Immortality in "The Epic of Gilgamesh"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the epic of "Gilgamesh" and focuses on how it deals with immortality on many levels, and at the same time points back to mortality, trying to discover a reason for living and dying. It discusses how the story put over the message that life is only significant because it is limited, and a life of immortality would ultimately be worse.

From the Paper:

"Unlike in the physical world, immortality is regarded as typical of Gilgamesh's spiritual world. 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 by stabbing a sword into the Bull's neck. If the Bull of Heaven is a god, then clearly the gods can be killed. Later the story describes a flood-weapon that gods are actually fearful of, maybe because it could bring about their death. This makes an interesting distinction between immortality and invincibility; although life might continue forever if left alone, it is not necessarily incapable of being stopped. "

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