Many themes are included in the story of Gilgamesh. To me, the main theme of the story is death is unavoidable.
             The main the of the epic is shown through Enkidu's death. After Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh comes to the realization that one day he too will die like his friend did. The fact that Enkidu is a close friend makes it even more visible to Gilgamesh that everyone is mortal. He sets out to find Utnapishtim the only mortal that the gods have granted eternal life in attempt to find the secret of immortality. After a long dangerous journey through the land of darkness, through the garden of the gods, and across the waters of death, Gilgamesh arrives a shore where Utnapishtim lives. Gilgamesh recounts the story of Enkidu's death to Utnapishtim and how he came to his shore. He asks Utnapishtim to tell him the secret of eternal life. Utnapishtim advises Gilgamesh that death is a necessary fact because it is the will of the gods. Gilgamesh pursues the issue further until Utnapishtim recounts how he received immortality and tells him the greatest secret hidden from humans. At the end of his story, Utnapishtim offers Gilgamesh a chance at immortality. If Gilgamesh can stay awake for six days and seven nights, he, too, will become immortal. Gilgamesh accepts these conditions and sits down on the shore; the instant he sits down he falls asleep. When Gilgamesh awakes, he deigns that he had fallen asleep. Utnapishtim points to the loaves of bread that his wife laid at his side to count the number of days he slept. Utnapishtim's wife convinces the old man to have mercy on him; he offers Gilgamesh in place of immortality a secret plant that will make Gilgamesh young again. The plant is at the bottom of the ocean surrounding the shore. Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet, sinks to the bottom, and plucks the magic plant. But he doesn't use it because he does not trust it. He decides to take it back to Uruk and test it out on a...