Enkidu And Gilgamesh

Two understand how the gods influenced our hero, Gilgamesh, one must first look at the various ways the gods meddled into his life. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale of a half-mortal man whose quest to break his own boredom turns into a tale of friendship, immortality, and kingship. However, his tale would not have been able to happen if it was not for the influence of the various Sumerian deities. After the people of Uruk complained to the gods about Gilgamesh’s child-like behavior, the goddess Aruru creates the man that will become Gilgamesh’s closest friend, Enkidu. Enkidu was created as an equal to the king so that Gilgamesh would have a way to occupy his time. Unfortunately, after the two friends defeated the giant Humbaba, a terrible demon creature, the god Enlil becomes enraged, but despite Enlil’s best effort, he is unable to punish the two.

While many believe inhabitants of early civilizations, like the Sumerians, were at peace with their environment and community, The Epic of Gilgamesh has challenged that idea and suggests that whether or not a Sumerian was civilized or not, determined their relationship with the environment and community. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, representation of the best and worst of humanity is presented through the characters, Enkidu and King Gilgamesh. From the beginning, Enkidu is portrayed as an uncivilized, wild man who is living harmoniously with the environment in which he resides, whereas King Gilgamesh is portrayed as a man of great wealth and stature, who is two-thirds God and one-third human and believes that the environment is at his

He sets to battle Gilgamesh even though he know Gilgamesh is undefeatable fighter. The story states “... for the fellow whose features were fair, for Gilgamesh, like a god, was set up a rival”. The citizens of Uruk was happy to see a man big as Gilgamesh and seen it as a fair fight. They begin as enemies , fighting each other on the street of Uruk. Gilgamesh wins but the two laugh at each other. Gilgamesh is shocked he finds another man nearly strong as him and to challenge him into a battle. He feels immediately respect for Enkidu for his effort.

Everyone has qualities that are heroic and noble, and everyone has their flaws. No matter who they are, or how perfect others think they are, people still have some negative qualities that can hurt their heroic ones. In the book, The Epic of Gilgamesh, by Benjamin Foster, both Gilgamesh and Enkidu had positive and negative characteristics that affected the outcome of their journey and their adventures they experienced throughout their lives.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu helps act as a catalyst for the transformation of Gilgamesh’s character from an undefeatable god-like brute into a complex thinker. In the eyes of Gilgamesh, he is unstoppable and is willing to challenge death itself so long as he is remembered as a hero by his subjects. With Enkidu’s help, Gilgamesh learns to become a better person as a ruler, not as a better warrior. Although not blood related, Enkidu was like a brother to Gilgamesh and the duo shared an inseparable bond. Throughout the epic, Enkidu teaches Gilgamesh that he is not unstoppable, being stubborn will not stop him from dying, and that there are no easy solutions to life.

Many stories address the importance of companionship in one’s life and how a closeness with another person can lead to a mutual improvement on both sides of the relationship. The ancient Sumerian epic Gilgamesh explores the relationship between two soul mates, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, whose story was immortalized because of their dependence and trust in each other. Gilgamesh would not have been able to reach his full potential as a king, warrior, or person if it was not for the influence of Enkidu.

Enkidu and Gilgamesh can only win against nature and even gods by cooperating, which again is a sign of culture. It shows us that a civilization can withstand everything and even fight the Gods plans.

But when Enkidu dies while fighting Humbaba, one can tell a change in Gilgamesh’s character. Since Enkidu was his close and only friend, it makes it more visible that everyone is mortal. One may say that, by going into the forest and facing Humbaba, Gilgamesh makes a name for himself and changes the views of the people in his city. The great accomplishment of killing Humbaba makes him a better person because he protects his city and for his love of Enkidu and his people. This is a considerable amount of change from the beginning of the story. There are no major changes in the character of Gilgamesh until Enkidu enters the picture. Enkidu is the primary reason for the ultimate changes in the personality and maturity of Gilgamesh. The main factor contributing to the changes in Gilgamesh the love that develops with Enkidu. Enkidu is made to make Gilgamesh more human. In the first paragraph of the book the gods are angry with Gilgamesh and send down an equal of himself, they send down Enkidu. After becoming friends, Gilgamesh changes because he has an equal to be with.

