Something that gives me chills: the fact that the oldest surviving story we know — the Epic of Gilgamesh — was written by the oldest civilization we know of, ancient Mesopotamia. And what’s it about? Friendship. Mortality. The fear of death. The same things that keep us up at night 4,000 years later.
Some people get existential dread from this. They see it as a reminder that no matter how advanced we get, we’re still wrestling with the same demons as people who wrote on clay tablets under torchlight.
Me? I think it’s awesome. Humanity figured out writing and the very first thing we did was write down poetry about friendship and death. That’s the most human thing imaginable.
Gorgocutie’s Verdict:
The Epic of Gilgamesh dates back to around 2100 BCE from Sumer (Mesopotamia) — the oldest known civilization with a writing system. The story follows King Gilgamesh grieving his beloved friend Enkidu and then embarking on a desperate quest for immortality. He fails. And that’s the point: mortality gives life its meaning. The fact that the oldest known story, the foundation of all world literature, already deals with existential themes shows that some questions are truly universal across all of human history. The oldest story still hits different. And yes, that’s worth some existential contemplation.
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