Kristen Smit, Julianna Leyendekker, Ashlyn De Groot Gilgamesh

Journeys Enkidu’s journey from the wilderness (p.23) Becoming a man Enkidu and Gilgamesh travel to the forest (p.27) Gilgamesh wants fame Gilgamesh travels to find Utnapishtum and bring back Enkidu (p.54) Wants eternal life Gilgamesh travels back to Uruk (p.91)

Foster’s View of Journey Real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason Real reason is self knowledge Gilgamesh's journeys reflect his inner journey to come out of his self-centered ways Those who go on journeys are often young, inexperienced, immature, sheltered

Foster’s Journeys a knight -Gilgamesh a dangerous road -Quest to Utnapishtim a Holy Grail (any greatly desired or sought-after objective) -Eternal life at least one dragon -Serpent one evil knight -Death one princess -Enkidu Consists of:

End Goal and how it’s met At the start of Gilgamesh’s long journey his goal was to find eternal life, but as his journey progresses he becomes less selfish and realizes that eternal life isn’t all that great The hidden goal was finding his inner self and becoming less concerned about selfish desires

Baptisms Prostitute bathes Enkidu (p.21) Becomes a man and loses his innocence Enkidu and Gilgamesh bath in the forest after killing Humbaba (p.42) Starting anew Siduri bathes Gilgamesh after Enkidu’s death (p.64-65) Gilgamesh feels shame Utnapishtim told Urshanabi to bathe Gilgamesh (p.83) To make Gilgamesh feel fresh and young again Gilgamesh refreshed himself in a pool after finding the plant (p.86) He has come to the terms with his morality and is ready to resume his place in the world

Foster’s View on Baptisms When baptized Gilgamesh leaves parts of his outer shell as he goes on this quest In order to become a new person he has to lose all the outer remnants Baptize means death, rebirth, new identity Literal rebirth- surviving a deadly situation

How does it affect the Characters? Each baptism process affects characters in a different way: Enkidu loses his innocence in baptism and becomes a man, feeling same -Gilgamesh in one of his baptisms feels shame as well Baptism also may seem like a sign of starting fresh or anew and feel young again Baptism can also be a new direction in life and something that helps one realize the truth

Work Cited Page Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. New York: Quill, Print. Mason, Herbert. A Mariner Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Print. Creative, Mr. "Gilgamesh: The Oldest Epic - Writing.Com." The Online Community for Writers - Writing.Com Web. 05 Oct "Epic of Gilgamesh." Docstoc – Documents, Templates, Forms, Ebooks, Papers & Presentations Web. 05 Oct