Essay About Epic Of Gilgamesh And Personality Changes

Essay on the Epic of Gilgamesh
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Essay over The Epic of Gilgamesh
The main character in the book The Epic of Gilgamesh is Gilgamesh
himself. In the beginning of the book one realizes that Gilgamesh is an
arrogant person. Gilgamesh is full of himself and abuses his rights as king.
He has sexual intercourse with the virgins of his town and acts as though he
is a god. Although some readers of this classic book may say that Gilgamesh
does not change from the beginning of the book, it can easily be interpreted
the other way.
Throughout the book, many things cause Gilgamesh to change. He gains a
friend, he makes a name for himself by killing Humbaba, and he tries to
become immortal because of the death of Enkidu. Through these main actions
his personality changes and he becomes a better person. First, the quest
for immortality after the death of Enkidu shows that Gilgamesh has changed.
Gilgamesh becomes frightened when he realizes that he isnt immortal. After
the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh tries to find immortality by trying to cross
the ocean to find it. He sounds pathetic as he rambles of his reason for
trying to find everlasting life. His state of being at this part in the
book, which is the end, is completely different from his arrogant beginning
of this epic. Gilgamesh has gone from arrogant to scared. Second, the death
of Humbaba changes Gilgamesh. Humbaba is evil. Many people who live in the
city of Uruk fear Gilgamesh. Most would say that Gilgamesh himself is, in
fact, evil. He has sex with the virgins, he does what he wants, and he tends
to offend the gods. He has lots of problems with Ishtar. By going into the
forest and facing Humbaba, Gilgamesh makes a name for himself and changes the
views of the people in his city. This is a very arguable point. Yes, the
past of Gilgamesh does not change, but the great deed of killing Humbaba,
makes him a better person because he protects his city. This is another
arguable point. Most would say he does this only to make a name for himself,
but that is not the case. Gilgamesh does this because of his love for Enkidu
and his people; he has changed from the beginning of the epic.
Finally and most importantly, the main reason that Gilgamesh changes from
the beginning of the book is the friendship that he has with Enkidu. Enkidu
is made to make Gilgamesh more human. In the first paragraph of the book the
gods are angry with Gilgamesh and send down an equal of himself, they send
down Enkidu. After becoming friends, Gilgamesh changes because he has an
equal to be with. Enkidu and Gilgamesh