Elixir of life
[1] He seeks out Utnapishtim, a figure in Mesopotamian mythology known for surviving a great flood sent by the gods and being granted immortality.
[2] The ancient Chinese believed that ingesting long-lasting mineral substances such as jade, cinnabar, or hematite would confer some of that longevity on the person who consumed them.
The most famous Chinese alchemical book, Danjing yaojue ("Essential Formulas of Alchemical Classics") attributed to Sun Simiao (c. 581 – c. 682 AD),[4][5] a famous medical specialist respectfully called "King of Medicine" by later generations, discusses in detail the creation of elixirs for immortality (including several toxic ingredients such as mercury, sulphur, and arsenates), as well as those for curing certain diseases and the fabrication of precious stones.
Many of these substances, far from contributing to longevity, were actively toxic and resulted in Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning.
The Jiajing Emperor in the Ming dynasty died from ingesting a lethal dosage of mercury in the supposed "Elixir of Life" conjured by alchemists.
Evidence of the idea of transmuting base metals to gold appears in 2nd- to 5th-century AD Buddhist texts, about the same time as in the West.
However, the person entrusted with carrying the pails down to Earth gets tired and takes a break, and a serpent bathes in the water of life, rendering it unusable.
The elixir of life has been an inspiration, plot feature, or subject of artistic works including animation, comics, films, musical compositions, novels, and video games.
Some examples are L. Frank Baum's fantasy novel John Dough and the Cherub, the science fiction series Doctor Who, Natalie Babbitt's 1975 novel Tuck Everlasting and its film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, House of Anubis, The Puppet Master, the manga Fullmetal Alchemist and Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, the light novel Baccano!, the movie Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva of the Professor Layton franchise, the horror film As Above, So Below and the series of video games Touhou Project and Sims 2.
