The Failures Of David And Gilgamesh

During the reign of David and Gilgamesh, they are known to be the greatest king among all the other kings, but there are moments that portrayed them as wicked rulers and tyrants. Being a king means they both possess divine and absolute power, and with the power comes along the complications such as corruptions and misconducts. David’s and Gilgamesh’s failures are results of their misuse of power and their incapability to manage political and personal affairs, while their successes are a reflection of their ability to learn from the mistakes

He had many extraordinary qualities, and heroic characteristics. The most obvious being that he is a king, a man of highest level in society. He was also known and appreciated for building many walls and temples around his city, which no man who followed ever matched. However, after the presence of Enkidu was made, Gilgamesh started to become the more noble and favored ruler of Uruk. Since he finally knew what it was like to have a companion and someone of his level of greatness, he no longer terrorized his city as he did before, and is still aware that death is inevitable. Yet, after Enkidu passed away, Gilgamesh becomes so distraught, he becomes obsessed and fearful of death, and seeks the secret to immortality from there on. It is only after he learns the story of the flood from Utnapishtim, the epiphany that he becomes his most noble and wise self. Finally, he accepts his mortality on his way back to Uruk with the boatman alongside him: “O Ur-shanabi, climb Uruk’s wall and walk back and forth! Survey its foundations, examine the brickwork... A square mile is city, a square mile date-grove, a square mile is clay-pit, half a square mile the temple of Ishtar: three square miles and a half is Uruk’s expanse.” (George, 99). This demonstrates Gilgamesh’s newfound appreciation for his city and life, and provides the audience with closure of his

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest story known to mankind, being written on Sumerian clay almost five thousand years ago (Garone). Since the story was originally known orally, the culture and themes from The Epic of Gilgamesh must have existed long before it was finally inscribed (Mark 4). Having known this, the cultures and themes can be compared to today’s society, discovering about how they have shifted and evolved, and also observe how they are similar. The ancient days of Gilgamesh has brought culture that has greatly influenced today’s society. Because Gilgamesh was set around the time of late Babylonian or early Sumerian society, the Babylonian and Sumerian cultures also play a role in shaping the world into what is is today (Mark). These societies have developed inventions and ideas that have significantly affected today’s world such as, government, art, wheels mathematics, and many more (Garone). The cultures and themes from the story are displayed all across the text, and after studying Gilgamesh’s culture and story, it is evident that there are numerous cultural contribution to modern day society, such as gods, seeking revenge or love, and destroying enemies. More importantly, throughout the text, Gilgamesh was in a predicament trying to figure out the meaning of life and the value of human accomplishment (Mark). The culture of mankind has always been to seek the meaning of life, no matter the time period, religion, or community. From the times of Gilgamesh to

The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible have a few similar events and historians think that they may refer to the same event. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible share a similar event, the flood, and a similar character, the serpent. Though there are still several distinctions between the two stories.

Gilgamesh abused his power of being king when the gods made him king. With the hate Gilgamesh received when he arrived in Uruk he was cruel at first when becoming a king. When he also first became king, he was full of lust. “His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter, nor the wife of the noble.” and he also wanted to get rid of them “Gilgamesh said, ‘Trapper, go back, take with you a harlot, a child of pleasure.”

When Gilgamesh decides that he wants to fight Humbaba, he refuses to listen to Enkidu’s worries and protests, “You [Enkidu] speak unworthily…I must set my hand to cutting a cedar tree,/I must establish eternal flame” (Putchner et al 111). This displays Gilgamesh’s impatience because he will not listen when his friend wants him to slow down and think about his choices. He refuses to stop when people ask him to nor will he think about anything else than what he wants to do. Gilgamesh’s impatience when asked to think about what he is doing showcases that he is not a virtuous

The Epic of Gilgamesh is set in Uruk, an ancient city of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer, now modern-day Iraq. The epic was said to be written by Sin-liqe-unninni, but it is based on five earlier Sumerian poems with no known author. The piece was difficult to translate, and there are two main version for the Epic of Gilgamesh. This is the result of the environment during the time the piece was being written. Early Mesopotamian people are bilingual, and since there was no unified form of writing, the text is written in Akkadian and Sumerian.

Gilgamesh is an epic hero because, he part divine, interacts with gods and his story has a series of adventures and superhuman victories. Gilgamesh is a king that shows off his power and enviably shows his weak side in most altercations. Most scholars see him as a historical figure, but I myself think he is definitely an epic hero. He oppresses people who call out to the gods, this is not very heroic, but his other actions will show the truth. Gilgamesh IS an epic hero.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first epic poem to be written in ancient West Asia. It was written around the third millennium BCE in Mesopotamia by Sumerian people (Spodek, 127). The epic is based on actual an historical figure, a Sumerian king who reigned the city-state of Uruk around third millennium BCE. Ashurbanipal, the last Neo-Assyrian king who was literate, built a great library in his capital and preserved 20,000 tablets including the earliest complete version of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Spodek, 128). Sumerian attitudes towards gods, friendship, and the story of the great flood are revealed throughout the epic.

