Monday, September 10, 2012

Reading Blog- Tablet XI

Tablet XI is one of the longer tablets. It relates the conversation between Utnapishtim and Gilgamesh. 

Gilgamesh asks Utnapishtim how he became immortal, he himself wanting to become immortal. Utnapishtim's story and the story of Noah's Ark are quite similar, with both having the command of a deity for a man to build an arc to save himself and animals from a flood. 

I have a bad feeling about characters looking for immortality. If we look towards other stories of characters defeating death, such as the Pardoner's Tale, which ends up with all characters, who attempted to cheat death, dead themselves. However, possibly there is a happy ending.



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

What Happens To You When You Die?


In my opinion, you simply die. I don't believe in an afterlife, simply because there is no proof of it. I believe that your body and conciousness simply stop working and disintegrate.
 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Reading Blog- Tablets VI-VII

The story of a goddess falling in love with a mortal reminds me of how King Kong falls in love with a woman, who is much weaker than him.

The sickness of Enkidu brought by the gods, and the sadness of Gilgamesh, reminds me of the death of Patroklos at the hands of the Greek gods, and the sadness of Achilles.


Reading Blog- Tablets IV and V of the Epic of Gilgamesh

I sometimes feel like Gilgamesh. When he begins the journey to slay Huwawa, he is confident, however as he progresses, with the contribution of morbid, dark dreams, he loses confidence. I sometimes accept tasks with a certainty that I can do them, but then lose confidence when I realize I may not be able to accomplish the task or when I observe things that may point to my inability to do a task.

The journey of Gilgamesh and Enkidu reminds me of the journey undertaken by Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings.

The 13 winds which assault Huwawa make me think of the association of the number 13 with bad luck, evil, and pestilence.

The final attempts Huwawa made to convince Gilgamesh to spare him reminded me of the temptation which the ring gave in the Lord of the Rings before its destruction.

The use of the head of Huwawa as a trophy reminded me of Perseus, who kept Medusa's head after slaying her.


Reading Blog- Tablets I-III of the Epic of Gilgamesh

The character of Gilgamesh reminds me very much of another great warrior, Achilles, and his counterpart, Enkidu, reminds me of Achilles' good friend, Patroklos, although I understand the nature of the relationship is quite different.

I think shepherd is a word that is important to define. In its literal form, it means a person who tends and rears sheep, but it is used metaphorically, in the same manner as it has been used in texts such as the Bible, as the Messiah, the leader of the people, a term used when describing Jesus of Nazareth, and uttered when the old men of Uruk asked the gods whether Gilgamesh was truly their saviour.

The description of the creation of Enkidu reminds me very much of the creation of man outlined in Genesis, where clay is used to make a being made in the very image of God.

The man who spots the hairy beast Enkidu reminds me of people who have sighted a sasquatch, bigfoot, or other mythical creatures.

At this point in the story, I am wondering how a friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu will form.

The account of the harlot conquering and wooing the hairy beast reminds me of the story of King Kong, in which a beautiful woman tames a wild beast.

The descriptions are repeated many times, i.e. the description of Enkidu was repeated a few times, as well as that of the Cedar Forest and Huwawa, with some variations. This vaguely resembles a kind of mantra, in which the exact wording is used to describe an entity, as if it were part of it's title.