every soul shall face death
Every Soul Shall Face Death
One of the guarantees in life is death, it encourages us to face our mortality. Many humans fear it or see it as inevitable, so they accept it. If there was a slight chance that immortality could be granted, many people would pay whatever the price and would see it as a miracle. There would also be a huge amount of people who would oppose it because it may be seen as “unnatural.” There are many different points of view on death and not much has changed for thousands of years, since, we have barely scratched the surface and much is still unknown. We read stories like “The Epic of Gilgamesh” to learn something about the history of the people who lived thousands of years ago, grasp their beliefs, their way of living, their view on life and their view on death. In the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh is described as two-thirds God and one-thirds man. The narrator states that Gilgamesh is, “Surpassing of all Kings, powerful and tall beyond all others, violent, splendid, a wild bull of a man, unvanquished leader, hero in the frontlines, beloved by his soldiers . . .” (Mitchell, 71). The narrator gives Gilgamesh God-like qualities, yet mortal qualities as well that also embody our own human desires. In the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh is a tyrant that exploits the people of Uruk. The people of the city were saying, ”He takes the son from his father and crushes him, takes the girl from her mother and uses her, the warrior’s daughter, the young man’s bride, he uses her, no one dares oppose him”(Mitchell, 73), which shows that he felt powerful, invincible and maybe felt untouchable by death at first. As the story progresses, he becomes best friends with Enkidu and they both travel to defeat challenging opponents to make a name for themselves. Gilgamesh wants to be famous amongst all people and remembered as a hero after his death, he tells Enkidu. "I will set up my name in the place where the names of famous men are written"
One of the guarantees in life is death, it encourages us to face our mortality. Many humans fear it or see it as inevitable, so they accept it. If there was a slight chance that immortality could be granted, many people would pay whatever the price and would see it as a miracle. There would also be a huge amount of people who would oppose it because it may be seen as “unnatural.” There are many different points of view on death and not much has changed for thousands of years, since, we have barely scratched the surface and much is still unknown. We read stories like “The Epic of Gilgamesh” to learn something about the history of the people who lived thousands of years ago, grasp their beliefs, their way of living, their view on life and their view on death. In the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh is described as two-thirds God and one-thirds man. The narrator states that Gilgamesh is, “Surpassing of all Kings, powerful and tall beyond all others, violent, splendid, a wild bull of a man, unvanquished leader, hero in the frontlines, beloved by his soldiers . . .” (Mitchell, 71). The narrator gives Gilgamesh God-like qualities, yet mortal qualities as well that also embody our own human desires. In the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh is a tyrant that exploits the people of Uruk. The people of the city were saying, ”He takes the son from his father and crushes him, takes the girl from her mother and uses her, the warrior’s daughter, the young man’s bride, he uses her, no one dares oppose him”(Mitchell, 73), which shows that he felt powerful, invincible and maybe felt untouchable by death at first. As the story progresses, he becomes best friends with Enkidu and they both travel to defeat challenging opponents to make a name for themselves. Gilgamesh wants to be famous amongst all people and remembered as a hero after his death, he tells Enkidu. "I will set up my name in the place where the names of famous men are written"