The Epic of Gilgamesh

Upon examining The Epic of Gilgamesh, it is evident that it is a very old text that is not quite complete. In my opinion, this made it a little more difficult to read. It was a little less than thrilling at parts, and I found myself getting frustrated with how much was missing. It is really hard to get a good grasp on a story when every other word seems to be missing. However, I do believe it is important to read this kind of literature, because a lot can be learned about a culture from their ancient stories and some of the themes or messages can be carried out to apply to our own present-day culture. Although there are tons of themes in Gilgamesh, I think one of the most interesting is the constant reference to nature.

One of the earliest references to this motif is with the introduction of Enkidu. He is raised in the wild by gazelles and this is when he is still pure and innocent. Once he sleeps with Shamhat and loses his innocence, he is no longer accepted by the gazelles and is forced to leave the forest and live with humans. It is also interesting to note that a lot of the time when describing people, similes are used to compare the person with an animal. A good example of this is on Tablet X when Gilgamesh is talking about the death of his beloved friend to Shiduri, the tavern-keeper encountered on his journey to visit Uta-napishti. Gilgamesh compares Enkidu to animals in a metaphor by saying, "My friend, a wild ass on the run, donkey of the uplands, panther of the wild," (84) a phrase which is repeated several more times each time someone new is encountered on his journey. There are many more instances similar to this one as well throughout the pages of this story. Another manifestation of the theme comes closer to the end, when Gilgamesh finally reaches Uta-napishti. Gilgamesh again recounts his sad story to the immortal man and explains his fear of death, and Uta-napishti has pity on him and tells him where to find a plant which when eaten will restore him to youth. Gilgamesh takes it gratefully, but it is later stolen from him by a snake.

These references to the theme of nature are especially interesting because they can be found to this day. Animals are generally thought to be innocent creatures; when Enkidu was living like a gazelle in the wild, he was still pure. By sleeping with Shamhat, he lost his innocence and ability to live like an animal along with it. It is also quite common to hear phrases relating people to animals just as was done in Gilgamesh. For example, 'a bull in a china shop' is a saying used to describe someone who is clumsy or tends to break things. 'Blind as a bat' is another idiom used to describe a person who is not able to see well at all. In addition, certain animals are often characterized as behaving a certain way. This is seen in the idioms previously mentioned: bulls are destructive, bats are blind. Another common thought is that snakes are sneaky. In the Bible story of Adam and Eve, the snake is the one who tricks Eve into eating the apple from the forbidden tree, resulting in the pair being banished from the Garden of Eden. Snakes are not generally very well liked, and it is apparent that this thought and feeling was around way back in the time when the story of Gilgamesh was first carved into the stone tablets. Therefore, although it is sometimes not the most thrilling thing to sit down with a classic book such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, it might sometimes be a good idea to do, since a lot of the themes and motifs can be related to today's society.