Sigmund Freud is a man who explored the human psyche more than anyone before him. He worked on an in-depth analysis of the human mind to understand why people behave in a certain way. Many times the theories he pioneered were extremely controversial but also seemed to influence the ideas of both thinkers of his generation and future thinkers. In his book Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud discusses his view on how society is related to each individual. Today, Freud's theories are still notable and can be linked to different aspects of our lives. To better understand his theories, we can apply them using our knowledge of ideas. One way to do this is to apply ideas to characters in stories, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh. Shamash, the sun god in The Epic of Gilgamesh, embodies the ego and superego of both Gilgamesh and Enkidu as described by Freud in Civilization and Its Discontents because he uses his power to guide, as well as protect, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, along with his knowledge of right from wrong, to influence Gilgamesh and Enkidu as evidence of his instructions on how to handle different situations and his disapproval when they act non-compliantly. Shamash is one of the main gods who greatly influences the outcome of the story. If we take a closer look at Shamash and his relationship with Gilgamesh and Enkidu, we will have a better understanding of how important Shamash is. In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud describes the ego as "partially conscious and contains defense mechanisms and the abilities to calculate, reason and plan." (Civilization and Its Discontents, 165) The ego prevents us from acting exclusively in based on impulses alone and helps give us a sense of ... middle of paper ... to do next and plan a successful attack . This is a perfect representation of the Freudian idea of the ego. Shamash, however, experiences discontents he is the guide to virtuous living and truthful action, or actions, he is grieved when people ignore his ideas, as Enkidu did these dissatisfied who contribute to making Shamash the ideal Overego and his reasoning for making people feel guilty and apologize for their actions. Overall, Shamash represents some of the key ideas that Freud had developed and presented in Civilization and Its Discontents. This is just one example of how Freud's ideas they can be applied to analyze why people behave in certain ways. There are many functions of our conscious and unconscious mind that are difficult to understand, but Freud provides an excellent analysis of his theories that can be very relatable..
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