Gilgamesh, where are you roaming?
You will never find the eternal life that you seek.
When the gods created mankind,
they also created death, and they held back
eternal life for themselves alone.
Humans are born, they live, then they die,
this is the order that the gods have decreed.
But until the end comes, enjoy your life,
spend it in happiness, not despair.
Savor your food, make each of your days
a delight, bathe and anoint yourself,
wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean,
let music and dancing fill your house,
love the child who holds you by the hand,
and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.
That is the best way for a man to live.
Utnapishtim said:
Yes: the gods took Enkidu's life.
But man's life is short, at any moment
it can be snapped, like a reed in a canebrake.
The handsome young man, the lovely young woman- in their prime, death comes and drags them away: Though no one has seen death's face or heard
death's voice, suddenly; savagely; death
destroys us, all of us, old or young.
And yet we build houses, make contracts, brothers divide their inheritance, conflicts occur-
as though this human life lasted forever.
The river rises, flows over its banks
and carries us all away; like mayflies
floating downstream: they stare at the sun,
then all at once there is nothing.
The sleeper and the dead, how alike they are!
Yet the sleeper wakes up and opens his eyes,
while no one returns from death. And who
can know when the last of his days will come?
When the gods assemble, they decide your fate,
they establish both life and death for you
but the time of death they do not reveal.
From Stephen Mitchell's wonderful interpretation of the ancient epic.