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“Gilgamesh’s Search for and Failure to Achieve Immortality” - College Essays

“Gilgamesh’s Search for and Failure to Achieve Immortality”

As I was reading the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, I found myself thinking of how painful the loss of a good friend (brother in this case) can or must be, and how nice it would be to have immortality, if only to spend more time with those whom we love. But as we all know this is not possible, so I will try to convey my thoughts on Gilgamesh’s journey. I think that Gilgamesh was much like many of us are today, in that when we face loss or tragedy, we tend to look inside ourselves in our struggle to understand the meaning of our loss. In our textbook we read that Gilgamesh begins a long journey exploring the possibilities of achieving immortality, but in the end he finds that we all must ...

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Shamash (the sun god), and Shamash speaks to Gilgamesh regarding his weak appearance. He also tells Gilgamesh that “no mortal man has gone that way before and never will as long as the winds drive over the sea” (The Norton Anthology of WORLD LITERATURE, 32).
Shamash begins to question Gilgamesh as to why he searching for immortality when we are destine to death by the gods. Siduri, “the maker of wine” (The Norton Anthology of WORLD LITERATURE, 32), also encourages Gilgamesh to enjoy life, and the blessing of others in his life as the true joy of his being. Gilgamesh did not seem to understand the point being made here, but he was still so enthralled with his grief that he wanted to continue his search to achieve immortality.
In summary, above are just a couple of examples of the people that Gilgamesh met during his search for immortality, but they convey details of Gilgamesh’s journey and suffering after the loss of Enkidu. Gilgamesh was advised many times to select a wise ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/15/2011 03:13:31 PM
Submitted By: fltdeckab
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 514
Pages: 2

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