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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper which examines this theme shapes the epic’s portrayal of gender roles, children, companionship, gods and worship, the afterlife, adventure and achievement, and legacy. No additional sources are used.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGgilmor.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
of eleven tablets. This is particularly ironic, considering the theme which is interwoven throughout the epics vivid tapestry is that of mortality. King Gilgamesh of Uruk was once
a heroic man who had been led astray by vice. As a result, the gods sought to temper his avarice by creating his primitive counterpart out of clay.
Though they came from very different worlds, Gilgamesh and Enkidu formed a deep bond of friendship and were, in essence, two halves of the same person. Therefore, when Enkidu
becomes ill, a weeping Gilgamesh asks in Tablet VIII, "Why am I left to live while my brother dies? / Why should he die while I be spared to live?"
Then, after Enkidus death, a grief-stricken Gilgamesh is overcome by darkness and goes off alone into the wilderness in Tablet IX, pondering, "Enkidu has died. Must I die,
too? Must Gilgamesh be like that?" This is the dominant question that pervades every aspect of The Epic of Gilgamesh, as man grapples with the realization of his
own mortality. It impacted every aspect of the Sumerian (as well as Mesopotamian and Babylonian) culture, including gender roles, children, companionship, afterlife, gods and worship, adventure and achievement, and
legacy. The gender roles and children depicted in The Epic of Gilgamesh reflect a concern for mortality. The civilized males long to be heroes, which is usually achieved through
war. Honor and glory is the goal of all men, as they hope their exploits will live on after they die. While males were predominantly ending life in
the name of survival, female gender roles were intent upon its preservation. Gilgameshs mother, Ninsun, has the nickname of "Lady Wild Cow," which refers to the roles females were
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