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Gilgamesh: The Search for Immortality

What is this life all about? If youve ever asked yourself this,
your response wouldve ranged from personal gain to the bringing
happiness to another. In response to fear, humans strive for a
permanent existence to keep from losing those things that give
meaning. In Sin-leqi-unninnis poem Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh
sets out on a quest for immortality a meaning for his life.

I am going to die!--am I not like

Enkidu?!
Deep sadness penetrates my
core,
I fear death, and now roam the
wilderness-I will set out to the region of
Utanapishtim, son of Ubartutu,
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and will go with utmost dispatch!
(Anthology)

Gilgamesh fought many battles that people suffer with daily,

still today. For instance, he was overwhelmed by the fear of
loneliness and death. If someone in close relation to you abandons
you, how would you react? One could lash out in anger, sadness, or
fear. Gilgameshs reaction was fear. The word death means end
of. Who wants to wrap their mind around the fact their time on
earth will end? Its an uncomfortable thought for many, as for
Gilgamesh. He thought that if he possessed eternal life then he
would discover the meaning in his life after the death of Enkidu.
Immortality is something humans have yearned for centuries.
The idea of never giving up the people you love, social status, or
worldly possessions is appealing to most. When people dwell on
eternal life, they seem to forget was there is obviously a reason for
life and death. What more is there than life and death? Existence.
Before Gilgamesh could pinpoint meaning, he had to exist. The
reason for his existence was obviously, to be a great king in Uruk.
So why was immortality unachievable by a human that is twothirds god? Gilgamesh could not be granted enteral life because
death is inevitable to man. It is the great equalizer. (Markette) The
phrase unfair is often used when love ones pass but death is fair,
we all die. It is a part of the cycle of life.

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After countless trials and hardships, Gilgamesh found the plant
that would give him immortality. When he took a nap a short time
later, a serpent smelled the plant and ate it, gaining the eternal life
himself. (Thompson) The serpent represents evil. This symbolism
was established in the beginning of creation when a serpent
introduced sin to Eve. Because of the serpents misdeed, it has been
thought to have stolen the immortality from man. (Thompson)
He traveled where no man had traveled, in desperation but
failed at every opportunity. Gilgamesh cared so much about living
and dying he forgot about existing, fulfilling his duty as a great king.
By the time he returned to Uruk, empty-handed, he had accepted
fate. The problem with immortality is that all men die, as Gilgamesh
did, and at the end of the journey time spent searching is time of
life wasted, with out meaning.

Works Cited
Anthology, Norton. World Literature. Vol. 1. W. W. Norton & Company,
2009.
Lishtar. Gilgamesh and Enkidu. 26 August 1999. 28 November 2011
<http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/partnerships/gilgaenk1.htm
l>.
Markette, Brandon. Conquer the Fear of Death and Dying. 29
November 2011
<http://www.everystudent.com/wires/inevitable.html>.
Thompson, Karen. The Mythology of the Vampire. 29 November 2011
<http://kekrops.tripod.com/Mythology_Vampire.html>.