Human beings unlike any other creature on this planet are aware of their own mortality. We demonstrate this by engaging in terrifying, daredevil like acts like sky diving, or drag racing. We do these things because we know our time here is limited. Our world also illustrates this by living extravagantly. Like the saying goes, “Live your life to the fullest”, that is exactly what we do, and because we know that we will never have this life again so we had better live well like there is not tomorrow. For us nothing lasts forever. “What my brother is now, that shall I be when I am dead. Because I am afraid of death I will go as best I can to find Untapishtim whom they call Faraway, for he has entered the assembly of the gods.” (97) Gilgamesh knew his time here was limited, and didn’t want to face the same fate as Enkidu so he sought out on a journey searching for eternal life. When Gilgamesh found Untnapishtim and he stated, “There is no permanence” (106) he meant that nothing is the human world is eternal. Everything in our lives must come to an end.
People are able to go about their daily business, because they do not dwell on the fact that there lives are finite. Everyone knows that their lives are going to end one day, but we choose to simply live day by day, choosing not to think about our ultimate ending. If people did sit around all day dwelling on the fact that every day is a day that we will never have again, then we would live in such a depressing and uninspired world. When we die, we die knowing that we did something meaningful in our lives that either benefited us, other people, or both. For some people it could have been providing a good life for their children. For others, it could have been creating a non-profit to help people who cannot help themselves. Whatever it may be, people want to die content with the life and legacy that they left behind. No one wants to die with regret; only with peace and contentment. We as humans create a world of eternal life within our memories and through our literature. For example, every time someone speaks of their grandparents who have passed, they are breathing life back into them. By speaking of them, you are bringing back their memories and bringing them back to life. Our lives live in memories when we are gone, and it is the duty of our loved ones to make sure that we are never forgotten. Humans also create eternal life in our literature. Gilgamesh for example, wanted eternal life and he received it in a way he hadn’t expected. His epic tale was the first story ever to be written down, and because of that his legend has lived for thousands of years. Every time someone reads his tale, he lives once more. So in this sense, humans are immortal. We live on in the memories of our loved ones, and in the pages of our literature.
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