A Study On The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Epic, which belongs to one of the solemn literary genres, records the memory of the primary stage in human history. It generally embodies the folklore or long narrative poetry complimenting the heroic feats. In accordance with the findings of literary anthropology, epic reveals the national characteristic connotation of a certain age. Therefore, epic is of great significance for us to study the primitive human society and the development of the human civilization.As a vital cultural factor, myth motif is one of the important media through which we recognize human thinking of early age. The second chapter focuses on the excavation and the exploration about the motifs in The Epic of Gilgamesh."Motif" is the smallest narrative unit. As the basic element in the text, it may be a human-anthropi spiritual phenomenon repeated constantly in myth and literature. Similar to the prototype, it is relatively independent. The Epic of Gilgamesh, which is the earliest epic in human history and represents great achievement of ancient Babylonian culture, presents to the world the basic situation of human survival in Mesopotamia in ancient times. The ancient Mesopotamia gave birth to the epic and is considered as the cradle of ancient western civilization. The Epic of Gilgamesh contains rich motifs such as demigods and culture hero, heroic adventure, deluge, descent to lower world of dead and revenge, etc. This thesis aims at classifying and contrasting the varieties of motifs by adopting the methods of literary anthropology and motif analysis. On the one hand, the researchers can to some degree have a profound comprehension and recognition about the hominid activities, such as ideological concept, logical thinking, living customs, beliefs and religious rituals, etc. On the other hand, the similar motifs in different texts provides a chance for researchers to realize the similarities of the thoughts of the ancient people with diverse cultural backgrounds, and those similarities in their psychological experiences when faced with the situations alike.The third chapter of this paper aims to explore the art and the spiritual connotation reflected in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Through depicting the critical experiences in heroic Gilgamesh’s life, we can catch a glimpse of people’s simple view of ecology, life and the universe in ancient Babylonian period. Gilgamesh’s ascertainment in life demonstrates the fact that ancient Babylonian advocated to surpass their own realistic condition and pursue more significant deeds and nobler spirit. Gilgamesh’s resistance against death as well as his indomitable pursuit of the eternal and mysterious life reveals the spiritual vivification of human beings’ self-consciousness.