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Professor

Engl. 2310.20

0 October 2017

Topic 1: King Gilgamesh and the People of Uruk’s Fear of Humbaba

Introduction

Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, whois half-human half-god. He is a harsh and tyrannical leader who oppresses his subjects. The people of Uruk pray to their gods to deliver them from the king’s oppression, and the gods respond by sending Enkidu to stop the king’s evils against his subjects. Meanwhile, there are unspecified fears that the residents have concerning the neighbouring cedar forest where there is an evil monster called Humbaba who was given the responsibility of gurding the forest by the gods. Gilgamesh decides to kill the monster with Enkidu’s assistance to prove his might. The duo and all Uruk residents have fears that result from the existence of Humbaba. Gilgamesh’s desire to kill Humbaba is inspired by his own desire to prove his might rather than for the well-being of the Uruk people because he is power-hungry and killing Humbaba is his way of testing his mortality. Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: I do not want plot summery Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Theses statement is not related to the essay bodies. It have to be something related to the whole essay

The Degree to which Gilgamesh tries to Create Order in a Scarily Unknowable Phenomenon

Even though Gilgamesh tries to convey himself as the leader of Uruk, the subject of fear consipicuosly denies him the opportunity to do so. For instance, during a confrontation with Humbaba, he says that, “you cannot discourage me with hesitations and fears” (Mason 58). The situation thererfore depicts a leader who has natural strenghts, but still unable to overcome his fears. Nonetheless, in his village of Uruk, Gilgamesh is a vigilant and courageous warrior. Being the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh is highly concerned with the wellbeing of his kinsmen, and reacts to crucial issues on time. Although Gilgamesh rules his subjects with fierce force, he equally defends them against external aggression as soon as insecurity is detected. The kinsmen were living in fear of Humbaba. No sooner had Gilgamesh learnt about their fears than he rushed to request his friend Enkidu his foil, to assist him in destroying the evil giant that threatens the safety of Uruk kingdom (Mason 20). Further, Gilgamesh directs Enkidu to order weapons from armorers including double-edged swords saying “I am impatient and cannot wait long” (Mason 30). This indicates that Gilgamesh takes the insecurity issue affecting his kingdom seriously, although for his own glory. Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: These two paragraphs are related, put them togather.There are 3 claims so every claim should have quote from the book .There are some information are not from our book.I want photo of every page you use quote

The high degree to which Gilgamesh takes the insecurity issues concerning the evil beast Humbaba seriously can further be illustrated by his commitment to console the kinsmen, and meet Uruk elders. For instance, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu rushe to the market to console the people, and proceed to meet Uruk elders in their senate where they are coincidentally discussing the insecurity issue (Mason 21). Further, Gilgamesh has the passion to prove to the elders that he wants to disapprove them that Humbaba is not as awesome as they think. This shows that Gilgamesh is jealous of Humbaba, and that is why he wants to kill him. Gilgamesh is even ready to go to the extent of breaking the boundaries set by the gods, which people think are unbreakable (Mason 21). For Gilgamesh to set out for the war, he seems to be having a strong passion to solve the insecurity issue that scares the people of Uruk, although his real intention is to test his power.

What Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Uruk Subjects Fear

Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and Uruk residents have a common fear of Humbaba that guards the cedar forest. Humbaba was put in the cedar forest by gods to guard it. Being a strong and evil monster, Uruk residents are filled with the spirit of fear of Humbaba, who they are afraid can attack their village, or harm them when they visit the cedar forest or get near it (Mason 21). When Gilgamesh suggests that Humbaba be killed, Enkidu is filled with not only the fear of the dreaded Humbaba, but also fears that in accepting Gilgamesh’s ambition, he will be acting against the will of the gods. This is because the gods sent Enkidu to Uruk to counter or neutralize Gilgamesh’s harsh rule. When the two friends reach the cedar forest, Gilgamesh becomes extremely scared of facing Humbaba despite having godly powers (Mason 20). Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote

How they deal with the Fear

While Gilgamesh faces fear, his solution to the problem emanates from the praises he gets from the people of Uruk and his confidence that the gods are always with him in any battle. He affirms his confidence when the elders told him that, “do not trust in your strength, he knows the forests” (Mason 31). Additionally, Gilgamesh’s fight with Humbaba suggests that one way of overcoming fear is to face the threat. Gilgamesh encourages Enkidu to be fearless in their mission against Humbaba as a way of comforting himself in his equally scared state. Enkidu also consoles Gilgamesh when he realizes that his friend is scared of facing Humbaba (Mason 22). Pairing up with Enkidu is Gilgamesh’s solution of overcoming his lack of confidence in his ambitious mission since Enkidu encourages him whenever he becomes scared of the monster. Uruk residents manage their superstitious fear of gods by allowing Gilgamesh and Enkidu to pursue their proposed mission to fight Humbaba and praying for their success. Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote

How Gilgamesh succeeds in making Sense of their Mission to Fight Humbaba

Gilgamesh manages to make sense of his mission to kill Humbaba, which was initially viewed with skepticism by Uruk residents and elders as impossible. The threat posed by Humbaba to Uruk residents was serious to the extent that the residents got scared to the extent that they were afraid of even getting close to the cedar forest. Besides, Humbaba blocked the resident’s access to the cedar forest by terrifying them, which denied them the chance to utilize the cedar trees. For these reasons, the elders and all Uruk residents saw the sense of Gilgamesh’s ambition to fight Humbabadespite the fact that Gilgamesh only wanted to prove his strength and power by fighting Humbaba, rather than doing it for the welfare of Uruk residents. Besides, Gilgamesh regards the confrontation with Humbaba as a way of escaping from pain. In this context, Gilgamen justifies his attack of Humbaba by describing it as a way of escaping from his wickedness in Uruk, and a way of seeking death since he is frustrated by the fact that he is mortal (Mason 34) Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote

Uruk ends up an Ordered World

Gilgamesh’s quest to fight Humbaba was not a vain mission. With the help of Enkidu, he successfully manages to kill Humbaba. This is a victory that is not only celebrated by Gilgamesh, but the people of Uruk as a whole. Gilgamesh makes a huge door for the gods to draw a boundary to regions that only gods could visit. No punishment is delivered to Gilgamesh or to the people of Uruk for the ordeal. The residents would neither live in fear of being punished by gods for getting to the cedar forest nor be afraid of being terrified by the dreaded Humbaba. Not only is order restored in Uruk, Gilgamesh also achieves his personal ambition. Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: There are some info are not in our bookWhere is the source of this information Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: What about Ishtar? Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Need evidence (quote) from the book that I sent youI want photo of every page you use quote

Conclusion Comment by Abdulwahed Alramadhan: Do not foregate to fix conclusion after you finish

Gilgamesh was a half god-half human, and the king of Uruk. Although he was known to be a hostile tyrannical leader by his subjects, there were occasions that he acted responsibly for the good of Uruk residents. Along with his friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh set out to liberate his people against the fear of the dreaded evil monster Humbaba, who the two were also extremely afraid of. Despite their fears, the two went to the cedar forest and successfully killed Humbaba. The death of Humbaba liberated the people of Uruk from the fear of unknown consequences regarding the cedar forest. However, Gilgamesh did not have the interest of Uruk residents in mind when he came up with the idea of killing Humbaba. He was merely trying to prove his strength and supremacy to the people of Uruk.

Works Cited

Mason, Herbert. “From Gilgamesh: Averse Narrative.” Houghton Mifflin Company. (1970): 19- 28. Print.