Based on the reading from the Epic of Gilgamesh and the plot summary, what sort of journey do you think Gilgamesh has taken? Does his journey lead to despair or is he transformed in a way that has meaning for him and for the Mesopotamian Society that knew this narrative so well?
Find the plot summary in shared files or use Spark Notes. If you have lost the handout of the story, there are sites with the full text. Our reading is from tablets IX, X and XI.
Please write a well developed paragraph of at least 5 sentences.
I believe that Gilgamesh went on a self finding journey bacause he goes through many changes and faces through out the story and evenually finding the meaning of life and develops some wisdom. His journey ends with a beginning which to me means he has discovered lifes meaning through the death of his friend and which has also made him a better ruler.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI belive Gilgamesh's journey was one of tragedy and refinement. It was like he was soul searching, and as time went by he began to change. At first Gilgamesh seems selfish and indulgent as he excesses his power and authority over whomever he pleases. After the death of his friend Enkidu, he begins to realize the importance of life and realizes his mortality as well. Although he did not find eternal life as he had hoped, he is transformed into a better ruler toward his people. He also becomes able to balance both his God-like and Mortal-like attributes.
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh starts off as being unkind and cruel, because he was two-thirds God and one-third human he over stepped his boundaries. He treated people like animals raping women like it was nothing! After the Gods created Enkidu, Gilgamesh and him became great friends and he started to turn his ways around until Enkidu died and Gilgamesh was hurt. Gilgamesh than travels to the edge of the world to learn about the legends of the Gods, and leans about Enkidu. After everything that happened with Enkidu Gilgamesh decides to turn his life around! So I believe through his journey he became a better God!
ReplyDeleteI feel like Gilgamesh went through a long physical journey, but he struggled more deeply with internal conflict. He was an arrogant man who lost his best friend, and then went to the ends of the earth battling his grief. In the end he becomes enlightened and no longer craves immortality, and he is changed for the better. Gilgamesh realized that his magnificent work is the greatest thing of all. You can see from the artwork of the era that Gilgamesh had a great impact on society. He was legendary. The artwork of their time seems to contain beautiful intricacies like those Gilgamesh finally found his joy in.
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh went on a long hard journey, at first, he is selfish and stupid as he abuses his power and authority over everyone. He treated people like they were animals doing whatever he wanted to them killing his own warriors and raping women. He met a friend, his best friend in these times but loses him to the Gods. At this point in his life, Gilgamesh sees things different and starts to change for the better. This journey was long and hard but at the end it made him a better person.
ReplyDeleteThe jouney Gilgamesh traveled is an epic path. At first he was lost in a world he thought he ruled. Little did he know he only began to live after a tragedy, the unforeseen death of a dear friend. Through the trials and tribulations Gilgamesh endured after the death of his dear friend, he only then became a person to respect. This is as true today as it was then. Only when one overcomes such pain, do they begin to see the pure excellence in the ability to really live life. As long as one learns a lesson and seeks the positive from any hardship they can never go wrong
ReplyDeleteI think Gilgamesh had a long journey where he learned more important things to life, such as the importance of life itself. He started out as a very shelfish man who used his power and authority in the wrong way, treating his people very badly. Through his journey he found friendship with Enkidu and after his death he began to change and better himself. The death of his friend, made him become a better ruler and God for his people.
ReplyDeleteI think that Gilgamesh's journey was long, and that they journey was meant for him to become at peace with himself. Even though the gods made Enkido to be the exact opposite of Gilgamesh they ended up crossing paths and becoming great friends, and this goes along with the rule that opposites attract. Gilgamesh went originally went on the journey to gain immortality, but by the time he gets to his destination he is willing to accept death. It was with the death of Enkido that Gilgamesh ended up becoming more human, almost as if when Enkido died he became the human part that Gilgamesh didn't have. I think that the message of this story to the people of the time was that everybody is human, even though sometimes people need to be reminded of it.
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh began his long journey as an individual who was only looking out for himself and no one else. After encountering Enkido, Gilgamesh began to change his was for the better. Once Gilgamesh's friend Enkido dies He begins to realize the importance of mortality instead of immortality. With losing his close friend he learns many lessons and becomes a better ruler for his peopple.
ReplyDeleteSamantha Sandy -As with all epics the hero faced and overcame multiple extreme obstacles, in the end learning important life lessons. Gilgamesh begins as a cruel, selfish oppressor of a king whose journey teaches him about life and his limits as a mortal human. He loses a close friend but gains new perspective, making him realize the importance of his position and his need to better his kingdom. He learns that though he is mortal his legacy will live on through what he builds. It is very evident through the artwork alone that Gilgamesh and his story had a huge impact on Mesopotamian Society. He was regarded as a great man whose story influenced those who heard it.