With Gilgamesh coming to realization of his mortality, he departs from Uruk on a second journey. Unlike the first journey, Gilgamesh isn’t setting off avid for glory and fame. Instead, he is embarking on a journey to discover himself. Gilgamesh was known for ruling with an iron fist, he was able to get away with anything he wanted by invoking fear into the townspeople. On the other hand, Hammurabi of Babylon provides a perfect example of how to treat your townspeople. Hammurabi not only expanded his peoples territory, but he also built up infrastructure and put in a system of laws. The use of power and fear can only get you so far, and then people begin to question your ability to lead, much like Gilgamesh’s situation. On his second journey Gilgamesh doesn’t flip a switch and become some influential leader that everyone approves of. However, his journey serves as a baptism of sort. After talking to Utnapishtim, Gilgamesh finally finds the answers to his questions about eluding death: he can’t. People die, but humankind will continue on. Even though he didn’t get the results he wanted, they freed him in a way. If he takes his newfound mindset back to Uruk and rules it well, Uruk will live on in his name and continue to grow and

Gilgamesh is an epic hero in the story Gilgamesh: A New English Version because he endured a long journey. A common trait that all epic heroes share is their long journey that they must travel in search of triumph, treasure etc. Some evidence for this is "At four hundred miles they stopped to eat, at a thousand miles they pitched their camp. They had traveled for just three days and nights, a six weeks’ journey for ordinary men." Ordinary people could never have traveled this length hence why they're epic.

Surprisingly, Gilgamesh is scared, and almost reluctant to fight when he first sees Humbaba. Humbaba “nodded his head and shook it, menacing Gilgamesh; and on him he fastened his eye, the eye of death. Then Gilgamesh called to Shamash and his tears were flowing” (20). Gilgamesh needs help to defeat Humbaba, but his arrogance keeps him from becoming self-aware of his weakness. Gilgamesh and Enkidu ruthlessly triumph over Humbaba and in their celebration. They viciously murder Humbaba even after he pleads for mercy. To add to their treachery, they mock the gods by laying Humbaba’s head before Enlil, the god who created Humbaba. Here is another sign that physical feats, especially the savagery of the deed, will not define Gilgamesh as a hero. In fact, he appears more as a murderer than a great leader. The two are scolded by Enlil, who is mortified that Humbaba has been killed and in the manner that it happened. “Enlil raged at them. Why did you do this thing? From henceforth may the fire be on your faces” (22). Regardless, the two continue to celebrate, immaturely throwing their braggadocio in the gods’ faces. “O Gilgamesh, king and conqueror of the dreadful blaze… glory to him and from the brave the greater glory is Enki’s” (22)! Gilgamesh’s behavior is not one of a

Always encountering success, Gilgamesh was once a tyrant to his people. Reflecting on his rule, he recalls that, “He demanded from an old birthright/the privilege of sleeping with their brides” (15). His triumphs fostered arrogance. To him, everyone else paled in comparison. When he experiences defeat, however, Gilgamesh grows as a leader, seeing the similarities between him and his subjects, their common humanity. After losing the plant of eternal life, Gilgamesh returns to his kingdom of Uruk. There, Gilgamesh looks over his empire, and is astonished at what he sees. He, “looked at the walls, awed at the heights his people had achieved” (92). Gilgamesh, once believing he was almighty, becomes a greater man and leader through

This is the story of two great men in two different eras. Joseph, a biblical man with great power and authority sold from the land of Canaan to the land of Egypt. The other, a man named Gilgamesh, a strong and handsome man from an epic story of the Ancient Babylonian time. These men were very different but, at some point very powerful times in their lives and then also had some challenging times. Gilgamesh starts off with a powerful live and then goes through some turbulence and Joseph start out with turbulence and becomes powerful. Joseph was bullied or disliked by his brothers, while Gilgamesh was the bully and had people afraid of him. This story will tell the comparisons and differences in their life’s journeys.

In the following readings, Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, women are perceived as subjects towards men. For example, in Genesis the first woman to be created by God is Eve and in The Epic of Gilgamesh the harlot Shamhat. Both characters are subjected to obey men in a point of their stories because it is the norm of the society of which these texts are written in. Even though both texts were written in the same part of the world, modern middle east, Genesis is the creation story of earth that was written in modern day middle east during Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BC, while The Epic of Gilgamesh was, however written in a different time, dating back to c. 2000 BC. Genesis was written before The Epic of Gilgamesh, which means that the norm of women being submissive towards men originated from Genesis to The Epic of Gilgamesh.