Exploring What Makes Us Human In Antigone And Gilgamesh

After Reading Antigone and Gilgamesh. I decided to write about what is to be human. What is to be human? People all across have different point of views regarding this specific question. According to any encyclopedia, dictionary human is defined as an organism. To be human you have the ability to express emotions, love, hate, anger, and ETC. Albert Einstein believes that being Human is the striving for morality in our action, being human is able to differentiate from wrong and right. Not having physical body parts. What it means to be human? The love of our family and admiration from friends is more important than to be privileged, and wealthy.

Gilgamesh the king of Uruk how he transformed himself from being such an ignorant, selfish, arrogant man and after the amazing road he travel with his friend and how he was exposed to pain when his friend Enkidu passed away. Gilgamesh had a moment of humanity he felt emotions doesn’t matter what type of emotions he had but he felt them and that is important to be human. Another great example is when Enkidu teaches Gilgamesh what it means to be human, teaches him the meaning of love, compassion, mortality. I have some of my favorite passages that describe pain, disappointment and what it means to love and care. “Everything had life to me; he had heard enkidu murmur, The Sky, The storm, the earth, water, wandering, the moon and its three children, salt, even my hand had life. It’s gone. I have seen death as a total stranger sees another world.” It is life mortal existence, we are born and sometimes we question ourselves what are we here for? What is our purpose? I started to think what is to be human when I started this course and I am seeing what this course entitles for us to think. I absolutely loved Gilgamesh. People try to find happiness in wealth, think well work, pay our bill etc. but have you stop to think there is more to that. Love is happy make the best of what you have. On page 169 book X another passage that makes me know that Gilgamesh is in pain and afraid is “My heart is sick for my friend who died. What can your words mean when my heart is sick from Enkidu who died” even though he was looking for eternal life and was being selfish he had a feeling of being human. As we get deeper to topic. I strongly believe that Gilgamesh learned a big life lesson from being such an ignorant inhumane person, to someone that wanted to have a better city and just be happy.

Antigone is main character of Antigone by Sophocles. Had a sister Ismene and two brothers Eteoces and Polyneices. Which both died in a battle. Euteoces was given a proper hero burial versus her other brother was left without proper burial. Antigone wanted and desired for her brother to have proper burial. Antigone struggles in religious beliefs and stands up for what she believes with her uncle Creon which is King of Thebes. Antigone is a woman that will stand up for what she believes. “But I will bury him; and if I Must die I say that this crime is holy: I should lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me. It is the Dead Not the living, who make the longest demands: We die forever You may do as you like, Since apparently the laws of the gods mean nothing to you”(55). Antigone showed with these words how important it was to her the laws of god. It’s humane to give anyone a proper burial right?, I strongly agree that Antigone was showing what is right to do and that she was being a human. She focus on religion, family and the role of gender are all aspects of what is to be human. In those ancient times woman were not allowed to disobey they were mandated to obey, Antigone praised that what she did was the correct thing. We are all mortal and we should live to be happy and to do what is correct Antigone stated on 365, “I knew I must die, even without your decree: I am only mortal, And if I must die Now, before it is my time to die surely this is no hardship: can anyone Living, as I live, with evil all about me, Think death less than a friend? This death of mine is of no importance; but if I have left my brother lying in death unburied, I should have suffered. Now I do not. You smile at me. Ah Creon. Think me a fool, if you like: but it may well be that a fool convicts me of folly.” With those words she didn’t care she was in deep trouble all she knew and felt is the morals were done right. Gilgamesh and Antigone at the end new they were mortal. Just like all of us are. We have one life and why not do what is correct, why wait for tragedy’s like the one we read to happen to realize that we have everything in life to be happy.

Like I said at the beginning everyone has a different definition, beliefs, and opinion on what is to be Human. We were sent to this world with a purpose and to fulfill that. For thousands of years, we have struggled to describe what it means to be human. We can ask simple as is it our brain, emotions, what we believe. This makes a difference when it comes to understanding our ancestry and what makes us special, and yes it is simple some think we are made of clay some of cells depends what you believe in. I personally have learned that this two amazing stories have a tragic ending and both includes mortality and how Gilgamesh realizes at the end to be happy what made him Happy, and Antigone gave her life for what she believed. Humanity is in existence love one another doesn’t matter if you don’t know them, give to the homeless, forgive, don’t be arrogant you can or will regret it later. Take care of the sick, elderly. This are all humane acts. This is what makes us human. To have a conscious at the end of the day to be able to comfort the one’s that need. That’s having a good life it is not about working or material things is all about emotional, morals that have been thought throughout decades. Yes in our actual civilization to have a good life is to go to school get educated; make money have nice material things, that’s when they forget humanity. They become arrogant. The more power they have the more wrong decisions. Example Creon on 185 “Yet money talks, and the wisest have sometimes been known to count a few coins too many.” Saying like this makes us forget humanity and morals. What is to be Human?