ReplyDelete---------------------------------------
After the death of Eukidu, Gilgamesh attempts to seek eternal life. Through his travels, Gilgamesh risks everything by encountering various quests and battles of immortality but finds himself on a quest of peace in the end. I believe his journey for eternal life transforms Gilgamesh. He discovers not the secret of everlasting life but the purpose of his existing life. That man should obtain wisdom and goodwill. This transforms Gilgamesh into a better person in the end.
ReplyDeleteAfter Gilgamest set out on this journey I believe that he experienced many unexpected happenings. He hadn't been prepared to create a bond with Eukida and he didn't plan on seeking for something deeper than what he had always known. Gilgamesh's journey ultimately changed his view entirely, he began to better understand himself and surroundings. I think that in that regard this journey made him a better person and he would go on to use that new found wisdom.
ReplyDeleteThe difficulty of Gilgamesh's journey is meant to show the length that humans will go to to find the meaning of life. The death of Eukidu disspells Gilgamesh's belief that he is invincilbe and leavs him face to face with his own mortality. Gilgamesh learns that immortality does not exist for humans and the search for it has cost him much of his time on earth. I think this tale is meant to teach Mesopotamian to stop and smell the roses. Gilgamesh has made his journey for all Mesopotamians. They can now concentrate on present day issues and relationships.
ReplyDeleteThe most important value we learn is the suffering caused by someone we have lost. Gigamesh refused to live in pain and decided he would take a journey in search of eternal life. Gilgamesh failed in his quest. By his failure we have come to know eternal life is out of a man's reach. Inspite of being a god-like hero, the fragility of Gilgamesh was apparent. We may want to be heroic, but the state of being human will always reflect through.
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh went on an epic journey of life that in the end landed him in a much better state. In the beginning, Gilgamesh was nothing less than hateful, abusing his power for the worst. It wasn't until after the tragedy of losing his best friend did he really come to a new revelation. He learned a lot from his friend in how to be a better person and how to be happy with who he is. Gilgamesh's journey is one that many of us go through. It will more than often take a tragedy to make us really appreciate what have and who we are. Honestly, I feel we can learn from him to change before we go through a tragedy. Why wait to go through something major to change our lives around? What if it never comes... we've waisted our lives. Even though Gilgamesh was seen not so much as a hero, in all reality, he can be seen as one for us by saving us the trouble of going through his mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI belive Gilgamesh's journey was one to find him self. Cause all he be though , though all the tragedy's and suffering. He was hated , and using his power for wrong, he needed to go on that journey to change himself.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Gilgamesh is a perfect example of how people can change for the better. In the beginning he was a power hungry hateful person. However, the lose of his best friend transformed him into a new person. Gilgamesh goes through a hard journey that benefits him in the long run because not only has he learned good lessons but he also came out a better person.
ReplyDeleteThe Story of Gilgamesh is about one great man who goes on a great journey of change and truth. He starts out as a cruel king who abuses his power. The gods create Eukidu, who Gilgamesh befriends. With the death of his friend, he goes on a journey to learn about the gods and immortality. He ends up learning of his own mortality and changes into a better man and learns to be a wise and kind leader
ReplyDeleteThe story of Gilgamesh is about a man who was mean and had power. When he lost his friend,Eukidu, he started on a journey to learn more about the other gods. I believe he was also out to learn more about who he was. When he came back he was a nicer person and showed he had learned how to be a better man and also a better ruler. He learned lessons and became a great leader.
ReplyDeleteThis is Jen-marie Scheuerle
ReplyDeleteI think the journey of gilgamesh represent, in a way, the journey of self discovery and of the realization of one's own mortality that all men take throughout their lives. Gilgamesh started out as a power hungry king, but later grew into a better person due to the journey and the experiences he has. He also discovers his own mortality and that striving for immortality was impossible and pointless. He learns to enjoy life to the fullest and to not take it for granted.
Sorry Mrs.Michelle for posting past midnight,But i had that kind of memmory in my head that wouldnt go away and it finnally hit me once i read the 3 page outline you gave us 20times plus.I knew i knew this from long ago.
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh is already dead in a sense and he`s a wondering spirit that cant find the afterlife becuase he doesnt want to succum to the reality that he has died,and in death he seeks immortality,becuase he doesnt relize he has died.
See,I knew this sage through the norse mythology version,from one of many norse books ive read in my life.
