Gilgamesh the Search for Immortality Term Paper

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Similar to many other initiation myths, Gilgamesh has to overcome obstacles such as the scorpion monsters that bar his way.

The intense desire that Gilgamesh has to find the answer to eternal life is shown in the poem by the fact that he rejects the advice of Siduri to accept the limitations of the human condition. He also has to travel over the Waters of Death. When he meets Utnapishtim he is told the story of the flood and the decision of the gods to destroy mankind, and how Utnapishtim obtained everlasting life.

Utnapishtim makes Gilgamesh undergo certain tests in order to obtain the gift of immortality. However Gilgamesh fails the test to stay awake for a week. As he is departing, Utnapishtim's wife persuades her husband to tell Gilgamesh about a certain plant that restores youth. Gilgamesh takes the plant with him to share with others in Uruk. However this also fails and a snake steals the plant.

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Gilglaesh therefore returns to Uruk without an answer to the inevitability of death. However he has learnt to accept his human nature and the limitations of the human condition. He has also become aware that although he as an individual will not be able to live forever, yet humanity and human society does continue through the generations. In this way he has learnt to accept his mortality.

His changed view of life allows him to see the city in a different light and he recognizes the importance of the monuments and buildings as symbols of human life and endeavor, even in the face of death. In the final analyses Gilgamesh attains to a sense of dignity in the realization that the mortal condition of mankind must be accepted. This also makes him realize that true immortality lies in the continuation of culture and civilizations; which are larger and more enduring than individual life......

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