Gilgamesh- Tablet XI

This Tablet is kind of a conclusion or wrapping up of this part of the Epic. It tells us about three different stories all as one, the story of Gilgamesh reaching the god's garden in search of Utnapishtim, the story of how Utnapishtim came to live with the gods, and the story of Gilgamesh and the boatman returning to Uruk with the magic plant. I think it was to much to read in only one handful, although at the same time it was the length and the amount that made me see it as a half-ending.

I didn't really like this Tablet, although it was entertaining to see the different lives and points of views. It didn't make sence and everything happened so fast and unreal, like the way that the boatman immediately decides to take Gilgamesh on a journey that might result in his death, or the way that after having just met him, Utnapishtim tells him 'a secret of the gods' and gives him an extremly rare plant that holds the secret to escaping death, that it was very confusing.

When Utnapishtim was telling his story I found it totally similar to the story of Noah's Ark. This makes me wonder again about at what time this Epic was written, and for what purpose, if religion, political, or simply story-wise.