But in your 3 page outline the answer was there,i just couldnt see it at first. The wine chick siduri,see`s the gods flesh in his body(whitch if i remember correctley is what some experts beleive is were the greeks got zeus from,since zeus ate his brothers to become top dog)Anyway,Siduri is a god of vine and earth,in her realm with her gates,gilgamesh finnaly came upon her realm,(quick recap:gilgamesh died somehow,But he believes he had a brother who was a great warrior,but who died,and now he morns him,But after 7 days he stops crying and goes looking for immortality,but just like zeus spit up the titans,so did jesus rise from the grave,god made heaven and earth in 7days,etc,,Are we starting to see a pattern going back to the begging?Just as in norse,Odin defeated the gods and built middle earth in 7 days)
ReplyDeleteOK.Siduri sees him as a felon,whitch is becuase he has escaped the throws of death and the ferryman,So now he wanders,But gilgamesh says from the begining of meeting siduri,"I am the killer of the bull of heaven,ceder forest dude,etc;,"But then turns around and says he mourns the loss of his brother,friend,etc;who was the "KILLER OF THE BULL OF HEAVEN,CEDER FOREST GUY,ETC;"His brother friend compannion,etc;,,And siduri wants to know why he roams the pastures,chaseing the wind?
This has already became a long post once again,and will be alot longer if i explain it all,So to wrap it up,Gilgamesh died,refuses to relize it,so who he was became his otherhalf,thus explaining why he appeared naked and killed every creature he came upon to make clothing out of,why siduri says"IN HER OWN HEART?SURELY THIS IS SOME FELON???WHERE "IS""HE GOIN" NOW?"
GILGAMESH IS in limbo,He died-went to heaven-refused to beleive it so he killed the bull of heaven,Ran to the ceder forest were he freaked out more and killed the "WATCHMAN OF THE FOREST",Then while goin through the forest,he overthrew humbaba in the forest becuase he still wasnt being told what he wanted to hear or believe,Then he was headed toward what you coiuld call hell,underworld,Usen lions in the pass instead of hell hounds or warnings that he`s slipping farther away from life if he chose it,or limbo if he stayed inbetween,Finnally ending up on the shore of the ocean/realm/border of the underworld,siduri tryed to warn him to go back(remember she was the one to "claim" he was after the wind,gilgimesh didnt proclaim that)Then in his false reality he trashes the ferrymans tackle,whitch would be his list of undead for the underworld,and docking slipt to offload(but in fact,since he wasnt suppose to go that direction,)remember gilgamesh proclaims to urshanabi how can he rest,his brother is dust and soon he shall be laid in the earth forever.Urshanabi gets a joke out of gilgamesh,has him cut down 120 trees, paint them with bitumen(bitumen is believed by many to mean,better men)and set on them ferrules(ferrules is believed to mean fearless)as in be a betterman after falling 120 60 foot long trees and youll show your fearless after dragging them back,it`s like a pentance for his ignorance.Then he has to offload them 1 by 1,sticking them in the ground before meeting Utnapishtim the faraway(hades in greek)who wasnt expecting gilgamesh,becuase he wasnt supose to kill his way out of heaven,tryen to escape death.
Sorry so long again,But gilgamesh is the basis of alot of cultures and religions so-many experts believe,,Or the others beleive odin was and gilgamesh is a copy of odin,but thats obserd becuase facts show gilgamesh came first.
Here is a post with gmail.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joel. This proves an electrical engineer can operate this blog.
ReplyDeleteClint McGalliard-
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh went through a long challenging journey in pursuit of eternal life. With the death of Enkindu, Gilgamesh can't stop grieving and will do anything to not meet the same fate. After failed test and bad luck Gilgamesh returns to Uruk empty handed but is reconciled at last to his mortality.
Gilgamesh is probably desperate at first. Seeing his own brother, who achieve really great things himself, died. Then he travel to the end of his journey and realize he can go no farther because thats the realm of god. To me, Gilgamesh was being forced to accept the pursuit of happiness because he cannot cheat death. As of the meaning of this story to the Mesopotamian society, I really have doubt that they view it anymore than just a good story. My point being, how many percentage of the population could have a well enough life at that era to really be deeply concern by immortality?
ReplyDeleteGilgamesh has taken the approach of willing to go beyond the average man throughout different tasks just to be lead into another one. His journey lead him to understand that he won't find out the answer we are still looking for today. Also, everyone along the journey was telling him what he should be doing instead of working so hard to get an answer that may never be achieved. All the time that he spent going through these loops he could have been at home with his family or doing other work that needed to be done. Jeffery Z.
ReplyDeleteComments for credit closed 2/10/2011 midnight
ReplyDelete