Imagine grasping eternal life in your hands just to watch it disappear before your eyes. Or imagine that the hardest journey of your life is finally over and you have failed to obtain the very thing you wanted most. Our story begins in a land known as Mesopotamia about four thousand years ago. There one of the earliest cities in history existed, called Uruk, which lies on the Euphrates river near the Persian Gulf. This city became famous for being the site of one of the earliest piece of literature ever created, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Although in this story Gilgamesh, the hero, is the king of Uruk, he is also partly a god. He is one part mortal and two parts divine, and as such, he was a being full of beauty and courage, but also as terrifying as a wild bull.1 The Epic of Gilgamesh is an adventure story with many exciting parts. However, one of the central themes of the epic revolves around Gilgamesh’s search for immortality.2
Gilgamesh’s quest for everlasting life begins when his friend Enkidu unexpectedly dies. The trauma from losing his dear friend scares Gilgamesh. Enkidu isn’t just a dear friend to Gilgamesh, Enkidu is like a brother to him. The gods had originally created Enkidu to help stop Gilgamesh from stirring up trouble, but after they met, they got along so well that they became brothers and went on countless journeys together. With Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh is so terrified by the idea of death that he goes on a long journey to beat the inevitable. On this journey he meets several people who tell him that his journey is pointless and that he won’t find what he is searching for. But Gilgamesh doesn’t listen, and pushes forward regardless of what people say. He is so determined to find Utnapishtim, the only human who had been made immortal, but doing so he ignores what his body really desires, sleep. He completely exhausted himself to the point where he was near dying.
After a long and dangerous journey, Gilgamesh finally meets Utnapishtim, who tells Gilgamesh, “There is no permanence. Do we build a house to stand forever, do we seal a contract to hold for all time?…. When the Anunnaki, the judges, come together, and Mammetun the mother of destinies, together they decree the fates of men. Life and death they allot but the day of death they do not disclose.”3 Even with the wise information that Utnapishtim tells him, Gilgamesh is still in pursuit of immortality, so Utnapishtim decides to put him up to a test. The test requires him to stay awake for six days and seven nights, but Gilgamesh ultimately fails the test. Utnapishtim had a kind heart and told him that, instead of obtaining immortality, he might obtain youthfulness. There was a plant in the sea that can restore one’s youth. So of course Gilgamesh doesn’t hesitate in jumping in to find this plant. He finally gets the key to youthfulness, and decides to rest and relax, because he believes his troubles are over. With his guard down, a snake snatches the plant away from him and the plant is gone forever.
Gilgamesh finally accepts this fate, and goes back to the land of Uruk. Although he never got immortality, he did get what he needed. Throughout the story the same line recurs about what is he suppose to do after Enkidu’s death, which is just to live his normal, mortal life.4 Once he returns, he writes on a wall the story of his long journey for immortality. The world may never know if there was a real living, breathing ruler named Gilgamesh, but at least for now we have a legendary one that will last forever.
- Jerry Bentley, Herbert Ziegler, and Heather Streets Salter, Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History Volume 1. 4th edition (New York: McGraw Hill, 2015), 5. ↵
- Tzvi Abusch, “The Development and Meaning of the Epic of Gilgamesh: An Interpretive Essay,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 121, no. 4 (2001): 614. ↵
- Nancy K. Sanders, The epic of Gilgamesh (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1964), 23. ↵
- Nicola Vulpe, “Irony and the Unity of the Gilgamesh Epic,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 53, no. 4 (1994): 280. ↵
93 comments
Thomas Fraire
I never knew about Gilgamesh’s mission for everlasting status in the Epic. I recognized what the story was, however, I never really read it. The story has every one of the makes of good writing. Gilgamesh went an excursion to have the capacity to live everlastingly and as it were, he discovered it, by being the character in one the primary known bits of composing that the world has seen. Extraordinary article and an awesome introduction of thoughts.
Caroline Bush
Great article! I have always found the Epic Of Gilgamesh and his search for immortality to be incredibly interesting. Its really fascinating how it took the death of his best friend/ brother for Gilgamesh to realize his own mortality and than go on a quest to achieve immortality. Its also interesting how in a way Gilgamesh did accomplish his goal as he was forever immortalized in literature. Overall this was a very interesting article that I really enjoyed reading. I especially liked how the article managed to present all the facts without making the article seem like a page from a history textbook.
Jonathan Perez
Prior to the article I knew very little about the Epic of Gilgamesh only that he sought out eternal life. The article does a great job of explaining his quest and the struggles brought forth in it. In a way, Gilgamesh’s quest brought him immortality through the tale told through the rest of history. The author did an excellent job of providing a summary of the epic while still providing key details such as the death of Enkidu to ensure that the reader understands the tale fully.
Elias Garza
I love life because it gives everybody the opportunity to do what they desire. It is commonly said that life is to short and people do not have enough time to complete everything they want. But to be immortal means to live forever which does not sound appealing to me. This article portrays legends that are always being told as the years go by.
Cheyanne Redman
This story is very well written and I appreciate the context. Gilgamesh literally ran himself into the ground to get eternal life yet ended up dying anyways. I feel that he failed to live in the moment and appreciate what he had before it was too late. He was scared of his own death and that caused him to feel the overwhelming feeling of anxiety relating to his own. I feel this article made it very easy to understand such a difficult topic, well done.
Edgar Ramon
This was one of the first primary sources I read when I arrived at St. Mary’s to major in history. This was an easy idea to grasp because it ultimately teaches that there is no immortality, we all die sometime. This is something I appreciate growing around in Mexico, understanding of death as something not to be worried about, something to receive with mariachi music and strong faith. This is something Gilgamesh attempted to escape from, and just as Enkidu he was destined to die.
Anais Del Rio
This story can be related today, if we long for something we will not stop until we have it. But we must know when enough is enough, we cannot ruin ourselves to the point of death just because of something we want. We should be content with what we need, but of course there will be time to time where we can go farther normal.
Samuel Ruiz
This article was very well written, Amanda. The story was very interesting and emotional to read. It is sad that Gilgamesh went through so much just to end up without eternal life in the end. I felt his pain when he had the plant in his hands only for it be taken away. This article was definitely written with affect, emotion and attention to climactic event.
Jason Garcia
I never knew of Gilgamesh’s quest for immortality in the Epic. I knew what the story was but I never actually read it. The story has all the makes of good literature. Gilgamesh went a journey to be able to live forever and in a way, he found it, by being the character in one the first known pieces of writing that the world has seen. Great article and great presentation of ideas.
Regina De La Parra
I remember reading about the Epic of Gilgamesh during high school but I had never seen it this way. I had learned it only about the importance it gives to history and literature. This was a very interesting article to read as it made me want to finish it until the end. It does a great job in summarizing the epic! Great job!!