Gigamesh

Gilgamesh
The epic of Gllgamesh, which is translated from oral storytelling to narrative, is a biblical story about the flood in ancient Mesopotamia. There are many translated versions of the epic, but the ones that we view in the text are the Standard Version. This version tells about the prologue of Gilgamesh, his friendship with Endiku, his adventure in the Cedar Forest, and the search for immortality. The epic of Gilgamesh is especially interesting to read because Gilgamesh starts out as a bad ruler, but he acquires wisdom after encountering Endiku and journeying towards immortality.
As discussed in class, Gilgamesh is the ruler of Uruk who endows great strength, beauty, and courage from different Gods. Even though Gilgamesh has all the superior traits, I do not see him as a good ruler. He is brutal toward his people: he puts his men into hard labor and takes any women as he pleases. Gilgamesh is also arrogant to think that there is no other to match his strength. However, Endiku, the person who is godlike, is conditioned by a prostitute to be civilized challenges Gilgamesh’s strength. Eventually, Gilgamesh fights with Endiku and wins. From winning the fight Gilgamesh gains a new friend from the challenge. Their challenge seems crucial, but is other challenge such as fighting Humbaba in the forest necessary? Is it worth it for Glgamesh to kill Humbaba, an innocent creature, to gain fame among his people?
After many journeys with Gilgamesh, Endiku stashes with the Goddess of love, Ishtar. Endiku is cursed by the Gods to die a slow death from offending Ishtar. This makes me think that the Gods must be fickled and moody. Gilgamesh realizes that even a godlike person like Endiku cannot escape death. Consequently, Gilgamesh journeys to discover immortality from Utnapishtim. However, his journey turns out to be a failure.