Symbolism Of Snake In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

From the Old Testament book of Genesis, the serpent is a representation of the devil. God had strictly warned Adam and Eve not to eat from a particular tree in the Garden of Eden but Satan, in his crafty ways, managed to convince them to partake of its fruit promising it would give them unending wisdom. When God finds out what the two have done, He declares that from then henceforth human beings shall grow old and die while the snake would be subjected to physical violence from humans.

In the epic of Gilgamesh, the quest for eternal life by the lead character takes him to the particular flower that could accord him this wish (Shin-eqi-unninni 30-35). The serpent however causes him to let go of it. The serpent is responsible for Gilgamesh not getting everlasting life in the same way that the serpent in the Bible led Adam and Eve to lose a chance at eternal life.

In both stories, the serpent uses well thought out trickery to accomplish his mission. In the Bible story, the snake isolates Eve and then gets her to believe that God had a hidden motive not to let them eat the fruit from the particular tree. The temptation to go against God’s commands proves too strong and finally Eve gives in and finding out the goodness of the fruit manages to convince Adam to have a taste as well.

In the Gilgamesh story, the serpent tracks Gilgamesh’s movements all the way to the flower of immortality wish (Shin-eqi-unninni 30-31). While Gilgamesh stops to rest and have a bath, the serpent snatches the flower of eternal life from him consequently taking away immortality from mankind.

In the Bible creation story, he serpent chooses Eve’s time of weakness (when Adam is not present) to corrupt her brain with physical desires. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the serpent strikes at him (Gilgamesh) in his time of weakness- that is, whilst he is taking a bath. This similarly illustrates that the serpent knows that he is no match for the human when he (the human) is well aware of its strength and therefore preys on him during his weakest.

In both the Gilgamesh and the Old Testament story, the serpent is used as a representation of Satan. The crafty ways that Satan uses to get people to do things his way, is well manifested in the way that the serpent carries itself.

In both myths as well, the serpent has been given some human characteristics, in the sense that it can communicate to its victims by speech. Though in reality it is impossible for a snake to talk or even have such desires as eternal life, the humanization from both stories of this particular reptile is strikingly similar.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the serpent strikes at him (Gilgamesh) in his time of weakness- that is, whilst he is taking a bath. This similarly illustrates that the serpent knows that he is no match for the human when he (the human) is well aware of its strength and therefore preys on him during his weakest. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Religious Symbols. Gilgamesh is rich in religious symbolism. Religious rituals in Mesopotamia involved sacrifices, festivals, sex, dream interpretation, and shamanic magic, all of which appear in the story. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an an ancient Mesopotamian work and one of the earliest pieces of world literature. The story is set in and around the city-state of Uruk in Southern Mesopotamia, the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates river during the second and third millenniums BCE. In one of the oldest stories ever written, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh loses the power of immortality, stolen by a snake. The serpent was a widespread figure in the mythology of the Ancient Near East. Ouroboros is an ancient symbol of a serpent eating its own tail that represents the perpetual cyclic renewal of life, the eternal return, and the cycle of life, death and rebirth, leading to.

The main difference between the serpent incidents in the Bible story and the Epic of Gilgamesh is the fact that in the latter, the serpent snatched eternal life for itself.

This is as opposed to the creation story whereby Adam and Eve already had been accorded eternal life by God and only lost it as a punishment for their disobedience. Secondly, the repercussions are not clear on the part of the serpent in the second story. To some extent he actually gets rewarded with eternal life as opposed to the Bible story where he is cursed to walk on his belly.

The Epic Of Gilgamesh Youtube

Works Cited

Shin-eqi-unninni. “Gilgamesh”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. A: Beginnings to A.D. 100, 2nd Edition. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 10-41. Print.

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Serpent In Epic Of Gilgamesh

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The Epic Of Gilgamesh Characters

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The Epic Of Gilgamesh Poem

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The Epic Of Gilgamesh Summary

The author uses many literary devices in The Epic of Gilgamesh in order to describe the character of Humbaba, the one who guards the cedar forest, because he wants the reader to be just as fearful of the character as Enkidu, who is the speaker of lines 155-158 in the text. The character’s fear of the ugly beast is ironic because when Enkidu dies Gilgamesh too becomes afraid to die. Another reason I chose this short passage is that the author uses imagery and foreshadowing to hint to the reader what happens later on in the epic and I believe it is essential to the poem. The author also uses repetition in order to stress the idea that Humbaba is not to be tormented. Enkidu warns Gilgamesh not to go near the forest of cedars to kill Humbaba, but Gilgamesh laughs at him and asks Enkidu why he is afraid to die all of the sudden. The paragraph I chose also prepares the reader for unforeseen events that occur later on in the epic poem, including Enkidu's death.
Enkidu is weary of Gilgamesh’s plan and is not in agreeance to join him initially. He questions Gilgamesh’s idea about the quest to kill Humbaba. Enkidu says, “How shall the likes of us go to the forest of cedars, my friend” (line 155). Enkidu is not confident in his abilities to conquer Humbaba. The author includes this line to symbolize Enkidu becoming more civilized. Enkidu shows fear for someone he used to live amongst in the forest, and he is starting to realize that nature is something to be feared. Gilgamesh