The Epic Of Gilgamesh - 1523 Words

Mohammad El-haj Mid-Term Humanities Question #1: The Epic of Gilgamesh The story focuses on Gilgamesh who is a king, goddess and man in the ancient Sumerian City state of Uruk. Gilgamesh is presented as the strongest and handsome man in the world but this makes the king feel superior to his subjects.’ Gilgamesh exploits young men through tiresome activities. In addition, Gilgamesh sexually exploits young women in his Kingdom until the residents of Urk cannot take any more and prays to gods for deliverance. The god Adu hears the residents’ travails and commands the goddess Aruru to revenge by creating another man with same supernatural powers as Gilgamesh. Aruru creates Ekindu, a man who exhibits uncivilized character and lives in the wood†¦show more content†¦Later, Gilgamesh survives the great flood after heeding the advice of Siduri and the immortal man Utnapishtim. The epic of Gilgamesh is important in the study of early civilizations especially the Sumerian society in regard to culture and religion. The story depicts a religious society that believed in supernatural powers that punishes people for been sinners. The story is also significant in understanding the values, norms and beliefs of the Sumerians. In particular, we learn that the Sumerians valued morality, loathed beastly acts and believed in just leadership. The main themes in this epic of Gilgamesh are death, friendship, sex, man and the natural world among others. Other themes that have been well capture by the story are fear, pride, religion and perseverance. The story depicts the importance of friendship in the society, the need to avoid pride, the need to have perseverance of the face of problems and the importance of chastity or good morals (Cunningham and Reich 156). Question #2: The Concept of Pre-Socratic Philosophy The concept of Pre-Socratic philosophy refers to Greek philosophy before Socrates philosophy. Aristotle called the pre-Socrates philosophers as physicists since they used natural explanations in their phenomena unlike the theologians who explained phenomena based on supernatural aspects. The pre-Socrates rejected the mythological explanations of phenomena and instead applied the rational explanations. Others focused on explaining a

The European Domination Of Native Americans - 3308 Words

Many prominent historians argue a clash between culture and religious philosophy was the primary cause of conflict between European settlers in North America and Native Americans. However, a closer analysis of American history suggests otherwise. While a clash in cultures and religious differences did exist, the European domination of Native Americans was primarily fueled by European economic motivations, a desire for valuable natural resources and a craving to expand the American colonial system. Due to this, the conflict was inevitable. Before Europeans ever ventured to North America, the land had been populated by Native American nations that had their own distinct cultures and social structures. Native Americans had trade routes and established complex relationships between tribes. They were not merely heathens waiting to be civilized by the Europeans. Yet, Europeans would use those justifications to lay claim on their land. To better understand the conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans, one must closely examine the state of Europe’s economy at the time. Europe struggled with difficult conditions. This included poverty, violence and diseases like typhus, smallpox, influenza and measles. There were widespread famines which caused the prices of products to vary and made life very difficult in Europe. Street crimes and violence were prevalent in cities: â€Å"Other eruption of bizarre torture, murder, and ritual cannibalism were not uncommon†.2 EuropeansShow MoreRelatedImpact Of Colonialist Values On Perceptions Of Native Americans1556 Words   |  7 PagesColonialist Values on Perceptions of Native Americans in Green Grass, Running Water Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King largely deals with the consequences of the conflict between Native American values and colonialist foundations. 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Galapogos Essay Research Paper GalapagosKurt Vonnegut free essay sample

