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THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

NAME OF THE STUDENT NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY

Humbabas mouth is fire; his roar the floodwater; his breath is death. Enlil made him guardian of the Cedar Forest, to frighten off the mortal who would venture there. But who would venture there? Humbabas mouth is fire; his roar is the floodwater; he breathes and there is death. He hears the slightest sound somewhere in the Forest. Enlil made him terrifying guardian, Whose mouth is fire, whose roar the floodwater. The above mention passage has been chosen from The Epic of Gilgamesh. These lines were spoken by Enkidu in tablet II. The above mentioned passage speaks about fear and death that the demon Humbaba percolates in the mortal minds. This passage later connects to the main theme of the epic that is described below. In this passage the most significant word is Humbabas mouth is fire. Through this the reader understands that the epic talks about a villain and a hero who would fight against this demon. The word fire from his mouth conveys the message to the reader that Humbaba is a factor of fear to humanity. The Word fire can depict fear, death, strength and zeal. All can be taken as a vice as the fire is associated with Humbaba, the demon. Yes, we also come across an interesting imagery here. As an epic is not a reality but a fantasy of mankind, people can imagine that the world is bound by both good and the bad. Through this passage mankind can imagine how horrendous and fearsome a demon can be. The words like fire from his mouth, death through his breath and a roar causing flood are nothing but a symbol of devastation towards mankind. Thus it teaches us that life is not all that fantasy. It strikes us with plight and melancholy too. And it is caused by a demon that is scary.

When they emerge victorious and return to the kingdom of Uruk, the goddess of love Ishtar wanted to make love to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh refused her and thus was punished by the Gods. In rage Ishtar asked her father send the bull of heaven to punish him. The brave heart, Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought against the bull and killed it. This incident made the Gods to burn with fury and punishes either of the two friends. The council of Gods decided that Enkidu will die. Endikus immense suffering lead him to the path of death and de dies. This made his dearest friend Gilgamesh succumbs to melancholy and plight. Heartbroken, he gave up all his kingly attires to cover himself with animal skins. After this he becomes terrified with the thought of death that would also engulf him someday. In search of immortality he visits Utnapishtim who was gifted immortality by the Gods. But receiving the tricks of immortality was not very easy for Gilgamesh He failed the test of staying awake for a week. Thus we returned empty handed in his kingdom. The passages in the epic talks about Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Humbaba and the Gods through whom the main theme of the epic is covered. REFERENCE Sources are taken from student materials.