An Examination of Immortality and Corporeal Abnormality in the Epic of Gilgamesh: Focusing on the Characters Utnapishtim and Gilgamesh

This paper explores the Epic of Gilgamesh through the perspective of body studies and the notion of vulnerability. It seeks to show how the encounter between Gilgamesh’s vigorous body and Utnapishtim’s aged body creates a new vision of heroism and human fulfillment. The central aim is to question the traditional idea of heroism based on physical strength and to propose an alternative model founded on wisdom and the acceptance of human fragility. The method is a qualitative reading of the epic with an interdisciplinary approach: direct passages from the Epic of Gilgamesh and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh are woven together with contemporary theories of the body and vulnerability to shape a fresh interpretation. The findings suggest that Gilgamesh’s powerful body, despite its might, is defeated by death, sleep, and natural limits, while Utnapishtim’s weakened and aging body, through its acceptance of limitation, becomes a source of wisdom and insight. In comparison with the Iranian tradition, figures such as Zal, Esfandiar, Sohrab, Khidr, and Alexander reflect the same pattern: the non-normative or broken body emerges as a reservoir of meaning and knowledge. The conclusion is that the Epic of Gilgamesh offers a renewed model of heroism—one grounded in wisdom, the embrace of vulnerability, spiritual immortality, and the acceptance of death—which can enrich interdisciplinary studies in literature, philosophy, and culture.