The Quest for Immortality

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW37832893 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="auto">In the</span> <em><span data-contrast="auto">Epic of Gilgamesh</span></em><span data-contrast="auto">, written over 4,000 years ago, Enkidu, the great friend of the demigod Gilgamesh, dies. Afraid of death, Gilgamesh asks the sage Utnapishtim, the only survivor of the Great Flood, about the secret to immortality. Utnapishtim gives Gilgamesh a number of tasks, all of which he fails. But that was the point. Gilgamesh learned that immortality is beyond his grasp and returns to Uruk to live out the rest of his life as king.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">The first emperor of China was Shi Huang Di. Buried in a tomb decorated with the</span> <a href= "https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/chinas-terracotta-warriors-the-first-emperors-legacy/?gclid=CjwKCAjwp6CkBhB_EiwAlQVyxRU-Oz07LlQxNZviAtdSa-rd4dP6jErfs2V8oT4Z_z3XKvxW1ef3qRoCGoEQAvD_BwE"> <span data-contrast="none">famous terracotta soldiers</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, he also feared death and called on Chinese alchemists to create an elixir that would allow him to live forever. The alchemists believed they could make immortality possible through a perfect balance of the five elements: water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. Unfortunately for the emperor, the elixir contained mercury (because it is both a liquid and a metal), which likely contributed to the emperor’s death.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Attempts to achieve immortality have continued (and continued to fail) right up to our own time. Medieval European alchemists believed they could produce “the philosopher’s stone,” which would perfect the imperfect, turning lead into gold and making mortal life immortal. Enlightenment thinkers of the late 18th century rejected the mysticism of alchemy but continued to