Alongside this, both of these meetings heavily revolve around the experience of grief and how universal it is - Gilgamesh is informed by Utnapishtim that ‘[death is inevitable at some time, both for Gilgamesh and for a fool’ (SV, Tablet 10, Column 5). Their losses inspire both Gilgamesh and Achilles to seek help in the form of an older man – Utnapishtim and Priam - who helps them to experience a deep pathos and enlightenment. This point marks where they are now more interested in exploring their personal tragedy and process of grief. Both stories begin by following the heroism of their protagonists. The deaths of their dearest companions mark a turning point for both Gilgamesh and Achilles – it spurs Gilgamesh to find the secret to immortality and encourages Achilles to face his death. They both have a period of lamentation before the deaths of their closest companions trigger an inability to come to terms with their own mortality and eventual death: This rage causes them both to act recklessly - once he meets Urshanabi, the ferryman of the Waters of Death, Gilgamesh destroys the Stone Things which are his companions, and Achilles rage-fuelled destruction of Hektor’s body, for example. Neither Gilgamesh nor Achilles are able to process their grief until the body of their companion has started to decompose, and this process of their grief causes them to go through phases of immense anger. Enkidu and Patroclus both die in the place of their semi-divine companion, adding to their immense guilt and causing both of them to unable to process and move on from the grief that they are feeling. The most obvious similarity is the profound grief that both protagonists feel at the death of this companion – indeed, it is generally assumed that the death of Enkidu and the grief of Gilgamesh is the model that Patroclus’ death and Achilles’ grief is based upon. There are a fair number of similarities between the Iliad and Gilgamesh: they both follow demi-god warrior kings and their companions, and feature the presence and influence of deities, for example. The sheer frequency with which this is remarked upon is rather true to life of the overwhelming effect that comes with grief and its ability to take over a person. The phrase ‘grief has entered my innermost being’ is repeated frequently throughout the last four tablets of the poem, whenever he meets someone new on his journey they remark on this also. His grief envelops him and never leaves him throughout the poem, spurring him on a quest for immortality as he is left so terrified at the thought of death that he is unable to accept his own mortality. As he’s struggling to come to terms with the death of his closest companion Gilgamesh wails, tears off his clothes and rips out his own hair in anger before roaming the wilderness, hopelessly drowning in his grief. He cries out: “What is this sleep that holds you now? You are lost in the dark and cannot hear me.” (SV, tablet 8, column 2.) He remains in complete denial of Enkidu’s death and is fuelled by anger, refusing to bury Enkidu in the belief that he can bring him back to life through the sheer power of his grief. He refuses to bury him for 7 days and openly weeps and laments for him. The death of Enkidu has an overwhelming effect on the character of Gilgamesh. Every discovery or translation adds to the complex history and story which has captivated listeners and readers for thousands of years. The story has been compiled and revised consistently ever since, with tablets being discovered as recently as 2015. Around 15,000 fragments of cuneiform were discovered in the 1850s, which were first translated by George Smith in the 1870s. The story is written in Akkadian cuneiform (a type of writing system) and survives in two versions, the first known as the ‘Old Babylonian Version’ dates to the 18th century BCE and the later Standard Babylonian version was compiled by Sin-liqe-unninni between the 13th and 10th centuries BCE. These stories were combined into an Akkadian epic with the hero’s name translated from the Sumerian ‘Bilgamesh’ to the Akkadian ‘Gilgamesh’, as he is known widely today. 2100 BCE with five independent stories featuring ‘Bilgamesh’, the king of Uruk. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem about the ancient hero Gilgamesh, compiled from a number of different sources.
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