Study Questions for Gilgamesh

• What is an "epic," and in what ways is Gilgamesh an epic story?
• In tragedy, hubris is the overweening pride, ambition, or overconfidence that leads to the tragic hero’s misfortune (e.g., Macbeth’s excessive ambition).  Do Gilgamesh and Enkidu display hubris?  If so, how does hubris manifest itself?  Make sure you draw specific connections between actions and consequences.  Try to characterize the hubris of each character in general terms, but also indicate specific instances of each character’s behavior.
• What role does the idea of the city, especially in contrast with rural life and the wilderness, play in Gilgamesh?
• What kinds of gods are depicted in Gilgamesh?  Compare these gods with the God of the Hebrew Bible.
• Dreams play an important role in Gilgamesh as a means of communication between gods and mortals.  What is the narrative function of dreams in the epic?  What do the dreams reveal about the characters in the story?
• In section 4, Gilgamesh travels to find Utnapishtim.  What is he looking for, and what does he find?  What does Gilgamesh learn about the afterlife?  What does he learn about life?
• Compare the story of the Flood in Gilgamesh 5 to the versions in Genesis 6-9 and the Koran, Sura 71.  How would you explain the context of the story in each work, the moral of each story, and the relationships between gods and mortals in the different versions?