Gilgamesh Theme

Theme is a very important part of any work, whether that work is a poem, a short story, a novel, or even a play. The theme incorporates a common idea, emotion, or item that is expressed throughout the work using different literary tools and styles. Themes allow a reader to relate to the story, learn a lesson or a moral, or understand a point that an author is trying to get across. In literature, death is a predominant theme. Death is a major part of any religion or worldview, and every group handles it differently. Death can be a celebration of afterlife for the deceased or a time of grieving for the loss of the deceased. Funerals, burials, masses, ceremonies, and cremations are all events that could take place as a final closure to the deceased's
Enkidu catches it by the horns, and Gilgamesh kills it. The gods are very upset by this act and hold a council to determine who should die for the attack of the Bull of Heaven, either Gilgamesh or Enkidu. Since Gilgamesh is half human and half god and Enkidu is part human and part animal, Enkidu is chosen by the gods to be the sacrifice. Enkindu becomes very ill and dies. Realizing that he will die someday too, Gilgamesh looks for Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim was the only human being who was ever granted eternal life by the gods. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that he cannot escape death but informs him of a plant that can make him young again. Gilgamesh loses the plant while bathing and ends up dying in the
In each work, death creates change in the storyline and for the main characters. With this change, however, comes newfound strength for the main character. In Hamlet, prince Hamlet is changed forever after the death of his father and the visit with his father's ghost. He mourns the loss of his father as his mother remarries and Hamlet finds the ordeal to be troubling and devastating. Hamlet the Elder warns his son that he was murdered by Claudius and Queen Gertrude. Although stunned at first, young Hamlet faces his mother, angry and betrayed, and fights the new king and even his mother with new found determination. He finds strength in his father's words and is motivated to seek revenge. Hamlet's anger can be seen in this quote, taken from Act I, Scene II, "O God, God, how weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, seem to me all the uses of this world! (298)." Here Hamlet is remembering the loss of his father and is overwhelmed with grief. Later in the play, Hamlet is filled with rage and speaks alone with his mother. When the Queen fears for her life, she calls out for help, alerting the hidden Polonius. In a fit of anger, Hamlet kills Polonius. When his mother comments on the bloody slaying of Polonius, Hamlet replies sarcastically saying, "A bloody deed- almost as bad as kill a king and marry with his brother" (298). It