People have been conflicted over the ephemeral quality of human life since the beginning of civilization. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim frankly tells Gilgamesh (who is searching for the answer to eternal life) that “There is no permanence” (106). Indeed, human life is temporary. Death is a natural part of life. A person is born into the world. He or she then lives for a certain number of days before passing away. Although he or she may accomplish something so that his or her name is written in history (in glory or infamy), however he or she lives his or her life is insignificant when put in context of the vastness of eternity. Let us use an analogy. In the expression x + 1, the value of the 1 as x becomes infinitely large is insignificant. That 1 represents the life and actions of one person. This person’s actions may be significant during the brief span of his life (when x equals a relatively small number such as 2,3,18, or 97) but ultimately the person’s actions are not eternal. The same can be said about civilizations. Each of the major empires in history (the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the Romans, to name a few) saw its rise, its temporary reign, and then its demise.
Our world best illustrates our notion of human impermanence through literature and media. People know that human life is temporary, and creators of culture embrace this concept. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince, does not hesitate to introduce the idea of impermanence to young readers. In Le Petit Prince, the little prince encounters a geographer and asks whether the geographer records the flower, “the most beautiful thing on [the] planet,” to which the geographer replies, no, “because they are ephemeral…in danger of speedy disappearance” (Chapter 15). The flower represents good things and life itself, and Exupéry communicates that life is only temporary, no matter how much we want it to be lasting.
Above all else, our knowledge of the ephemeral quality of life, of the fact that there looms on the horizon a day when life will end, emphasizes that life is short and fleeting. The song “Circle of Life” from The Lion King voices the idea that life is too short, that “There's more to see than can ever be seen/ More to do than can ever be done” (Rice). These lines express our regret that there is not enough time in our lives to experience everything we want. This truth was evident to the Babylonian writers. Even before Gilgamesh embarks on his search for eternal life, he knew that his “days are numbered,” (71) that he could not afford to waste his life away in idleness and must instead seek out adventure by pursuing Humbaba.
Since life is so short and so insignificant, why do we bother living our daily lives? There has to be a meaning to living. I think that Gilgamesh’s search for eternal life represents our search for the reason why. No, the answer is not 42. Some people are motivated by the need to make accomplishments. Many scholars live through their work or research, hoping to make discoveries that both benefit humanity and go down in the books of history. Such sentiment is similar to Gilgamesh’s when he decides to go on the Forest Journey, when he expresses desire to “[establish his] name stamped on bricks…in the place where the names of famous men are written” (70). Other people find the meaning of life (and consequently, the motivation to stay alive) in love.
Love (giving or receiving it) can make us feel like we matter and therefore eternal. In the musical “Rent,” the characters are afflicted with AIDS and likely have less than a year to live. In the song “Seasons of Love” from this musical, the lyrics, “measure your life in love,” convey the idea that, although the characters might only have “five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes” (Larson) left to live, the love between the friends makes them significant to each other.
In perhaps the most famous quotation from Gilgamesh, Siduri the woman of the vine advises Gilgamesh (and the readers) to “cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace” (102). Thus emerges a picture of how humans should approach life. The best way to feel like you matter, to feel like anything you do has any eternal significance, is to strive to love those around you. This answer may not satisfy everyone seeking the meaning of life, but it does provide a general direction for a fulfilled life in which what people do has any lasting effect on those around them.
Works Cited
The Epic of Gilgamesh (English). London: Penguin Books, 1972
Larson, Jonathan. “Seasons of Love”. Rent OCR. 1996.
Rice, Tim. “Circle of Life”. The Lion King Soundtrack. 1994.
Saint-Exupery, Antoine de. Le Petit Prince (English). : Reynal & Hitchcock , 1943.
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