they told him about a plant that would make him live forever that he would find below the ocean the plant of heartbeat (tablet 11,295). They went to take a bath in a pool, a snake was around, caught the scent and snatched it away (tablet, 305). This shows how Gilgamesh was not meant to be a god. Even though, he was two third gods, he had one part of him as a human which means him, also was condemned to the human condition.
Gilgamesh achieved so many great things that an ordinary person could not have achieved in his existence but he was not happy since he wanted to be immortal. Like in every mans life, his life included plenty of trials and troubles such as the death of his friend which pushed him to seek for immortality. This made him to be opposed to himself and that is why he went to look for Uta-napishti. Im afraid of death, so I wander the wild, to find Uta-Napishti, son of Ubar-Tutu (tablet 9, 5). Moreover, this experience changed Gilgameshs view of the human condition. It helped him become a better person because it taught him what is to be a man which means that every man is called to die one day or another.
In conclusion, Gilgamesh was concerned about being immortal which was impossible since no one on earth had escaped from the human condition except from Uta-napishti in this case. What he did not understand at first is the fact that a spirit could be immortal which means that people could have been remembering him through his achievement. But then, when he realized that being immortal was not meant for him, it bettered his way of thinking about the humankind.
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