Gokhale 1

Whitney Tubbs

Dr. Bruce Magee

ENGL 406

April 20, 2024

Essay Exam

Prompt 3. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, an unlikely friendship is formed between Gilgamesh

and Enkidu. The bond of friendship they share is so close it could be likened to the bond between

brothers. Enkidu was created by the god Aruru solely to stop Gilgamesh from terrorizing his

subjects, and whether the intention was for them to befriend one another after fighting is not

expressly stated. Regardless, it is because Enikidu’s existence is tied to him, that Gilgamesh

should now consider himself Enkidu’s keeper.

Gilgamesh first fails in his task as his brother’s keeper when he convinces Enikidu to join

him in the taking down of Humbaba. He is the one in pursuit of immortality and greatness and

should not have risked his friend’s life. Even after multiple pleas and telling Gilgamesh to go

without him, he pushes him and goads him into battle with the giant. In not urging Enikidu to go

back to the forest that he loves, he again fails by not doing what is best for his friend. Ultimately,

it is Gilgamesh’s hubris that leads to his friend’s untimely demise. He mocked Ishtar which led

to her unleashing the bull that the pair kill. The bull’s death along with the killing of Humbaba

anger the Gods and Enikidu is marked for death.

The book of Job offers another instance of friends (a term used loosely considering) that

should be the keeper of their brother, not living up to the task. After loosing literally everything

because God wants to prove that Job is a faithful servant, Job is hopeless and at an all time low.

His comrades, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, come to offer their friend some assistance. However,
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they do the exact opposite. They kick poor Job when he is down by accusing him of wrongdoing

that brought God’s wrath down upon him. These men are neither doing the Lord’s work nor are

they being what Job needs in the midst of his turmoil. To be one’s brother’s keeper, one must

have compassion and understanding for their charges in times of great strife. They failed to do

this for Job.

Prompt 4. The need to explain the origin of all the things has been at the heart of many

stories that have become legends and/or sacred texts. Most notably, the first book of the Bible,

Genesis, offers an account of the coming to be of the cosmos, earth, and man. Books 1 and 2 are

set sequentially as if they flow seamlessly into one another. However, that is not the case, as a

notable contradiction can be found between the two.

Genesis 1 has God creating everything from nothing, dividing what was not with that that

is. He makes light in contrast to the dark, separates the sea by creating land, and creates living

creatures. The living entities are plant, animal, and man. The latter he created in his image. Then

Genesis 2 offers the account of man and beasts’ creation again, only altered in the means and

order by which it is done. Genesis 1 has man coming after the plants and the animals with no

separation of time between Adam and Eve coming into being. The opposite is played out in

Genesis 2 and there is a clear delineation from when Adam and Eve were created. It is almost as

if they are two different people’s accounts of the same story.

Hesiod’s Five Stages of Man (Stages) as well as the tale of Epimetheus and Pandora

serve as a means to show how humans devolved from virtuous, noble beings to savage, corrupt

ones. They take different approaches in this feat. Stages explain that during the Golden Age of

man all was tranquil and human enjoyed a pain-free, unburdened life that lasted a very long time.
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They also enjoyed a harmonious relationship with the Gods. This period is not ended by any

event but simply ends as all things must. Man was not blessed with the wisdom and longevity in

the following Age, nor were they given gifts of the earth like food that appeared spontaneously.

They were forced to toil, they faced illness and death, and they were more cut off from the Gods.

This resulted in less worship of the Gods, which angered them and man sowed discourse

amongst his own kind. In the Bronze age, man is now a base, savage version of what it once was

and violence against his brother was commonplace. After being wiped out, the Age of Heros sees

the likes of demi-gods that bring peace through vengeance against those who go against the Gods

and their fellow man. This brings it back to the age of the present, The Iron Age.

The story of Epimetheus and Pandora work more as a cautionary tale. Promethius’

brother, Epimetheus, is a less wise and less impressive figure. He is warned by Promethius not to

accept anything that may come from Zeus who is a tyrannical and selfish God. However, upon

meeting the divinely crafted Pandora, he forgets the words of warning and falls for her. She is

the undoing of him and all men and women. The box given to her by Zeus was never really a gift

but a test that he knew would fail. Told never to open it, Pandora does as anyone would after

curiosity wears her down, she opens it. This unleashes chaos, disease, and a host of other

calamities upon all humankind. This differs in design from the five ages of man by placing

blame on two individuals instead of mankind as a whole.