We all have to go someday. This saying can often be heard when a person is about to undergo a dangerous task. Most people never question the fact that eventually they will die; it is just a part of mortality that they have grown to accept. Gilgamesh on the other hand does not want to accept his own mortality. After watching Enkidu die he becomes very afraid at the concept of his own death, and goes to seek out Utnapishtim, the one who had survived the flood and received eternal life, in hopes of learning how he may live forever.
             He goes through many trials on his way to the land of Dilmun, or the under world as we might call it. He journeyed through 36 miles of complete darkness while passing through the mountains at Mashu. This was the passage separating the mortal world from the underworld. Once he arrives in the garden of the gods on the other side he is spied by the mighty Shamash, who told him "You will never find the life for which you are searching". Unfazed Gilgamesh presses on through the garden of the gods. He ventures to meet Siduri, the woman of the vine, and she also tells him "Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find the life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping." Once again Gilgamesh is unabashed and demands to know how to find Utnapishtim. With the help of the ferryman Urshanabi, Gilgamesh is able to reach the land of Dilmun. He is finally in the presence of Utnapishtim, and expresses to him the story of his journey. Utnapishtim tells him "There is no permanence. Do we build a house to stand for ever, do we seal a contract for the hold of all time? Do brothers divide and inheritance to keep for ever, does the flood-time of rivers endure?". It is easy to see that Gilgamesh will never receive the gift he so greatly desires.
             I feel the story is telling people of...