An Epic Tale of Mortality Essay Example

Mortality has always been a topic that has caused discomfort when it is discussed. Humans are right to feel discomfort after all the idea of death as whole is something we naturally tend to avoid until we are fascist with the possibility that we can die, and we will die eventually. However, the idea of mortality is different in every culture and religion as each one handles the idea of death differently. Each culture has their own tales that discuss and present the idea of mortality such as the tale of Gilgamesh and the story of Arjun taking place in The Gita. Both stories are similar in the way they present the topic of mortality, but both handle the topic the way each respective culture views mortality. 

In the story of Gilgamesh, the idea of mortality is ever present with the main character being overall a terrible person and living his life without ever thinking of anyone but himself. The gods gave him a man friend to try and enlighten Gilgamesh so that he may realize what life is about. Gilgamesh ends up being very good friends with the man and goes on a successful adventure comes back and eventually the man friend of Gilgamesh dies after he falls ill. Gilgamesh realizing that him and his man friend Enkidu were both similar makes him realize no matter how strong and powerful he is still mortal. Gilgamesh now facing his own mortality seeks to find the only man to ever be granted immortality. Utnapishtim tells him of plant that could make him immortal, and Gilgamesh retrieves the plant. However, the plant gets stolen before he reaches his home, and he returns empty handed and still mortal. Gilgamesh feels defeated as he now knows no matter what he does his life will eventually end. Gilgamesh however sees the value of life as he returns and realizes he is still mortal he is still a king, and he still has the responsibility of kingdom that he must uphold for as long as he lives, and this gives his life meaning.

The Gita is the Indian epic tale of a prince who begins to show doubt about entering a war with one of his cousins because that will result in the death of not only the enemy but also his own. The prince believes that he should fight the war and win but the man inside the prince does not see what good can come from killing his own family members. Unknowingly the prince’s most trusted advisor is the god Krishna who tells him he should not feel bad about killing the men on the field because every person has an incense that they can not see that will live on even after death. This revelation calms the prince and Krishna goes on to say people who live their lives making sacrifices to try and obtain a better afterlife are misguided and should instead put aside material wants and should consider their impact on the universe instead. Finally, the prince asks to see Krishna’s true form and he shows him his true asterial forum. In this form the prince sees all types of gods and sees that the fate of all the men on battlefield is already written weather or not they die now or later. This information brings peace of mind to the prince who goes into battle knowing that no matter what he does on the battlefield he now knows the truth of life.

Both epic tales are simple stories when taken on face value but have an underlying meaning when comes to mortality. The culture of India views The Gita as a way of life and agree with many of the concepts the story presents. The Gita preaches not valuing materialistic ideas and instead favors living life valuing instead leaving a lasting impact. While the tale of Gilgamesh shows how even though we are not immortal we should not let the idea of death cloud our judgement. By trying to avoid death you lose sight of the beauty of life and fear if death is no excuse to mis treat anyone. Both cultures believe that to truly live life you first must accept death. The Gita believes in leaving that every human should live life thinking of the world around them. While the tale of Gilgamesh believes if a person is searching for an alternative to death, they will miss out on living a real fulfilling life.

The idea of mortality will continue to be question that we can never truly answer. The Gita and the tale of Gilgamesh each deal with the topic of mortality differently. Each one has influenced its own cultures and has given people the comfort of having an idea to believe in to make discussing mortality more approachable.