Galapogos Essay, Research Paper Galapagos Kurt Vonnegut # 8217 ; s Galapagos was written one million old ages in front of the twelvemonth 1986 AD. The novel was written in the narrative manner of a narrative being told from a gramps to a grandson. The writer Kurt Vonnegut express the subject really good throughout the novel, it is presented from screen to cover: That # 8217 ; s adult male # 8217 ; s intelligence will be the ruin and devastation of the human race. That our are so called large encephalons drive people to travel farther into engineering and make new arms that will take to the devastation of adult male sort. There are many citations from the novel Galapogos that represent the subject and Vonnegut # 8217 ; s sentiment on the way society is headed. He writes this book based on his ain position and sentiments of the universe, what it has become and where in his eyes it is headed. He expresses his creativeness, imaginativeness and alone manner of thought in his authorship of Galapogos ; it # 8217 ; s an astonishing image made by Vonnegut of what the hereafter could turn out to be. The feeling that reader gets when reading Galapogos is that it takes topographic point in 1986 AD, but is truly being told from the hereafter. The narrative Begin with six or so people desiring to take a nature sail to the Galapogos Island # 8217 ; s, but a war breaks out at the port of Guayaquil where the sail is supposed to go forth from. In consequence of the war the proprietor or protagonist of the sail thinks for the safety of the six or so riders, the ship should go forth port and be safe at sea. After the ship leaves port, and ends up at the Galapogos Islands. The war is destructing everything and everyone, all of society is wiped out and the six or so riders that are left on the ship are all that is left of the human race. After the riders realize that they # 8217 ; re the last hope for the endurance of the human race, they begin seeking to get down a new human race. They win in go oning the human race but it? s a simpler and less engineering based race, because the genetic sciences on the island weren # 8217 ; t really strong. The writer Vonnegut believes this to be a great thing, that the new race is simpler minded. Vonnegut expresses this sentiment in the subject of Galapogos. Vonnegut believes this to be a great thing, in his sentiment worlds are to ache for at that place ain morning good. He expresses this belief in the subject of the book Galapogos. That worlds are excessively large brained as Vonnegut put it in his book or to ache for at that place ain good. The thought of desiring to travel farther into engineering will be the ruin of the human race, in his book and in existent life. That with all the new bombs that are being made that can destruct whole states and perchance get down the following universe war. A citation from the book supports this thought, it takes topographic point in the book when the captain of the sail ship is speaking about how good the engineering has gotten and how bad that is for the universe: # 8220 ; Utterly meaningless wrath from outer infinite could trip World War Three. # 8221 ; ( 133 ) This means that the engineering is so good and advanced that it? s ignorant to the simplest things. The system could misidentify a me teorite for a missile being fired at America, which could ensue in the American # 8217 ; s being scared plenty to fire back and get down a war. This is merely another illustration of how engineering could be the ruin of the human race. Another illustration of how the large encephalons of the twentieth century are bad for the human race, is when the storyteller is saying an illustration of how worlds back so didn # 8217 ; t attention for human life as they should of: # 8220 ; More and more people back so, and non merely Andrew MacIntosh, had found the endurance of the human race a entire bore. # 8221 ; ( 81 ) This means the human back so didn # 8217 ; t look to the hereafter, they were merely concerned on populating their life and non worried about T he following coevals. This is the sort of thought that is non needed if we want our future coevalss to non hold to worry about running out of supplies a thousand old ages from now. Vonnegut refers to the people who are to ache for at that place ain good as large brained people. What I see him intending by this is, that the development of adult male and the consistent chase for better and more advanced engineering is what he is mentioning to as being large brained. It is a general statement that is put over people and their development, non persons. The thought of the encephalons of the past traveling to far into engineering is supported in the book when, the storyteller gives his sentiment on the war that is about to go on in Guayaquil. The storyteller provinces: # 8220 ; During my full life-time, there wasn # 8217 ; t a twenty-four hours when, someplace on the planet, there wasn # 8217 ; t a twenty-four hours when, someplace on the planet, there wasn # 8217 ; t at least three wars traveling on. # 8221 ; ( 156 ) This means in the twentieth century everyone in the universe had the ability to get down and take part in a war. Vonnegut thinks that this means w e are excessively far into engineering, when any angry individual could hold the power to destruct a whole province or state. He subsequently leads the reader to believe that in a million old ages, everyone is so much better, than everyone in the twentieth century ( same debut information as quotation mark before ) : # 8220 ; Cipher today is about smart plenty to do the kind of arms even the poorest state had a million old ages ago. # 8221 ; ( 156 ) That in the hereafter everything is better because people are to stupid to do atomic arms of the yesteryear. In consequence of there stupidity, there is no existent menace of mass devastation in the hereafter. Vonnegut gives illustrations about the large brained human race doing to many split determinations on urge. Decisions that are non thought through decently, determinations that are made speedy or goad of the minute ; this was subsequently said to be the greatest ruins of the human race. Vonnegut gives an illustration of this when the character James Wait has merely made a determination without believing about it and so the storyteller says: # 8220 ; It # 8217 ; s Wait # 8217 ; s large encephalon # 8217 ; s thought. It wasn # 8217 ; t anything he himself had peculiarly wanted to do. # 8221 ; ( 180 ) He makes a determination that will stop up aching him and Vonnegut thinks this is the great ruin of the human race. Another illustration of this comes when there is a batch of lawlessness in forepart of the sail ship at port and one of the guards starts hiting all over the topographic point. He does this because he was panicked and didn # 8217 ; t take the clip to believe and do a b etter determination than the 1 he made: # 8220 ; In a affair of seconds, a typical encephalon of the a million ago, had turned the best citizen of Guayaquil into a ravening terrorist. # 8221 ; ( 93 ) He shows that a absolutely good and intelligent individual could be pushed by this ain large encephalon to do a bad determination. This merely shows that the outsize encephalons of the past were merely another defect in the history of world. I believe that Vonnegut has a strong sentiment on the hereafter of world and is evidently a small acrimonious about all that has happened to the universe to this point in 1985. He does turn out and back up his subject in the citations and sentiments throughout the book. Vonnegut gives many illustrations of what could go on to the universe and what is presently go oning to it as we speak. Not merely does he believe that adult male can be the lone ruin to mankind, but thinks it will go on some clip, the existent inquiry is when. In my sentiment he is merely a small extreme in his positions of the universe, the universe is a bad topographic point, but it is non to the point of mass devastation. I believe that human nature will play a big function in mankind # 8217 ; s being. When all is said and done, people don # 8217 ; Ts have that degree of ferociousness in them to make aggregate devastation of that nature.