The Epic of Gilgamesh on Immortality and Its Ramifications

As long as humans have lived and died, we have strived to know the meaning of life. We assume that there is a meaning or importance to life, and in doing so try to provide some permanence to our existence so that a greater machine might continue to function. It is only natural, then, for us to be interested in the concept of immortality. If there is purpose to an ending life, a life that does not end must be supremely important. This idea is exemplified throughout time in stories both historical and fictional. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one such story. Gilgamesh deals with immortality on nearly every level, and at the same time points back to mortality, trying to extract a reason for living and dying.

Ostensively, The Epic of Gilgamesh entertains the idea of immortality on a physical plane. The struggle for earthly immortality is meant to seem futile in Gilgamesh because in the story, as in life, all humans die. At first, Gilgamesh shrugs off the fate of living by going to battle Humbaba, saying to Enkidu, "Your heart shall soon burn for conflict; forget death and think only of life." (Gilgamesh 71). When Enkidu falls ill and dies, however, Gilgamesh insists that immortality is attainable, and he is driven by fear to learn how from the one human who apparently will live forever, Ut-napishtim (Gilgamesh 95). The revelation of Ut-napishtim changes the implications of the story; it gives credibility to Gilgamesh's goal. But if eternal life were possible for Gilgamesh, The Epic of Gilgamesh would have no point. The point is, as both Ut-napishtim and Siduri (the tavern keeper Gilgamesh meets on his journey) suggest, "[d]eath is inevitableÐ'..." (Gilgamesh 107-108), and so pleasure should be found everywhere it can be in life (Gilgamesh [OBV] 151). So, to look for immortality in life is to waste life entirely.

Unlike in the physical world, immortality is regarded as typical of Gilgamesh's spiritual world. Siduri proves as much when she says to Gilgamesh that the gods have "[k]ept eternal life in their own hands." (Gilgamesh [OBV] 151). This does not appear to be entirely true, through. When the Bull of Heaven is sent to Uruk from the gods, Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay it quickly by stabbing a sword into the Bull's neck (Gilgamesh 82). If the Bull of Heaven is a god, then clearly the gods can be killed. The Bull of Heaven also seems to be a guardian of sorts for the gods, which implies the gods need protection. Later the story describes a flood-weapon that gods are actually fearful of (Gilgamesh 113), perhaps because it could bring about their death. This all makes an interesting distinction between immortality and invincibility Ð'- although life might continue forever if left alone, it is not necessarily incapable of being stopped. And the spiritual life seems to continue for humans when the physical life ends. Enkidu talks about being taken to a horrible afterlife: "He seized me, drove me down toÐ'... the house where those who stay are deprived of light, where dust is their food, and clay their bread." (Gilgamesh 89). Thus, while humans might be able to obtain spiritual immortality, it will only be a state of suffering, which reflects back to the negativity of seeking immortality in life.

Gilgamesh also deals with perpetual life by symbolically demonstrating death and rebirth. Enkidu, after having intercourse with the prostitute Shamhat, is rejected by the animal kingdom that was his home (Gilgamesh 55-56). At this moment, Enkidu's life as an animal ends, but his life continues as a human. Similarly, the snake that steals Gilgamesh's plant of rejuvenation sheds its skin (Gilgamesh 119). The shed skin of the snake represents death and what was, and the snake that slithers from the skin is figuratively reborn as something new. This process we can imagine continuing forever, thereby demonstrating a form of immortality. In a different way, we can see a cycling