Freud Interpretation of The Epic of Gilgamesh

 

Freudian Interpretation of the Epic of Gilgamesh

The powerful and mighty Gilgamesh, the ruler of the city of Uruk, begins as a terrorizing and selfish god. Gilgameshs true nature is to be abo!e e!erything else. "e is cruel to his own people and would fight the ones who are weaker than him. Gilgameshs !iolent beha!iors are also obser!able through his intense libido towards women of Uruk. #s shown in the te$t, %&Gilgamesh' lets &no' girl go free to &her bridegroom.' The warrio war rior rss daught daughter er,, the young young man mans bride, bride, to their their compla complaint int the goddess goddesses es paid paid Freudss persp perspecti!e ecti!e,, Gilga Gilgamesh meshss libid libido o is uncont uncontrolla rollable ble heed.() heed .()Gil Gilgam gamesh esh *+ From Freud  because of his superior mindset and he belie!es that human nature is controlled primarily  by the %id( part and men ha!e great g reat desires for !iolence and se$uality. In i!ilization and Its -iscontents, igmund Freud writes to e$amine the relationship between the indi!idual and society society.. /hen Gilgamesh is first introduced,   he is beha!ing in a manner at odds with ci!ilization and more in line with 0the instinct of death0 rather than %the instinct of lo!e.( Freud would claim that Gilgamesh does not ha!e a super ego, or in other words a conscious. consci ous. The gods tell #ruru #ruru to create Enkidu, where Freud would claim that they are disarming the aggression of Gilgamesh by doing so1 02et him be a

match for

the  storm of 

his heart, 3 let them !ie with each other, so Uruk may be rested40 )5+. In the beginning of  the te$t, te$t, Gilgam Gilgamesh esh is showin showing g impul impulsi! si!ee acts acts that that could could be underst understood ood as neuroti neuroticc  beha!iors from a Freudian !iew. !iew. 6efore Enkidu was created, Freud would say that Gilgamesh was li!ing with %the instinct of death( because of his aggression against ci!ilization. igmund Freuds theory is that human human   nature is dri!en by the so7called id, responsible for the neurosis that

 

stimulates people for instant desires that could result in !iolent beha!iors. Freud claims that1 %all humans stri!e for happiness8 they want to become happy and remain so.( )igmund Freud 95+ The aggression from Gilgamesh would be the result of his human nature finding happiness. :nce Enkidu is created, the reader can notice a change in Gilgameshs aggression, that he is much calmer and less selfish. This is because Enkidu was created to balance out Gilgamesh internally. #s !iewed by Freud, %a great change occurs only when the authority is internalized.( )igmund Freud *;+ Gilgamesh begins to realize that with Enkidu, he is no longer the most powerful and great god he was before. /hen Enkidu is created, he seeks out Gilgamesh and stopped him from sleeping with one of the newly wed women of Uruk8 %Enkidu with his foot blocked the door of the wedding house, not allowing Gilgamesh to enter. They seized each other at the door of the wedding house, in the street they ?+ 6ecause of Enkidu, Gilgamesh then begins to realize that sleeping with the married women of the city was a wrongful act. Gilgamesh befriends Enkidu and lo!es him as his own family, which relates to Freud by1 0The last but certainly not the least important, of  the characteristic features of ci!ilization remains to be assessed1 the manner in which the rela re lati tion onsh ship ipss of me men n to on onee an anot other her,, th thei eirr so soci cial al re relat latio ions nshi hips ps,, ar aree re regu gula late ted d 7 relationships which affect a person as a neighbor, as a source of help, as another person@s se$ual ob