Death and Life: The Lot of Man

Eliza Colbert

For my post this week, I would like to draw attention to two parallels between The Epic of Gilgamesh and the book of Ecclesiastes. I know that I referenced Ecclesiastes in my post last week, but the similarity between these works is too fascinating to ignore. The most obvious of these similarities is the emphasis on mortality. It is the motivation for the entire second half of the epic. Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to think about man's fate of mortality; it is what motivates him to seek out eternal life from Utnapishtim. When asked why he is journeying to find Utnapishtim and eternal life, Gilgamesh responds, "On [Enkidu's] account I have come, for the common lot of man has taken him" (98). Gilgamesh realizes that, even though he is two-thirds god and the king of Uruk, he is subject to the "common lot of man" just as Enkidu was.

This idea that all men die, no matter who they are, is found throughout Ecclesiastes. Whether he is talking about the vanity of material wealth or challenging traditional wisdom, The Preacher acknowledges that everyone eventually dies. In one verse he writes, "This is an evil that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all" (9:3 ESV). The event that he is referring to is death and the evil is the fact that it happens to everyone. In this way, The Preacher and Gilgamesh are similar. Both of them see the universality of death as an unfair fact and both of them seek out a way to rectify this fact.

Gilgamesh does this by attempting to cheat death and become immortal. On his quest, Gilgamesh meets several people who all attempt to dissuade him and tell him truthfully that he cannot avoid his fate. One of these characters, Siduri, gives Gilgamesh advice on how he should live in light of his mortality. This is the advice she gives to Gilgamesh: "fill your belly with good things...dance and be merry, feast and rejoice...cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man" (102). Basically, she tells him to live his life while he's got it. Everyone is going to die, but that inherently means that everyone also lives. Siduri's advice is to live life to the fullest while you can.

This is very similar to The Preacher's conclusion in Ecclesiastes. In his search to rectify the fact that death comes to all, The Preacher decides that "what...[is]...good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment with all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days that God has given him, for this is his lot" (5:18). The Preacher goes on to say that man should "Enjoy life with the wife whom you love" (9:9). The similarities between Siduri's advice and these passages is uncanny. Both point to eating, drinking, and simply enjoying life with your family as the best way to spend your time. More than that, both refer to life as man's "lot." Their conclusions on how to live life in light of man's mortality are strikingly similar.

While Ecclesiastes goes on to mention the significance that God gives to life, I find it fascinating that the advice of The Preacher and the advice of Siduri is basically the same. Both recognize the lot of man is that man will live and man will die. Both of these books address the fact that man's fate is not dependent on who you are or what you do; death comes to all. With that information, they both tell their audience that the best thing they can do is enjoy life while they can.

P.S. I commented on Sydney's and Addison's posts