Chaung Tzu versus Gilgamesh
The teachings of Chuang Tzu differ greatly from the way Gilgamesh chose to live his life. Chuang Tzu taught us that we should accept the changes that life brings to us: to live in harmony with nature. Gilgamesh lived his life opposite from these teachings. Gilgamesh could not accept the inevitable changes his life brought him, so he set out on a quest to obtain what he could not grasp: immortality. In this essay I will define the several differences (and one common theme) between the two schools of thought and action between Chuang Tzu and Gilgamesh. Chuang Tzu accepted death as fate. ... Gilgamesh could not accept the inevitable fact that he was going to die. Gilgamesh and Enkidu originally sought immortality through fame. After Enkidu dies at the hand of Enlil, Gilgamesh finds fame hollow and sets out to find the secret of immortality. Chuang Tzu knows that the quest for immortality is a futile one and teaches this. Gilgamesh must journey to Utnapishtim who hears Gilgamesh’s story and consoles Gilgamesh by informing him of a plant of life.