This shows her sorrow for Gilgamesh. She convincers her husband to tell him of a prickly plant at the bottom of the ocean that will rejuvenate him if it is in his possession. Gilgamesh attained this plant only to have it stolen by a serpent while Gilgamesh rested and bathed in a Welcoming Pool.
Gilgamesh then gave up on his work to try to defeat death and despite his long hard journey, returns to Uruk no closer to immortality than he left. His fear of ending up dead like his friend Enkidu has finally become an inevitable reality and he has the ferrymen part the waters of the Euphrates to make his tomb. It seems in the end that despite his failure, Gilgamesh has a new appreciation for life.
Maybe he learned not to take it for granted, or maybe he realized that in a sense death was his first step toward eternity.
He could now spend eternity in the afterlife with Enkidu. In a sense Gilgamesh the mighty hero is transformed into Gilgamesh the broken mortal. If Gilgamesh is supposed to be a representation of men in the Sumerian and Mesopotamian culture then through his epic it would be quite evident that they were a culture who greatly feared dying and death. For a man to go through the amount of turmoil he did just seeking a way to get around death shows his desperation to avoid death.
I believe all cultures have a certain fear of death. First of all, we learn from these lines that the god Enlil has deliberately placed Humbaba in the Cedar Forest in order to terrify human beings.
Could this be because he wants to protect the forest? If so, fear would be good. Also, bear in mind that Enkidu says this to Gilgamesh in an attempt to talk him out of going on his quest to the Cedar Forest at all. Which, all things considered, might have been a good idea. As for human beings, their days are numbered, and whatever they keep trying to achieve is but wind!
Now you are afraid of death— what has become of your bold strength? I will go in front of you, and your mouth can cry out: "Go on closer, do not be afraid! They will say: "It was Gilgamesh who locked in battle with Humbaba the Terrible!
But Gilgamesh seems like too much of a meathead to take Enkidu's advice. In fact, by a sort of reverse-psychology, Enkidu talking about how fearsome Humbaba seems to make Gilgamesh even more eager to fight him, just to prove that he's not afraid. Do Gilgamesh's words here show true courage, or is there some fear underlying them? In the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, so he got up and said to his friend: "My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up? Did you not touch me?
Why am I so disturbed? Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling? Enkidu, my friend, I have had a third dream, and the dream I had was deeply disturbing. Poor Gilgamesh, scared of a little nightmare. Okay, not so little. And not just one. On the journey to the Cedar Forest to fight Humbaba, Gilgamesh is tormented every night by horrible nightmares. Each time, Enkidu is the one who steps in to interpret the dreams in a more favorable light. Do you think Enkidu really believes in the interpretations he puts forward throughout Tablet 4?
Or is he just putting a brave face on things, in order to cheer up Gilgamesh? And, either way, who do you think is truly more courageous: Gilgamesh or Enkidu? Deep sadness penetrates my core, I fear death, and now roam the wilderness— I will set out to the region of Utanapishtim, son of Ubartutu, and will go with utmost dispatch! After Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh becomes consumed by overpowering fear—the fear of death. Why is death something to be afraid of?
Or is this just another example of the fear of the unknown? In that case, it makes sense that Gilgamesh would go on a quest to find out what death is. But Gilgamesh never finds out what death is—because everybody he encounters tells him that nobody knows what death is.
However, what Gilgamesh got in return is the comparison as a fool who is not living his luxurious life back in Uruk but using his time to try avoiding something that no one can see or hear, death. In the end, Gilgamesh comes to realization that all men are powerless against death. Essays Essays FlashCards. Browse Essays. Sign in. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Show More.
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