The Universal Truths on the Epic of Gilgamesh and the...

Christopher Gilchrist Professor Ms. Alyse W. Jones World Literature I - English 2111 October 7, 2012 The Universal Truths on ‘The Epic of Gilgamesh amp; The Hebrew Bible’ The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Hebrew Bible are considered by their audiences’ as two of the greatest literary works of ancient literature. The universal truths on The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Hebrew Bible, are most fundamental when viewed from both the contemporary and traditional audiences. Fundamentally, both audiences develop their own universal truths during the time in which the events transpired or by reading the scenic events from an anthology or other literary works. Most importantly, both literary works have sought the attention of their†¦show more content†¦For example, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, â€Å"A snake caught the scent of the plant, Stealthily it came up and carried the plant away, On its way back it shed its skin†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦etc†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.For myself I have obtained no benefit, I have done a good deed for a reptile (Sec. 11, 307 – 317).† This excerpt conveys to its audience Gilgamesh’s thought process at the pinnacle of the story. We, as the audience, now realize that Gilgamesh has finally accepted that death is inevitable. The inevitability of death also played a major role in The Hebrew Bible. For example, â€Å"And the woman said, ‘The serpent beguiled me and I ate, etc†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.And to the human He said, for dust you are and to dust shall you return’ (Genesis – Sec. 3, pg. 160 – 161).† As a result of mankind’s disobedience to God’s authority, the human population was cursed with the inevitability of death for all generations. There will always be philosophical interpretations that will create universal truths for many generations to come. In addition, these literary works enriches the audiences’ understanding of these texts as supremely important cultural and historical documents, for audiences who embrace their universal truths. Both generational audiences’ spiritual interpretations seemed to have, collectively, developed a text of extraordinary literary works that are overflowing with philosophical and truth-seeking richness. Work Cited â€Å"The Epic of Gilgamesh.† The Norton Anthology WorldShow MoreRelatedThe Birth of Civilization18947 Words   |  76 Pagesand agricultural land led to incessant warfare, and in time, stronger towns and leagues formed kingdoms. The people who occupied northern Mesopotamia and Syria spoke mostly Semitic languages (that is, languages in the same family as Arabic and Hebrew). Many of these Semitic peoples absorbed aspects of Sumerian culture, especially writing. The Mesopotamians believed that the large city of Kish, in northern Babylonia, had history’s first kings. In the east, a people known as the Akkadians established