A Tale of Significant Hyperbole
A Tale of Significant Hyperbole Gilgamesh is an epic of great exaggeration, letting subtlety fall by the wayside and allowing its themes to be as powerful as the characters it brings to life. Gilgamesh is a man of great pride and power, an entity whose is wisdom is rivaled only by his stubbornness. It is the story of a god among kings, yet it speaks to the struggles of a man amongst men. It begins with a ruler who looks down on all others in life, but ends with a man humbled by the equality of death. Through its larger than life characters and themes, The Epic of Gilgamesh explores ideas and questions that the whole of mankind can relate to. Prior to the birth of Enkidu, Gilgamesh was a being without equal. From the first few lines of the poem, Gilgamesh’s hubris is immediately obvious. He describes himself as “Surpassing all other kings, heroic in stature […] Gilgamesh the tall, magnificent and terrible” (I 29-37). Despite this, Gilgamesh exhibits the mentality of a child, living almost entirely for pleasure, taking women as his own, “Letting [no] girl go free to [her bridegroom,]” and refusing to care for the plights of the common man. Like a child coming of age, Gilgamesh is only able to look past his selfishness for the sake of his first friend, Enkidu. The goddess Ninsun speaks of Enkidu, proclaiming, “My son, the axe you saw is a friend, like a wife you’ll love him […] a mighty comrade will come to you, and be his friend’s saviour” (I 288-292). He lets Enkidu into his heart, and for the first time lives not only for himself, but also for his friend. He learns that the joys of friendship are often worth the efforts that they require. In this epic, Gilgamesh experiences the joys of love and friendship, but he also faces the despair of losing the one he cares for most. Prior to the death of Enkidu, the notion of loss was alien to our protagonist. But Gilgamesh was no stranger to death; in fact, he had laid many men before him with his own weapons. His