Myth Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Myth Analysis - Essay Example Perhaps for its position as one of the earliest forms of surviving writing, the text represents one of the central in the field of myth analysis. This essay functions to analyze this myth through the theoretical lens of Smith who argued that myths follow rituals. In considering the nature of the Epic of Gilgamesh in terms of Smith’s lens it is difficult to clearly argue that the elements in the story were first ritualized, but their structural nature gives clues to this theory as an originary element. Throughout the epic Gilgamesh is shown going through a number of trials and tribulations that ultimately bring him to a higher state of self-knowledge and consciousness. This essay argues that these trials and tribulations represent the conglomeration of real life experiences, or rituals, that have been articulated within the construct of the myth as a means of demonstrating a sort of deeper structural dimension to the reality of the human condition. In these regards, the inspira tion of the story represents a sort of nebulous and abstract understanding of human nature that is placed into narrative form through its articulation in the myth. One of the central aspects in these regards can be witnessed in Gilgamesh’s relationship with Enkidu.