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Gilgamesh was, in my opinion, an out of control king. He made his subjects live in fear. He was an arrogant man, who took what he wanted when he wanted, giving little thought to anything more than what made him prosperous. Behind closed doors, Gilgamesh’s citizens whispered, “But the men of Uruk muttered in their houses, ‘Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night’.” The gods heard their cries and thus created a noble man, Enkidu, who was sent to Uruk to humble Gilgamesh by fighting him. I think the message here is that the gods will hear your cries and they will answer your prayers, so do not give up. As the story carries on, Enkidu and Gilgamesh form a friendship and it is through that friendship that we begin to see more lessons. In one such lesson, Enkidu says to Gilgamesh, “The meaning of the dream is this. The father of the gods has given you kingship, such is your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed.” I think the message Enkidu is trying to impart is that we are all destined for something. It may not be what any of us want, or what Gilgamesh wants, but it is what the gods want, so do not be saddened by the destiny, rather be the “light of mankind”. He also begs of Gilgamesh to not exploit the power that was given to him, even though he can do with it as he chooses. It is a message of treating others as we would want to be treated or having a moral obligation to fairly treat his subjects. For example, Enkidu says, “But do not abuse this power, deal justly with your servants in the palace…”. It is not until Enkidu’s death that Gilgamesh becomes humbled and begins to see the error of his ways. He is wrought with sadness at the death of his friend and he fears his own mortality. He tells Siduri of his despair, “Despair is in my heart and my face…”.What he learned from her is that when the gods created man, they destined him for death from the beginning, so she implored him to not dwell on that, but instead enjoy life to the fullest. While mortality can be frightening, we should not let that fear control us. It is okay to recognize that fear, but to let it have hold on us does no good.
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When it comes to facing some of the lessons learned in the Epic of Gilgamesh, I think the Bible offers up some passages to consider as lessons too because they have similar messages. One such example is found in the Book of Job. In the face of adversity, Job never lets his faith falter and he carries on with a happy heart, just as Siduri suggested of Gilgamesh. Because of this, God rewarded Job tenfold. Passage 10 in the epilogue of Job says, “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.” Examples of mortality can also be found in the Book of Job. Passage 14:14 says, “If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes”. Although the stories may differ, the messages are still very similar. Especially in Genesis where God grants man the rule over the earth. In Genesis 1:26-27, God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” The gods in the Epic of Gilgamesh give Gilgamesh rule over his kingdom, just as God gave man rule over their earthly kingdom. Though we rules over others, we should not abuse that power to treat any one person, place or thing unjust.
Overall, I think two of the great issues explored in this week’s reading are mortality and morality. I think that while their stories are different, the lessons to be learned from both reading assignments are rather similar. Pray to the gods and have faith in them, for they will guide you. Do not fear death, because we were never intended to live forever. Therefore, enjoy each day as if it were your last. Lastly, do not let a position of higher power go to your head. Even if you are in a position of authority, treat everyone with respect and with fairness.
