Who Is Gilgamesh Selfish

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In the legend of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was the King of Uruk, but he was selfish and cared very little about his people. He cruelly mistreated and overworked his subjects. His people worshipped a number of gods, and they called on these gods to help them. The Gods sent Enkidu, a wildman, to keep Gilgamesh under control. Enkidu became close friends with Gilgamesh, and they had many adventures together. When Gilgamesh refused to be the goddess Ishtar's lover, their lives took a turn for the worse. The Gods called a council to decide on a punishment for Gilgamesh and Enkidu for their disrespect to the Gods in their many adventures. It is decided that they must be punished by the one of their deaths, and they decide upon Enkidu. Enkidu is then slain slowly by a wasting disease, during…show more content…
Upon Enkidu's death, he has a statue built in Enkidu's honor and leaves to wander the wild dressed in animal furs. He decides to seek immortality by seeking out Utnapishtim, a man who survived the worldwide flood and was granted immortality. During Gilgamesh journey his grief for his friend seems to make him more thoughtful and gradually more considerate toward others. Gilgamesh is polite when he meets Urshanabi and continues to behave well even when it takes Gilgamesh a lot of work to get Urshanabi to take Gilgamesh to Utnapishtim. Upon finding Utnapishtim, Utnapishtim tells his story and it reveals that the god Enlil had tried to kill all of humanity, but Utnapishtim and his wife had been saved by the god Ea who criticized Enlil for destroying humanity and told him that he should kill only part of humanity not the whole. Enlil eventually agreed that not everyone should have died and rewarded Utnapishtim and his wife for saving humanity. Gilgamesh discovers that he cannot become immortal like Utnapishtim, but he is still polite and respectful to Utnapishtim. Before Gilgamesh leaves Utnapishtim he is given a plant that restores

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