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Student's work below.

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Similarity of Themes Throughout History

In early civilizations, praising the gods was an essential part of life, and in return the gods maintained order of humanity through the guidance of the king. (Pollard, 2015) Taking from The Epic of Gilgamesh, there are many themes that reappear throughout mythology of these early civilizations. These myths include the hero’s quest, seeking purpose, fate, monsters and epic battles and the afterlife and underworld. Overall, these themes reappear throughout literature later in time as a common motif of finding the meaning of life, originating from “the oldest piece of epic world literature”, featuring Gilgamesh. (Mark, 2018)

The literature of Gilgamesh is the epic story of a brutal king, a third human and two thirds god, who set out of a journey to gain immortality. As stated in our text, “mortality was the bar between rulers and deities; after death, kings joined the gods whom they had represented while alive”, (Pollard, 2015) which describes the kings as powerful mortals in the ancient civilizations. Gilgamesh, the harsh and superior king, had set out on a quest to find immortality once his friend died, whom of which was the only person he didn’t find inferior to himself from an epic battle between them. Fate is present in this story because his friend’s death was the reason he embarked on his quest, but he returned without what he set out to get. He faced battles with monsters and was forced to overcome challenges which lead him to and from the underworld and eventually back home without immortality. I believe that Gilgamesh returning home satisfied without successfully getting immortality but literally having the plant of immortality in his grasp at one point says everything. In my opinion, Gilgamesh thought he was in search of immortality but fate set him off on his quest to find his purpose and make him a true hero and king to his people.

These ancient themes appear time and time again in mythology and religion from around 2000 BCE to now. Noting, that the underlying quest to find the meaning of life prevails throughout different cultures and religions today. The reason these themes continue to thrive is because they are based on the unknown. The stories and gods provide answers to questions humanity can’t answer such as how the universe came to be, the purpose of life and what happens when we die, just to name a few. These themes were derived on the unknown which makes a lot of them continuously relevant through history and many still to this day.

Thank you

References

Mark, Joshua J. “Gilgamesh.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 31 Aug. 2018, www.ancient.eu/gilgamesh/

Pollard, Elizabeth, et al. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart. W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.

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