Babylonian Epic Of Gilgamesh Essay

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Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh After reading Fiero’s summary of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, I do not agree with the idea that the only real immortality that we can know as humans is through our accomplishments on earth. I have a problem with the question asked for this topic, “Do you agree or disagree with this attitude towards the afterlife” it treats immortality and afterlife at the same time. To me they are very different. Immortality means you never die whereas with afterlife you must die and then your spirit goes on to another place. Many religion including Christianity, believe in the afterlife. Christianity is a part of my religion’s background and I believe in the afterlife. However, I do not believe in immortality; I also do not believe that our accomplishments on earth will last forever. Some, but very few, accomplishments may last as long as their society does but not for ever. I think that any search for immortality is a waste of time. The lack of success, even though it was within his reach, and the ending of this epic story seem to suggest that there is Possibility of immortality. However, it may be very difficult to impossible. The material provided for the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh is not complete it is only a summary of Fiero and this is an epic that was written on clay tablets. Many of tablets are broken; therefor, this is not complete. The story also wasn’t written down until hundreds of years. The original written epic was translated to the other languages and there was probably a lot of information lost or changed in translation. For these reasons I question the accuracy the information provided. How much of this story is real and how much is fiction. However, some people who studied about the epic can make educated guesses as to what might have been said so that the English translation mostly whole. The purpose of this epic could have been for entertainment like television or movies today. Even like entertainment today many times a message or point is intended to reach the audience. The epic could have had religions significance or could forever been political. This Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh as provided by the summary is probably much more than it appears at face value. Although this material did not move me emotionally and I don’t feel that it taught me very much, it did cause me think. “There are a lot of similar themes to this epic as to some of the other mythological stories I have read in the past. I found this particular observation oddly strange because this tale was written thousands of years before many other similar tales. I think this is why this story of Gilgamesh has endured for so long. All in all it was a good read. However, it can be a little confusing at times. I especially like the part where Gilgamesh refused Istar the goddess of love and beauty, takes notice of his beauty and offers to become his wife. Gilgamesh refuses with insult. The imagery was quite amusing!” (Kluger, n.d.) Moreover, the material is about myth but as with most myths, they were originally base on some facts and then change over time. “The Epic of Gilgamesh, also a masterpiece of world literature, is considered to be one of the oldest epics in the world. It is called an epic, but it is really a myth. In order to be able to understand a myth, it should necessary to have an historical point of view from two perspectives, so to speak, an outer and an inner one.” (Kluger, n.d.) “The outer one concerns the necessity to understand the historical form in which the archetypes appear, the historical background to which the myth is related - in our case, the Babylonian culture and religion. The inner aspect concerns the essential problems of the time, with which that particular epoch struggled consciously, or in which it was unconsciously involved. Although this is primarily a scientific task, I believe that it is nevertheless a matter of immediate necessity for us to understand such
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