Evils in Society Presented in The Epic of Gilgamesh - Essay Example

Anu created another beast Enkidu, a wild man who lived in the wilderness. Gilgamesh heard about him from a hunter who had spotted him at the river taking a bath. The hunter or trapper as they were best known went and told his father, who eventually send him to Gilgamesh so that he would give him a temple prostitute who would seduce Enkidu. He returned with Shamhat.

 The following day they waited for Enkidu to reappear so that they would send the prostitute who seduced him eventually. On his reappearance, the prostitute seduced him and they made love for six days and seven nights. In the end, the animals in the wilderness did not accept him again. Shamhat made a proposition to him to accompany her to Uruk. Enkidu accepted especially since he was curious about who this Gilgamesh is. He and Shamhat set to leave for Uruk the following day

            On their way there the following day they were shocked at Gilgamesh‘s ways. At the camp they stopped over, Gilgamesh was to sleep with the bride on the eve of her wedding before her husband slept with her. Enkidu was enraged by their act of inhumanness towards people by Gilgamesh. He was now determined to stop Gilgamesh and his acts. In the meantime, Gilgamesh was having dreams of the arrival of Enkidu. So he was well prepared for him on his arrival. When the two met up a fight broke out well as expectedGilgamesh triumphed over Enkidu, but this was a changing moment for him. He finally became friends with Enkidu. Enkidu in return tells Gilgamesh about a beast in the cedar forest (McCaughrean, 110). They went to the forest together with the god of the sun they defeated the beast. On their way back. Gilgamesh met Ishtar. Ishtar was a spiteful lover. Gilgamesh learns this and rejected her eventually. She was offended and asked Anu to punish him for that. Sorrow descended upon the people of Uruk as hundreds of them died at the hands of The Bull of Heaven. Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu joined hands and killed the beast. In the end, Gilgamesh went to mount Mashu in pursuit of immortality. While there he was told that he would get immortality if he were a god. But since he is not he should accept death. On his way out and back to Uruk, he bathed in the spring as instructed so that he would regain his charming youth. Upon seeing the city on his way back he was convinced he understood his legacy and he now knew well if he rules well he would leave a greater legacy. He eventually learned that the most vital thing in living is to have loved and lived well(McCaughrean,23)

            Gilgamesh made many bad choices especially mistreating the people of Uruk. His ways of dealing with situations were uncouth and unbecoming. But, the choices he made, in the end, were much better. In one way or another Gilgamesh’s character represented many other Mesopotamian characteristics. Many Mesopotamian characters were tyrannical and of bad governance. They used their citizens as tools and not humans (Kovac, 112).

            This book highlights evils in society. These issues have been there since time immemorial and thus we would say that the issues surrounding the story have resonated with different societies over the past thousand years. As these issues advance by the day and still are.  Reading the epic of Gilgamesh has made my understanding clear of what used to occur in the past and what people have become of these issues from the past. For instance has been noted amongst many since then (Sandars, 46).