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Gilgamesh Analysis

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Gilgamesh One of the earliest surviving works of literature is The Epic of Gilgamesh. It is a source into understanding the Sumerians and what they believe. The Epic of Gilgamesh takes place in an ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, which is modern day Iraq. We can take a few things away from this poem about the Sumerians. For one, they have strong beliefs in gods and goddesses and they have a self-consciousness of their cultivation with the natural world. The main character of this poem is Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk. Gilgamesh is 1/3rd human and 2/3rds god, incredibly handsome, and is one of the strongest humans. Ultimately Gilgamesh is the most powerful man of his time, which allows him to exploit women and wear out the city. Gilgamesh’s power started to irritate the people and they needed someone who would be able to stand up to him. Hence, the goddess, Aruru, created Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s frenemy turned loyal companion. Before Enkidu became Gilgamesh’s friend and loyal companion, he was one with the wild. Instead of being part human, part god, Enkidu was 1/3rd human and 2/3rds beast. He lived in the forest with animals only eating grass and drinking out of water holes. He was unaware of the civilized life outside of the forest. He did not understand the ways of civilized life. Instead he was used to his primitive ways, he did not know what losses he was facing verses what he was going to gain. After the temple prostitute, he developed a need for human

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