What makes the story of Gilgamesh an epic? Gilgamesh, the hero of this epic, achieves many feats of skill, which makes him famous, but that is not the reason it is an epic. The epic of Gilgamesh fulfills the requirements of an epic by being consistently relevant to a human society and has specific themes of immortality, friendship, grief, ect. Looking at literature throughout history, one can come to the conclusion that these theme are constantly passed on from one generation to another of humans. It is human nature for people to want to excel in life and strive to make a name in this world for themselves.
Gilgamesh is not only a character of a story; he is actually a portrayal of people and how they act out of human nature. he like many of us, does not want his existence to end when he leaves this world. He is not content with what he has, good looks, money, and power and desires more in life. In the story of Gilgamesh we, as people, can relate to. There are similarities between Gilgameshs journey and our own journey through life. Gilgamesh is constantly searching and going on adventures to distance places, defeating the Bull of Heaven, Humbaba, and the lions in the passes of the mountain.
He searches for these adventures because he wants to make the most out of life. Just being king and never leaving the city can be boring. Gilgamesh travels to distant forests and crosses the water of death. He is searching for something worth living for. Just as we cannot live everyday doing nothing. Gilgamesh and all of us were born with the desire to explore and live dangerously because the feeling of adventure and adrenaline helps us to believe that we are truly living life to the fullest. In his search for everlasting life, we realize that being two-thirds god was not enough for Gilgamesh.
He wants to live forever so that no one would ever forget him. But Gilgamesh isnt the only person who searches for immortality. In many stories there is a search for the Fountain of Youth. By drinking this water you would have everlasting life. Fear of death and desire to live forever has driven people to do all they can so that they can extend their existence to as long as possible. This is one of the major themes of Gilgamesh and one of the reasons it is an epic. This book clearly portrays themes that are consistently relevant throughout history and today.
Human rarely change in their nature and therefore some aspects of humanity will never be absent. Humans will always fear death because it will always remain an unknown. And people will always fear the unknown because of possible harm. In conclusion, the story of Gilgamesh fulfils the requirements of an epic by relating to human nature and expressing themes and messages that have been around for centuries. Epics will always be around because the themes they portray about humanity cannot be denied.