Gilgamesh’s character starts to grow after the death of Enkidu, he now fears death and wants to find immortality. He embarks on a long and tiresome journey to go where no mortal has gone before. After going through many battles and tests he does not get the immortality he was looking for, instead he gains wisdom that the greatest immortality is the nonphysical. Instead, it is the story and legacy that he has left behind and how one man has lived his life. Gilgamesh’s goal of reaching immortality with Enkidu was actually achieved. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh grieves deeply and is horrified by the prospect of his own death. Forgetting about glory, wealth, and power, all of which are the main goals that he as king had once cared most about, he begins a quest to learn the secret of eternal life. What he finds instead is the wisdom to strike harmony with his divine and mortal attributes. Reconciled at last to his mortality, Gilgamesh resumes his proper place in the world and becomes a better king. Gilgamesh depicts the transformation of Gilgamesh, king of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk, as he changes from harsh ruler to ambitious explorer, from grief-stricken mourner to an enlightened, wise man. This transformation occurs throughout the several journeys, spiritual and physical, on which he embarks. Thousands of years after Enkidu and Gilgamesh’s death, their stories still live on and are told from generation to generation— keeping the two immortal for as long as the story is told.
The two respective views on mortality are quite the opposite in the story. Gilgamesh does not have an understanding of the soul as a separate entity he believes that he will be nothing more than a corpse after his death. Until he loses his best friend, Enkidu, he becomes very worried because he realizes that everyone will die at sometime. As for Enkidu’s view of life and death, is quite the opposite mindset of Gilgamesh. Enkidu is innocent of his power, mortality and potential for abusive authority over living creatures. Together, they embody the answers to the unknown during their quest for the purpose and significance of life and death. At the beginning of the epic, Gilgamesh is seen as the refined, civilized all-powerful ruler of his kingdom and people. His position automatically suggests the possibility for his eventual abuse of his own power. Though Gilgamesh is part God and part human, he is nonetheless mortal, and struggles with the concept of his inevitable fate. His arrogance stands out to the Gods as a good reason to create Enkidu, a counter and rival to Gilgamesh. Perhaps the basic fear of dying is what drives Gilgamesh to run from the same demise Enkidu had to suffer. Gilgamesh works himself to peaked exhaustion to come to the understanding that death is to be welcomed. Unlike Enkidu, Gilgamesh is burdened with the fear of death. He is willing to go to the ends of the earth to avoid it, whereas Enkidu was willing to go to the ends of the earth, just for the sake of going.
Knowing that he cannot live forever like the gods, Gilgamesh hopes that he will gain the next best thing—lasting fame—by slaying the monster. With that, lasting fame relates to immortality because it is everlasting. Their glory will not die until their stories are not told in future generations. The best immortality is nonphysical it is the legacy left behind to be told which lives forever. In a way, Gilgamesh achieves this goal. In the story, Enkidu tells Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba before any of the gods arrive and stop him from doing so. Should he kill Humbaba, he will achieve widespread fame for all the times to come. Gilgamesh then removes Humbaba's head and before he dies, Humbaba screams out a curse on Enkidu: "Of you two, may Enkidu not live the longer, may Enkidu not find any peace in this world!" (5. 70). From this event, for the prize of fame, the life of Enkidu was taken in return which was the turning point of the story. Gilgamesh gains the insight of the relationship between fame and immortality, and changes his character by the end of the text. He learns that death is simply real. We think we are very important and imagine our lives to be the center of things, but suddenly death intrudes and reveals that we are really only here for a short moment of time, and unless we commit some great deed, we'll be forgotten pretty soon. Gilgamesh ultimately ends up where he started within the beautifully constructed walls of his kingdom in Uruk. He comes to accept the fact that death it is not meant to consume every waking moment. It is meant rather as a refreshing release from every waking moment.
The Epic of Gilgamesh provides insight on life and death from two perspectives. Enkidu’s predominant ignorance of death saves him from a lifetime of question and gives the plot a counter part to the very human reaction Gilgamesh has toward the mystery of death and the yearning desire for immortality. There are a few morals in this ancient tale, that ideals of Uruk at the time was not to worry about your afterlife, but to focus on the time with your family and friends. The focus is on the present and the road to immortality is in the memories of your friends and loved ones. Gilgamesh ends up dying, like all men must do. He also learned that there is no immortal life for men and that the only true way for immortality would be achieved would be through fame and glory for his stories to be told for future generations, his legacy would never die until the story were to never be told again. The quote chosen was of significance to the overall theme of the epic of mortality since it shows the turning point in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Through all of the transitions, we see Gilgamesh's attitude toward life change. The goals he has for his own life alter dramatically, and it is in these goals that we see Gilgamesh's transition from being a shallow, ruthless ruler to being an subjective, content man.
Citation
Damrosch, David, and David L. Pike. The Ancient World And The Medieval Era. 1. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011.