The Avoidance of Suffering

Tablets XI, X, and XI which conclude the Epic of Gilgamesh are centered around Gilgamesh’s unsuccessful quest to achieve immortality. The ultimate conclusion from these tablets is that death is inevitable, but we can go even farther in our analysis of Gilgamesh’s journey and say that it demonstrates how humans will never have the power to control the natural forces of the world.

In my last blog post I related the Epic of Gilgamesh to the theory of the psychologist Abraham Maslow. This time I will be relating to the work of Sigmund Freud, and specifically the ideas in his book Civilization and Its Discontents which I recently read. The reason why I like to connect ancient Mesopotamian literature to the psychology is because I feel the value of these texts lie in the fact that they are so old and written by humans of the beginning of civilization. Because of this, I feel they can teach us a lot about human behavior and how society has been shaped.

In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud proposes that humans are at a constant struggle with three types of opposing forces that can harm us (physically or emotionally). These three categories are the physical dangers of the external world, the natural degradation of our own bodies, and our relationships with other people. He argues that everything we do is not meant to please us, but rather to avoid suffering. For example, we build houses to avoid harsh weather, we eat to avoid hunger, and we fall in love just to avoid the pain of loneliness. Gilgamesh’s search for immortality is a perfect reflection of this because he is trying to avoid death (the natural degradation of the human body). In Tablet IX he states, “I shall die and shall I not then be as Enkidu... I am afraid of death,” and, “when I enter the Netherworld will rest be scarce? I shall lie there sleeping all down the years!” These quotations show that the Gilgamesh went through so much trouble because of his desire to avoid death, not because of his appreciation for life. Later on, when Uta-Napishti challenges Gilgamesh to avoid sleep for seven days, he fails that test as well. This is another example that man cannot conquer the biological limits he is confined to. At the end, Gilgamesh finally accepts that death is inevitable. We can understand this as a reflection of the fact that humans will always desire to avoid the things that cause suffering. Gilgamesh demonstrates that concept, even when his fear overpowers his rationality.