Immortal Life vs. Immortal Name: Gilgamesh and Beowulf Essay -- Englis

Immortal Life vs. Immortal Name Gilgamesh and BeowulfDeath. Fate. Immortality. Destiny. tout ensemble atomic number 18 battlegrounds that we tend to avoid. While most of us hope for feel after death, we tend not to dwell on this subject because we are uncomfortable with the unknown. On those rare occasions when we allow ourselves to think just about the fact that our days are numbered, we wonder if death dirty dog be cheated and immortality gained. Some com workforcece suggested that being remembered is just as enduring as living forever. Thoughts of peck and the here after are not new. They have engaged the hearts and minds of men for ages. Two ancient stories that deal with this subject matter are The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf. In these texts, the main characters, Gilgamesh and Beowulf, are ghost with their fate. To the degree that these epics accurately reflect the society and culture of their own eras, one(a) can see that men of these ancient times were as bear on about their ultimate destiny as we are. The epic stories of Gilgamesh and Beowulf illustrate that men and women throughout the ages have been keenly aware of their own mortality and that they tenacious to live on eternally, if only in the memory of others.In the lineage of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, the ruler of ancient Uruk, is blessed with the gift of foresight. He has numerous dreams about his destiny and is very accepting of the fate that the gods have attached him. The gods give Gilgamesh a dream and Enkidu interprets Gilgameshs vision concerning his fate. Enkidu says that Enlil, father of the gods has attached you kingship, such is your destiny, everlasting career is not your destiny (Sandars 70). With this revelation Gilgamesh knows his destiny very early in his journey. Rather than becoming angry at the gods, Gilgamesh accepts the gods choice to not give him eternal life. Instead, Gilgamesh wants to set up his take a shit in the place where the names of far-fam ed men are written, and where no mans name is written yet he go away raise a monument to the gods (70-1). Gilgamesh succeeds in his plan for making himself famous by first defeating the guardian of the forest, Humbaba, and shortly after, the bull of heaven. During these battles Gilgamesh declares that there is nothing to fear if I fall I leave behind me a name that endures (71). Having reconciled himself to the fact that fate has indeed determined when he pass on die, h... ...O, Gilgameshgreat is thy praise (119). The narrator is saying that the admiration of others is and give be great. This clearly shows that the people of Uruk will keep Gilgamesh alive in their minds. Beowulf will at some level attain everlasting life through the memory of his people as well.In Beowulf and Gilgamesh, both heroes craving to gain everlasting life. At one point, Gilgamesh believes that he can actually gain eternal life and change his destiny. Beowulf, and eventually Gilgamesh, end up gaining everlasting life through their monuments and the good deeds that their people will remember them by. The ancient societies depicted in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf are no doubt representative of the actual societies that existed during those time periods. These ancient people were greatly concerned with issues such as death, fate, and destiny. People of ancient times and new-fangled realize that even though one cannot escape death, one can to some degree achieve immortality, if only in the memories of those left behind. full treatment CitedLiuzza, Roy M., trans. Beowulf. Peterborough, ON Broadview, 1999.Sandars, N. K., trans. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York Penguin, 1972.