When Orwell (the author) writes that “Starvation seemed to stare them in the face,” what is he talking about?

gilgamesh is an epic hero from birth, as he's brought to the world by the hand of several gods who shaped him with the goal of saving humanity. there's a passage from the text that reads "the glorious sun shamash bestowed upon him glory; adad the terrible god of storms bestowed upon him courage. the great gods perfected his magnificence beyond all others, terrible like the great wild bull". this is a great example that show some of the super-human qualities that the gods gave gilgamesh upon his birth.

as gilgamesh grows he has to face many challenges that put his heroism to task. the courage he displays along the way, prove that he's ready to live up to the godly qualities brought upon him. at one point he has to overcome a wild beast by the name of hubamba "whose roar is a flood, whose mouth is fire, whose breath is death", as the text reads. the actions taken by gilgamesh, beating the beast with the use of his super-human force, examplify why he shoud be thought of as an epic hero.

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imparadis't in one anothers arms  

the happier eden, shall enjoy their fill  

of bliss on bliss, while i to hell am thrust,  

where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire,  

among our other torments not the least,  

still unfulfill'd with pain of longing pines;  

yet let me not forget what i have gain'd  

from their own mouths; all is not theirs it seems:  

one fatal tree there stands of knowledge call'd,  

forbidden them to taste: knowledge forbidd'n?  

suspicious, reasonless. why should their lord  

envie them that? can it be sin to know,

we need more information in order to answer.

the following what exactly?