​Reader Response essay: The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh summary. Gilgamesh is a king that was destined for

greatness, but he mistakes greatness for cruelty and power. The gods create Enkidu of

clay to end the tyrannical practices of Gilgamesh. The two powerful men fight, and

become great friends. Enkidu dies, and that strikes a great fear of death into Gilgamesh,

starting his quest for eternal life. After a long and fruitless search, he finally finds a

secret flower of immortality, only to have it lost forever. Gilgamesh returns as the great

king he was always destined to be. The story of Gilgamesh is still being told to this day,

so in a way, he gained the immortality he strived for.

Gilgamesh is easily angered, in many cases in the text he quickly jumps to

violence. The only time Gilgamesh stops and thinks before acting out of rage, Enkidu

convinces him to kill Humbaba. Me and Gilgamesh share this issue of anger, while i’m

not typically a violent person like Gilgamesh, my first reaction is generally anger. When

Enkidu dies Gilgamesh explodes into a fit of rage, tearing out his hair and pacing

around. Only after he calms down does he experience grief and sadness. This relates to

my life in that when something happens, I get angry at the world and myself, and once I

calm down do I see things clearly and feel other emotions.

These reactions of anger cause problems with Gilgamesh, because at almost

every situation he becomes enraged and breaks things or resorts to violence. Such as

when he destroys Urshanabi’s boat, the only way to cross the waters. Urshanabi’s
quote “Gilgamesh, your own hands have prevented you from crossing the Ocean…” to

me means that Gilgamesh himself was the reason he would be denied what he wanted.

This often happens in my own life, I'll be trying to do something, and get frustrated and

ruin it for myself. Many times when I am metalsmithing, I'll get angry that it's not going

the way I want, and smash it. Only to start all over again.

The epic of Gilgamesh relates to my own life, because Gilgamesh and I have

issues with jumping to anger. While his problems are much more severe than mine,

they are similar in a way. Gilgamesh and I have both ruined our own progress out of

anger, only making things harder for themselves. I believe I need to take some advice

from this story, and learn to be more selfless and gentle, as Gilgamesh does in the end

of the epic.

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