The Epic of Gilgamesh starts off very promising. We’re introduced to the handsome, strong and wise ruler of Uruk, Gilgamesh. He was godlike. Literally, he was composed of one third man and two thirds god. However, he rules over his kingdom with an iron fist; raping women and oppressing his subjects. From his own perspective he was living the life it didn’t matter it came to the expense of others. At least that was what he thought at the time. It all changed when he came in contact with his friend, Enkidu. The God’s heard the suffering of Gilgamesh’s people, so in return they create Enkidu to balance out Gilgamesh’s character. Once the two come in contact, they were irrespirable. Gilgamesh had a companion and formed an unspeakable friendship the wild man, but when Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh loses his only true friend, his whole world falls apart. He is stricken with grief. Wandering aimlessly around the forest sobbing

This passage from Tablet II takes place shortly after Enkidu and Gilgamesh first meet, and it illustrates Gilgamesh’s blind pride by his shaming of Enkidu for objecting to his proposal to fight Humbaba. This excerpt serves to characterize Gilgamesh as brash and overzealous in his support for a seemingly impossible quest. Gilgamesh eventually coaxes Enkidu to go along with his plan which inadvertently leads to Enkidu’s death through Gilgamesh’s inability to hold his tongue. This later episode further supports the reckless mindset displayed by Gilgamesh in the excerpt at the beginning of this paper. Judging by this excerpt it can be inferred that one’s pride and honor played a very important role in ancient Mesopotamian culture. This is because Gilgamesh attacked Enkidu’s pride and honor in the last six lines of the excerpt to cajole Enkidu to assist him. Gilgamesh also asserted to Enkidu that he was going to fight Humbaba, even at the cost of his own life, regardless of if Enkidu decided to help him.

Enkidu was Gilgamesh’s companion and closest friend. He was created as Gilgamesh’s equal because the people of Uruk begged for relief from his harsh rule. The goddess Aruru was given the task of creating him. After washing her hands, she pinched some clay and threw it in the wilderness to create Enkidu. He was beastly and ran with the animals until he met Gilgamesh.

In the epic of gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is a man and a God. He built high walls and had orchid fields around his city. He also wasn’t respectful. He touched women whenever he wanted to, He never gave his servants any type of love. Enkidu is a man who was created to tame gilgamesh. He was created by the Gods. The Gods wanted to tame him so they sent an equal power which was enkidu. A wild man who becomes Gilgamesh 's best friend. After being visited by Shamhat, the prostitute, Enkidu is civilized and leaves the animal world behind to journey with Shamhat to Uruk. Enkidu accompanies Gilgamesh to defeat Humbaba before he passes away. Gilgamesh journeys to the Underworld to try to bring

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu is written as a foil/alter ego to Gilgamesh. Because Enkidu is written as a foil/alter ego to Gilgamesh, they complement each other, and help each other grow and develop as characters. There are several places in the text that points out parallels between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. There also differences between Gilgamesh and Enkidu that are pointed out as well. The similarities and differences affect several aspects of their relationships.

Thesis statement: Enkidu’s death was a good and noble one. It was the right time for him to die because he fulfilled the purpose of his creation; he had a positive effect that totally changed Gilgamesh’s life, and he brought back peace to Uruk. 1. Enkidu fulfilled the purpose of his creation. a. He was created to challenge the evil side of Gilgamesh. He succeeds the challenge.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a historic story of the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh. The story depicts the short lived friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The story begins as Shamat the harlot seduces Enkidu and convinces him to go to the city of Uruk and meet Gilgamesh. From that moment on, the two were very close. They planned a trip to the forest of cedars to defeat the monster known as Humbaba so that Gilgamesh could show his power to the citizens of Uruk. However, Enkidu tried “vainly to dissuade” (18) Gilgamesh in going to the forest. Despite Enkidu’s plead, the two continued on their voyage to the forest where Humbaba lives. Once they arrived, they found the monster and killed him.