Uruk In Gilgamesh

Uruk and Carthage are cities which are both literally and symbolically important in their stories. Each city gives insight to the culture of the people living there. Uruk and Carthage not only hint at the culture of the people living within the cities but also are reflections of their respective rulers and each serve an important role in the lives of the protagonists.
The structures of Uruk hint at what is important to the city. In Gilgamesh, Ururk is known for having a “massive wall...ramparts [that] gleam like copper in the sun ... a stone staircase more ancient than one can imagine ...a temple that no king has equaled in size or beauty ...mighty foundations” and the city encloses “the palm trees, the gardens, the orchards, the glorious
199)” and was masterfully built (p. 199). Once could argue that the epic of Gilgamesh is a frame story, beginning on the success of Gilgamesh in restoring Uruk and ends on Gilgamesh succeeding in learning his life lesson and returning to his great city. In fact, the only time when Uruk is not depicted as successful is before Gilgamesh comes along. Gilgamesh is the one who restored “the massive wall of Uruk (p.69). After that, Uruk prospers and easily fends off the Bull of Heaven and the earthquakes it causes p. 136-138). Carthage, on the other hand, is destined to fall (lines 30-33 p. 4). While at first Dido doesn’t share this fate, when Juno and Venus start interfering with her love life Dido’s destiny takes a turn (lines 920-925 p. 28). Dido’s marriage to Aeneas was the day of her first death (line 233 p.101). After her marriage to Aeneas “projects [to continue building the city] were broken off (lines 124-125 p. 98)”. Furthermore, cities are the legacy of their rulers, letting them live beyond death. After failing in his quest for immortality, Gilgamesh comes to the realization that he fears death. Instead, he opts for the immortality of Uruk, unfortunately the city falls to the same fate as Gilgamesh and metaphorically dies (p.175-176). Before Dido kills herself, she states that “‘I built a
Like Dido, Carthage is simply a rest stop in Aeneas’ greater journey to Italy, one that he is goaded to leave by Mercury (lines 361-375 p. 105). From the beginning, readers are told that Carthage is bound to fall to the descendants of the Trojans, that Carthage will never become the great city that Juno wants it to be (lines 24-35 pp. 3-4). When Aeneas first enters Carthage, he sees people “layering courses for walls, rolling stones to build the citadel” (lines 579-580 p. 19). However, once the queen falls in love, work stops and the “towers, half-built, [rise] no farther (lines 121-122 p. 98). Carthage, in all aspects is temporary, only remaining in Aeneas’ life until he is called to his destiny and only remaining in history until it is destroyed by the