Gilgamesh
Kristen Smit, Julianna
Leyendekker, Ashlyn De
Groot
Journeys
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Enkidu’s journey from the wilderness (p.23)
• Becoming a man
Enkidu and Gilgamesh travel to the forest (p.27)
• Gilgamesh wants fame
Gilgamesh travels to find Utnapishtum and bring back Enkidu (p.54)
• Wants eternal life
Gilgamesh travels back to Uruk (p.91)
Foster’s View of Journey
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Real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason
Real reason is self knowledge
• Gilgamesh's journeys reflect his inner journey to come out of his
self-centered ways
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Those who go on journeys are often young, inexperienced,
immature, sheltered
Foster’s Journeys
Consists of:
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a knight
-Gilgamesh
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at least one dragon
-Serpent
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a dangerous road
-Quest to Utnapishtim
one evil knight
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-Death
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a Holy Grail (any greatly desired
or sought-after objective)
-Eternal life
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-Enkidu
one princess
End Goal and how it’s met
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At the start of Gilgamesh’s long journey his goal was to find eternal
life, but as his journey progresses he becomes less selfish and realizes
that eternal life isn’t all that great
The hidden goal was finding his inner self and becoming less
concerned about selfish desires
Baptisms
Prostitute bathes Enkidu (p.21)
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Becomes a man and loses his innocence
Enkidu and Gilgamesh bath in the forest after killing Humbaba (p.42)
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Starting anew
Siduri bathes Gilgamesh after Enkidu’s death (p.64-65)
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Gilgamesh feels shame
Utnapishtim told Urshanabi to bathe Gilgamesh (p.83)
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To make Gilgamesh feel fresh and young again
Gilgamesh refreshed himself in a pool after finding the plant (p.86)
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He has come to the terms with his morality and is ready to resume his place in
Foster’s View on Baptisms
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When baptized Gilgamesh leaves parts of his outer shell as he goes on
this quest
• In order to become a new person he has to lose all the outer
remnants
Baptize means death, rebirth, new identity
• Literal rebirth- surviving a deadly situation
How does it affect the Characters?
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Each baptism process affects characters in a different way:
Enkidu loses his innocence in baptism and becomes a man, feeling
same -Gilgamesh in one of his baptisms feels shame as well
Baptism also may seem like a sign of starting fresh or anew and feel
young again
Baptism can also be a new direction in life and something that helps
one realize the truth
Work Cited Page
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Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like a Professor: a Lively and
Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. New York: Quill,
2003. Print.
Mason, Herbert. A Mariner Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Print.
Creative, Mr. "Gilgamesh: The Oldest Epic - Writing.Com." The Online
Community for Writers - Writing.Com. 2008. Web. 05 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1496403Gilgamesh-The-Oldest-Epic>.
"Epic of Gilgamesh." Docstoc – Documents, Templates, Forms, Ebooks,
Papers & Presentations. 2011. Web. 05 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.docstoc.com/docs/17029828/Epic-of-Gilgamesh>.