The poem is about the king of Uruk, who was partially a man and partially an animal. He built a magnificent temple. The king of Uruk was very beautiful in relation to physical terms. The king was also very wise and strong. Despite the fact that Gilgamesh appeared like a small god, he was very evil in that he raped women carelessly and anyhow. He used forced labor and facilitated the oppression of the people in the society he was a king (Daimon 18). This text is still available and readable up to today. The oral versions of the story were also common and accessible. The aspects of immortality in the leadership of Gilgamesh are depicted in the poem with the help of description-n of various gods. The gods in the poem served different purposes where some served on the issue of creation. The god dealing with the creation helped in the creating another huge creature called Enkidu in order to face Gilgamesh who was torturing the people in the society. This helped to eliminate the issue of an individual acting like small god. The main theme in this poem is the conflict that exist between the human and animal natures.
The unrighteous acts of Gilgamesh in handling the people, for instance, forced labor and sexual assaults were the main reason he was not chosen to be immortal. The lack of patience and perseverance shown by Gilgamesh made him fail in the journey or immortality. The levels of mistreatments he imposed on the people also made him fail in the journey for immortality. The death of Enkindu was used by the Utnapishtim to prove to Gilgamesh that death is a reality for all men. This god told Gilgamesh that all men must face death. This helped him in the transformation of his roles in leadership.
In the context of decisions, Gilgamesh decided to torture people through hard labor, rape of the women, as well as the general harassment and threats to the members of the community. He failed to play his duty of a king to protect people. The bad manners of Gilgamesh made the old men very angry. They prayed to their goddess of creation in order to create more powerful god than Gilgamesh. The people. God responded to the prayers of the old men by providing Enkidu, who was stronger than Gilgamesh. Enkidu lived in the wilderness with the wild animals. Enkidu came to fight with Gilgamesh, won the war. The friendship developed between Enkidu and Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh decided to befriend Enkidu where they decided to become close friends. They went to fighting together. Enkidu lost his life due to the powers of the goddess. Gilgamesh became very sad and lonely after the death of his close friend, Enkidu. Gilgamesh cried a lot when his friend was dead.
The aspects of death or mortality was a form of punishment to Gilgamesh who thought he will not die just because he was a king. The death also acts a penalty to Gilgamesh for torturing the people. The aspect of death, therefore, played an important role in ensuring that Gilgamesh understand that the person should live well in the few days before they die as opposed to the way he tortured people in Uruk.
The tyrannical behavior of the king Gilgamesh was challenged by the introduction of Enkindu. This helped to challenge the way he tortured people through hard labor and raping of women. This, therefore, helped to show Gilgamesh the importance of human life.
Enkindu met with Gilgamesh where they became great friends through love and companion. The interaction between them had a great impact on the way Gilgamesh approached life afterwards. They went to the forest together where Enkindu died. This friendship also helped to bring to an end the tyrannical behavior of Gilgamesh (Fleming 26). He finally realized that the quality of human life is not determined by the number of days they live but on the way they treat others in the society. This relationship between Enkindu and Gilgamesh helped him to transform to a perfect leader. Enkindu also helped Gilgamesh to appreciate the impact of death. He realized that even giants like him can die. He also helped Gilgamesh realize the dangers of disrespecting gods due to the heavy penalties associated with. Enkindu also played an important role in protecting the virgins from exploitation by Gilgamesh.
Utnapishtim helped Gilgamesh to realize that gods have the potential of destroying the whole world. This had a positive impact on the way Gilgamesh controlled and ruled over the people. He was forced to change his approach to handling of the people so as to avoid the chances of disrespecting the Gods. The challenge and reality of death made Gilgamesh realize that the gods needs to be respected through proper handling of the people in the society. The way in which the labor activities are monitored in the society also changed through the meeting with this god. This also helped Gilgamesh in realizing the reality of death to all human beings irrespective of their age and family status in the society. He realized that all men die. This also made Gilgamesh change his approach to leadership by stopping the cases of torture and forced labor he used to inflict on the people.
The interaction of Gilgamesh with the people in the story helped him to change his perspective towards life in general. The forces he faced from the gods made him realize that he was not perfect or superior. His realization of death showed him that all men die. The aspects relating to immortality of Gilgamesh are well elaborated in the poem.
Works Cited
Fleming, Daniel E, and Sara J. Milstein. The Buried Foundation of the Gilgamesh Epic: The Akkadian Huwawa Narrative. Leiden: Brill, 2010. Print.
The Gilgamesh Epic: A Psychological Study of a Modern Ancient Hero. Daimon Verlag, 2012. Print.
"SparkNotes: The Epic of Gilgamesh: Analysis of Major Characters." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
