Free Custom «Development of a Human» Essay Paper

The Epic of Gilgamesh describes the development of a human, the god, and all animals. Gilgamesh is party human and partly divine. His problem is not the composition of the being, but the inability to understand and make use of its capabilities and limitations. Gilgamesh believes that he is divine; therefore, he will not meet death, loneliness or sadness, because they are parts of only human destiny. Thus, the gods decided to make Enkidu a mirror to reflect Gilgamesh.

Following the evolution of Enkidu, we should also consider the development of Gilgamesh. At the beginning, Enkidu acts as an animal and protects animals against hunters. After facing his true personality of a human, he realizes the possibilities of the human being solving existential, practical problems, and studying an abstract idea of work to perfect himself. Finally, after Enkidu died, Gilgamesh realized his true mortality limits and the fact that his soul would live forever in the underworld. There, he understood the concept of eternity analyzing the experiences obtained throughout his life.

Reviewing the developments of Enkidu, we find three phases of man’s development: (I) hedonism (when we are still too young to see the world, and our target is to improve ourselves and get rid of any hint on an animal behavior), (II) realism (we become a small part of the lives of individuals as a whole that is not really equivalent to our ego, but we need to use our brains to change the real world), (III) idealism (means acceptance of mortality as a human part of beings and, therefore, life according to the permanent values).

It is a beautiful and transcendent work of prose which, like The Iliad, is an essential read when you are in the middle of the life. Existential truths guidance and secrets open a new footbridge and erase all the illusions that modern society imposes on us. This guidance frees us from the yoke of morality and guilt. We need to rediscover the life to learn to accept the limitations and possibilities of inherent beauty as well as to learn to love and live.

In The Iliad, Achilles is seen as the protagonist. He is a very courageous and strong male who can never be defeated. Achilles has characteristics of supernatural, divine, and is almost invincible, with the exception of low heels injuring which will lead to death. Achilles also has a very strong personality and can even oppose the king Agamemnon. He shows the abrupt attitude to King Agamemnon. One could say that he has no respect for authority. Achilles is not fighting only for the city, the king, or his people; he also fights for himself to achieve fame and satisfy his desires. Sometimes, Achilles is very selfish and undisciplined; he cares only about himself. Although he is warned that the Trojan War could cause his death, Achilles accepts the risk that brings great glory to him. Achilles is not happy in his life, but he has everything. He tends to influence the people around because of the honorable status. His violence and the risk of death can be explained by a lack of real human qualities of civilized life and the immense power of Eros. Achilles’ attitude toward women is also a sign of uncontrollable instincts. We can say that Achilles’ character is dominant, but there are many others sides. His complicated character might be explained by his huge physical power making him almost immortal. Achilles can act according to the true nature and life as he sees it.

We were also introduced to the life of Abraham. He is one of the most important characters in Genesis. We found that the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 was the immediate context of his life. Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, near the crime scene in Babel. Nine generations of descendants of Shem, the Semites, pass. God called a man named Abraham, who lived with his father and his wife Sarai, Terah in Haran, a city in Upper Mesopotamia. God made a covenant with Abraham promising to turn Abraham's descendants into a great nation. Abraham agreed to leave the home and went to the south of the land of Canaan with his wife and his nephew Lot to the land God had promised to Abraham's descendants. Abraham settled there and raised a number of shrines across the country as a symbol of his devotion to God.

Abraham gained political status in the region of Canaan, and Sarah finally gave birth to their son Isaac. According to Sarah’s command, Abraham sent away Hagar and Ishmael. God again spoke to Abraham asking him to make a sacrifice by killing his son Isaac. Abraham resolved to obey, and when he took his son to the mountain, Isaac asked what animal must be slaughtered. Abraham replied that God would provide a sacrifice. Isaac stood on the altar; as Abraham was ready to attack, the angel of the Lord stopped him. God was impressed by the dedication of Abraham and reaffirmed his covenant.

Aristotle did not attempt to discuss this fundamental point but simply took it for granted. Thus, the study of what makes a good person , as Aristotle observed, is really an inseparable part of the larg exhibition of what makes the community and the polis. His moral theory, according to Oakeshott, is a coherent moral community rather than, for example, seeing human life as a self-activity that continues independently or in violation of the community. The important point here is that Aristotle clearly stronger than Plato in the Republic. In his opinion, individual justice is prior to the independent justice in the city (although Plato supposes that man must live in communities).

Aristotle sees the individual as an inevitable part of a team that sometimes is large and complex, but clearly has all abilities and environment that shapes the purpose and value of individual life compared to other communities and teams. When an individual is a part of a team in which player has no purpose or identity and does not participates being fully integrated, he/she not have a complete identity or any purpose without the polis which he or she belongs to.

We can also observe that according to the moral thought of Aristotle, in the social existence of the team, some players are much better than others. There is ethics of moral equality. To act morally is to recognize excellence of self in relation to others and adjust our behavior accordingly to their position in the hierarchy that determines the moral nature of one’s duties. In addition, in the long discussion of friendship, Aristotle states that friendship is an essential part of the moral life successes. It takes many different forms of wisdom to get a precise knowledge of the differences and take the decision.