Pangan, Zacarias Lancelot, C.
January 14, 2023
BSECE – III
Text Analysis about the Epic of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh is a famous ancient Mesopotamian epic poem about King Gilgamesh's
journey to find eternal life. The poem is written in Akkadian cuneiform on a stele and was
probably composed around the late third millennium BC. The story focuses on the relationship
between Gilgamesh and his childhood friend Enkidu, who becomes wild and destructive when he
loses his human qualities after being granted immortality by the gods. According to the story,
Enkidu is killed in a violent battle with the Bull of Heaven sent by the Gods out of anger, while
Gilgamesh kills Humbaba, a monstrous guardian of the Cedar Forest. Gilgamesh, afraid to have
the same fate as Enkidu, seeks the answer to immortality, therefore, Gilgamesh decided to
embark on a quest to find the secret of eternal life himself. As a result, he went on a perilous
journey across the lands in search of the city of Utnapishtim, where he believed he could learn
the secret to eternal life from the god Utnapishtim. However, the journey proved to be more
challenging than he expected and he was eventually confronted with a number of difficult
challenges along the way. When he found Utnapishtim, the first task given to him for his path to
immortality is to stay awake for a whole week, from which he failed eventually, he was then
asked to seek for a specific kind of herb from which can only be found underwater, he succeeded
retrieving the herb but while he is about to return, he fell asleep and unfortunately a snake took it
from him. After a long contemplation, Gilgamesh finally accepted his fate after he saw he
horizon of the kingdom that was built from his glory in battles, and so he waited his death while
writing his epic story in a cuneiform using lapis lazuli.
The moral story of the epic of Gilgamesh is a lesson in human resilience. Despite being
subjected to unthinkable trials and tribulations, Gilgamesh ultimately triumphes over his
enemies. The overarching theme of the story is that humans are capable of overcoming any
obstacle that is placed in front of them. This theme is displayed through the imagery used
throughout the poem and through the way that the hero responds to his challenges. In the epic,
Gilgamesh faces a series of insurmountable obstacles in the form of the Bull of Heaven, Enkidu,
and the Serpent of Chaos. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Gilgamesh
perseveres and eventually triumphs over his adversaries. He achieves this victory despite the fact
that he is faced with insurmountable odds and circumstances that seem impossible to overcome.
By telling this story, the author is trying to teach readers that humans can overcome all adversity
no matter how daunting it may seem to them.
The theme revolves around the inevitability of death, no matter how hard it is for
Gilgamesh to accept his fate, death has always been a part of human nature and the least thing
we can do as a mortal being is to make every second of our lives count. As Gilgamesh took a
better view of the kingdom that he built from his success in battles, he knew that he had
accomplished his part in this world, and even if he is to be granted his wish of immortality, he
had already achieved what he seeks and it is far more better than avoiding death, it is to have a
meaningful life, and the beauty of it made him accept his fate.
