First Impressions of Gilgamesh
Firstly I want to say I found it a little boring to read through the long introduction of the story. I understand it's importance but I found the actual story much more fascinating. It wasn't that interesting to me to read through every bit of how the story was preserved and stuff like that.
Second I feel like there's a connection to how Gilgamesh viewed death and his legacy to how prideful humans naturally are. I feel like Gilgamesh is the epitome of pride. He was already King yet he took Enkidu (who was made to be his equal and turned him into a servant) and traveled to a forest to slay Humbabe in an attempt to make his name last forever. Being King wasn't enough for him that he had to go out of his way to kill Humbabe which was not at all necessary just because he wanted to be remembered as the greatest man to ever live. I've heard before that people will view themselves as the "hero" or "protagonist" of their own story that is their life. As Christians we are supposed to live our life with God on the forefront of our mind and to make him the center of everything we do therefore making us secondary or even background characters to an extent. The idea of Gilgamesh doing this for his own glory and not even his gods shows the significance of the Christian faith in that we don't live for ourselves. I see a very real connection between Gilgamesh and the average non-christian. I know this story had no indication or direct correlation to Christianity but I wanted to attempt to relate a theme with modern life.
P.S. I commented on Will and AnnaKate's post.
Second I feel like there's a connection to how Gilgamesh viewed death and his legacy to how prideful humans naturally are. I feel like Gilgamesh is the epitome of pride. He was already King yet he took Enkidu (who was made to be his equal and turned him into a servant) and traveled to a forest to slay Humbabe in an attempt to make his name last forever. Being King wasn't enough for him that he had to go out of his way to kill Humbabe which was not at all necessary just because he wanted to be remembered as the greatest man to ever live. I've heard before that people will view themselves as the "hero" or "protagonist" of their own story that is their life. As Christians we are supposed to live our life with God on the forefront of our mind and to make him the center of everything we do therefore making us secondary or even background characters to an extent. The idea of Gilgamesh doing this for his own glory and not even his gods shows the significance of the Christian faith in that we don't live for ourselves. I see a very real connection between Gilgamesh and the average non-christian. I know this story had no indication or direct correlation to Christianity but I wanted to attempt to relate a theme with modern life.
P.S. I commented on Will and AnnaKate's post.
I have to admit, seeing someone else's first impressions of this story is really enlightening. I now understand where you're coming from, Gilgamesh is definitely a very prideful individual. But I think what Enkidu did was more than serve him, he made Gilgamesh a better person. And while he did go out seeking glory, fame and a lasting legacy, he also decided for once that he would do something for his kingdom.
ReplyDeleteIm am so glad to see I'm not the only one who nearly fell asleep during the introduction of Gilgamesh. It was important, but they could've at least made it a little more interesting to read about... I agree that Gilgamesh seemed selfish. He had everything in the world he could want. He was king, rich, had good looks; he appeared to have it all. However, it still was never satisfying. Sometimes we ourselves can never be satisfied. we have so much compared to others who have nothing. Just just goes to prove that earthly things will never satisfy us. Only Jesus can satisfying that inner whole we all have. Sometimes we do try and fill that whole with things that don't matter, but we have to learn not to attach ourselves with these things. We can't take them with us after we die anyways... -coming from the "atheist" ha ha.
ReplyDelete