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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that explores the theme of wilderness v. civilization as portrayed in the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. The writer argues that through the stories of the main characters, the narrative dramatizes the difference between savagery and civilization. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khcivwil.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
millennium. Furthermore, scholars feel that the original folktales, which provide the source material for the epic, began to circulate in written form only a few centuries after the invention
of cuneiform writing, roughly around 3000 BC (Jager, 2001). Particularly in view of its antiquity, it is fascinating to note that the basic theme of the epic deals with what
divides the natural way of life of the wilderness from the civilized life of the city. Through the stories of the main characters, the narrative dramatizes the difference between savagery
and civilization. The poem focuses on two characters, Gilgamesh, a young king and his friend, Enkidu. First of all, the story of Enkidu relates a gradual transformation of an
individual who is living a natural existence in the wild to that of someone who can be the companion of a king (Jager, 2001). In his natural state, Enkidu roamed
the steppes with the wild gazelles and consumed whatever nature offered him (Sandars, 1987). In his own way, Gilgamesh is just as wild as Enkidu at the beginning of the
epic. His lustful excesses threaten the fabric of civilized behavior within his kingdom, Uruk, which causes the people to appeal to the gods, who respond by creating a rival, Enkidu,
who is as strong as Gilgamesh (Sandars, 1987). In order for Enkidu to be a civilizing force on Gilgamesh, he must first be initiated into the realms of civilization.
The civilizing agent in the epic for Enkidu is the temple harlot Shamhat. It is the lure of sex that leads Enkidu from the wilderness and it is through the
influence of this woman that he learns language, understanding and knowledge. Enkidu laments his lost natural state, but has in compensation the wonders of civilization (Jager, 2001). After
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