An old saying goes, “Experience is the best teacher.” A person can learn various life lessons from different incidents of life. Sometimes these situations have the ability to transform a person into a completely different person. Something similar happened with Gilgamesh, the hero of the legendary Mesopotamian tale, “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” Although at first, he is described as “two-thirds divine and one-third human,” later episodes of his life turn his qualities into those of an ordinary human. (Tablet I, 50) This has been very well depicted throughout this ancient piece of art.
The beginning verses of the poem explain the main character of the story. It is said that being two-thirds divine gave Gilgamesh, the “heroic offspring of Uruk,” powers that made him the …show more content…
Even the privilege of being two-thirds divine did not help him to bring his ally back. He expresses his pain in the following words, “What now is this sleep that has seized you? Come back to me! You hear me not.” (Tablet VIII, 49,50) As he prepares to honor his deceased friend, he comes face to face with the harsh reality of his mortal life. Gilgamesh, who had once consciously asserted that “people’s days are numbered, whatever they attempt is a puff of air,” grows the fear of death. (Tablet II, 177, 178) The bold and powerful is surrounded by insecurities and the fear of death. “I have grown afraid of death, so I roam the steppe,” he cries. (Tablet IX, 5) Death terrifies the majestic king of Uruk so much that he leaves his kingdom behind and sets off on his quest of imperishability. It would not be wrong to say that although the journey was commenced to find answers about mortality, it had also resurfaced the proud and aggressive side of Gilgamesh. This can be evidently understood from the words Gilgamesh uses to introduce himself to the tavern of Siduri. He exclaims in the lines 20 through 25 in tablet