The Epic of Gilgamesh Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Epic of Gilgamesh - Assignment Example There is always a kind of terror from being at the mercy of the whims of a person who may not always act rationally or for the best interests of those whose lives they have control over. Certainly in the case of Gilgamesh to the very notion of the existence of Enkidu has premised on Gilgamesh the flawed human and part god acted in ways that made his subjects suffer. It is in this kind of backdrop that the fears of Enkidu relating to death are founded. Thehas premise decreed that he must die, and there is no arguing with the gods once they have decided that he must die. This notwithstanding the fact that it was Gilgamesh after all who did the killings, and it was Enkidu who did warn Gilgamesh against going through with killing Humbaba. No, all these mitigating circumstances did not matter. What mattered to the gods was that someone should die and that in this case, they chose Enkidu to pay for the lives of the Bull of Heaven and of Humbaba (â€Å"The Epic of Gilgamesh†; Brown; SparkNotes; Annenberg Foundation; Hooker). This whimsical nature of the ways of the gods and of the way they arrived at Enkidu’s death sentence, however, is not the primary reason why Enkidu feared death. Sure he was bitter to the point of even regretting having crossed paths with the people who ultimately led him to his encounter and friendship with Gilgamesh, but this bitterness is something that is separate from what made him fearful about death. He was fearful of passing away primarily because of the visions that he had of death, grim and full of dark foreboding, and the opposite of the happiest days that he had known on earth. He feared death first and foremost because it was the end of all that he had lived for, and the beginning of what could be described as an eternal harrowing experience in a world that is bleak and devoid of sunshine, dark, a world of dust, as he described in the vision that he shared of life after death. The vision of death and what it was like cam e to him in a dream, that he shared to his friend Gilgamesh.