Jonathan Hardesty
“If I should fall, my fame will be secure. ... My fame will be secure to all my sons.”
In this passage it is easy to infer that fame is important to Gilgamesh. This is because fame will enable him to be immortal vicariously through his memory. In Gilgamesh's world, Uruk, nothing is permanent: the city walls need to be repaired and replaced; fires go out; houses fall down and so forth. In other words, every aspect of humanity and its creations are short lived and cannot escape their end except, in Gilgamesh's mind, the perpetuation of an idea—a memory—across generations. This, Gilgamesh believes, will give him immortality. This immortality can be embodied in fame through his actions. His fame “will be secure [immortal] to all [his] sons” in that his memory will be alive for generations to come. That Gilgamesh may “fall” is not of importance, but that he had the courage and was the first to take on the challenge of venturing into the Cedar Forest is what he believes will give him his perceived rite to immortality.
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