The epic of Gilgamesh contains several values central to leading a ethical life. The story relies on the importance of friendship, the pursuit of human knowledge and the value of human life. The importance of friendship can be seen in the way the hero Gilgamesh and Enkidu become like brothers and the lessons Gilgamesh learns from this. The value Gilgamesh places on human life can be seen in several places throughout the epic. Finally, the value of knowledge can be seen in the hero’s quest for eternal life. These principals are all important aspects of living an ethical life.
The value of friendship can be seen in the bond between Gilgamesh and the wild Enkidu. The Gods decide that the partially divine Gilgamesh is too rambunctious for the people of Uruk and send a creature that can match his strength and speed. This creature was the wild Enkidu and shortly after meeting Gilgamesh the two become friends. In addition to calming Gilgamesh, this friendship helps both of them achieve great things as they go on adventures. By learning the importance of friendship Gilgamesh gains new insight into his own life and a powerful warrior as a ally. Similarly, friends help people lead an ethical life by helping them to understand themselves and providing emotional support. When Enkidu finally dies Gilgamesh feels as though a part of himself is lost. This illustrates the powerful bond between the two and the power of friendship.
Another important part of Gilgamesh is how he views human life as precious. This is best illustrated with how much the death of Enkidu affected Gilgamesh. Through his morning, Gilgamesh learns a great deal of respect for life. Understanding the importance of human life is a necessary characteristic of leading an ethical life because it helps people learn self worth. Also, a knowledge of how precious life is helps one understand respect for others. In the myth, this loss makes the hero realize how valuable life is and leads him to seek a way to extend life forever.
From the quest of Gilgamesh to find eternal life the reader can see how much the hero values the pursuit of human knowledge. Having learned the importance of life, Gilgamesh attempts to gain knowledge that will teach him how to extend it. This shows how the pursuit of knowledge is important to humans. For one to lead and ethical life it is vital that one knows how to do just that. Therefore, it is important for an ethical person to learn and spread knowledge. For this purpose Gilgamesh goes on one last quest to find how he can live forever.
Gilgamesh becomes a very ethical creature through the course of the story and in doing so teaches readers important traits of leading and ethical life. He values his friends for the help they exchange which is important to living ethically. He also, holds human life precious which is central to living ethically because it teaches respect for those around us. Finally, Gilgamesh’s quest for knowledge is important to leading an ethical life because learning furthers the advancement of humanity and teaches one to become ethical.

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