Gilgamesh the King

Tablets IX-XI of The Epic of Gilgamesh focus on Gilgamesh’s search for immortality, and yet the failure of this quest is barely addressed at all. Gilgamesh has no overpowering realization about the futility of his quest or the naiveté of desiring to live forever, all he does is regret the fact that the plant that would aid him in his quest is stolen by a snake. The moral the reader is expecting the whole time is never delivered, and as far as one can tell the character of Gilgamesh does not seem to develop.

But is this expected moral really the message of the story? Is it that foolish for Gilgamesh to seek immortality, and more importantly does he attain it? After he loses his only chance at physical immortality, Gilgamesh explains to Ur-shanabi the ferryman how great the city of Uruk, describing its immense proportions and those of its most notable landmarks, as well as praising some of its other aspects. The point of this is that Gilgamesh’s immortality is in the city of Uruk, its greatness is his greatness. In the story, then, the king is the city of Uruk. The epic does not exist to teach a moral lesson but rather to praise the king by using Gilgamesh as the ideal for a good, strong king. Gilgamesh is not just Uruk, all kings are Uruk. That is their legacy, just as they are a part of the legacy of the city. This is symbolic of the power and importance of the king.