The Quest for Immortality & Its Limit
A king who would not die learns the hardest wisdom: immortality is the gods' alone — but a name endures.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is, at its heart, a meditation on mortality. After his beloved companion Enkidu dies, the hero Gilgamesh, terrified of his own death, roams the earth in search of eternal life. He finds the Flood-survivor Utnapishtim, who tells him that the gods reserved immortality for themselves; even the plant of rejuvenation Gilgamesh wins is stolen by a snake. He returns home empty-handed but wiser, his lasting achievement the great walls of his city. The epic's answer is sober and humane: a person cannot escape death, but can leave a name and lasting works behind.
Key passages(3)
Now the lord once decided to set off for the mountain where the man lives; Lord Gilgameš decided to set off for the mountain where the man lives. He spoke to his slave Enkidu: Enkidu, since a man can
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So come on now, you heroic bearer of a sceptre of wide-ranging power! Noble glory of the gods, angry bull standing ready for a fight! Young Lord Gilgameš, cherished in Unug! In Unug people are dying,
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