THE STORY OF GILGAMESH Gilgamesh is the King of Uruk. His father is mortal and his mother is a goddess. However, because he is part mortal, Gilgamesh must eventually die, as he discovers and comes to accept during the course of the story. Gilgamesh is a bad ruler; he sleeps with all the women and takes away children from their families. His subjects ask the gods for help, and the gods have the goddess Aruru …showed first 75 words of 987 total…

…showed last 75 words of 987 total…into the sea to pick the plant, but loses it later, while bathing, because a snake slithers up and eats it. Gilgamesh returns to Uruk with the boatman Urshanabi, and points out to him the mighty walls; this is the proper work of a human being, not the search for eternal life. The final segment of the story tells of the death of Gilgamesh and the mourning for him of all the people of Uruk