Fighting for Friendship in the Epic "Gilgamesh" Essay

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

The birth goddess Aruru pinched a piece of clay and threw it to the plains where Enkidu was created. Enkidu was a wild man, hairy and naked. He ate and drank with the other animals. The harlot Shamhatwas sent to tame Enkidu. She offered her body and showed him the luxuries of men. He was led to Uruk and met Gilgamesh attending a wedding where he would have the bride for his own before her husband. Enkidu thought this was inappropriate and took exception to the act. Gilgamesh and Enkidu clashed with each other in the streets but there was no winner. This shows the moral differences in the two though they were physical equals. Enkidu would come to be the moral compass to Gilgamesh’s brutality (W. W. Norton & Company Vol

Gilgamesh's friend Enkidu runs wild until he sleeps with a harlot, after which the wild beasts which were once his friends reject him, suggesting that femininity is also a source of male disempowerment. Although Aruru is the source of both the life of Gilgamesh and his beloved companion Enkidu, the two friends create a society between themselves that is essentially masculine. This masculine relationship is the most positive force in the epic. Gilgamesh is known for his sexual prowess amongst women, but his feelings for Enkidu run much deeper and are more profound. He is said to be drawn to Enkidu "as though to a woman" but no relationship Gilgamesh has with women parallels the one he has with Enkidu (2).

The text states “The eyes of Enkidu were full of tears and his heart was sick. He sighed bitterly and Gilgamesh met his eye and said, “My friend, why do you sigh so bitterly?” Enkidu opened his mouth and said, “I am weak, my arms have lost their strength, I am oppressed by idleness.” It was then that the lord Gilgamesh turned his thoughts to the Country of the Living.” Now we seek into why we don’t think they should be friends because they end up killing Humbaba.Then they killed the bull of heaven. Finally we see that the gods choose to kill Enkidu because they killed Humbaba and the bull of

Ninsun was right, and the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu was one of great loyalty and trust. The formation of the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu was very abrupt. Upon meeting, they fought fiercely, stopped, and embraced. This pithiness gives an air of ingenuity to the relationship, but that is later shattered by their loyalty to one another in following scenes.

The virtue of loyalty in the Epic of Gilgamesh is best illustrated by the character Enkidu. He is introduced in the epic as a counter to Gilgamesh. Created by the goddess Aruru, Enkidu, a wild and solitary person, is defeated in a wrestling match by Gilgamesh. He then becomes a loyal and faithful friend to the king. This loyalty is tested before the battle with Humbaba. Enkidu, aware of the giant’s powers and strengths, pleads to Gilgamesh, “You do not know this monster and that is the reason you are not afraid. I who

However, Gilgamesh befriends Enkidu and the two of them form a bond surpassing that which Gilgamesh has felt for women. Through his physical overcoming of Enkidu and his civilization of the other man, Gilgamesh begins to show more of an inner life than he did

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.

This explain that Enkidu is trying to point out how dangerous Humbaba is. Gilgamesh didn’t care how powerful Humbaba is because he believe that he could take anyone down, he didn’t care about Enkidu thoughts of Humbaba. “Gilgamesh opened his mouth to speak,/ say [to Enkidu:]/ why, my friend, do you speak like a weakling?/ with your spineless words you [make me] despondent.” (19). This shows that Gilgamesh is arrogant and immature, thinking he could defeat the monster himself without having any fear. Gilgamesh went back to the Uruk to make an announcement of battling Humbaba the vicious monster. Gilgamesh said, “I will conquer him in the Forest of Cedar:/ let the land learn Uruk’s offshoot is mighty!/ let me start out,/ I will cut down the Cedar./ I will establish for ever a name eternal!” (20). Next, Gilgamesh and Enkidu climbed up the hill into the forest to find Humbaba. They end up on the hillside to rest before the battle. Gilgamesh had his first dream, “[My friend, did you not call me? Why have I wakened ?]/ [Did you not touch me? Why am I startled ?]/ [Did a god not pass by? Why is my flesh frozen numb?]/ [My friend, I have had the first dream!]” (30). This symbolize fear, for the first time Gilgamesh experiencing the feeling of being afraid. Gilgamesh suddenly changed as he went onto a Journey to the Forest of Cedar. When Gilgamesh continue to see Humbaba knowing that he is

Love, both erotic and platonic, motivates change in Gilgamesh. Enkidu changes from a wild man into a noble one because of Gilgamesh, and their friendship changes Gilgamesh from a bully and a tyrant into an exemplary king and hero. Because they are evenly matched, Enkidu puts a check on Gilgamesh’s restless, powerful energies, and Gilgamesh pulls Enkidu out of his self-centeredness. Gilgamesh’s connection to Enkidu makes it possible for Gilgamesh to identify with his people’s interests. The love the friends have for each other makes Gilgamesh a better man in the first half of the epic, and when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s

Enkidu and Gilgamesh to turn each other into great heros. Enkidu changes Gilgamesh as a human being and a king. He opens Gilgamesh to make a better name for himself and set out for a legacy on the world. He tells him the beast created by Enlil called the Humbaba. Gilgamesh sees this an epic way to create his mark on the world and ask Enkidu to join him. Before they depart, Ninsun adopts Enkidu as a son therefore Gilgamesh and Enkidu are truly brothers. She brings protection on both of them since she knew she couldn’t stop them from not killing the beast. This journey defines how their personalities start to rub off each other. Gilgamesh states to Enkidu, “Take my hand, friend, and we shall go on together, let your thoughts dwell on combat! Forget death and seek life!”.  Enkidu starts to doubt their ability to defeat Humbaba. Enkidu recently before soothes Gilgamesh for his three dreams. He

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.

Gilgamesh then goes on a fifty-five line long rant, just absolutely trashing Ishtar for her advances. Ishtar then runs to her father, who just so happens to be Anu, to request the Bull of Heaven to kill Gilgamesh. At first, Anu says that she provoked the king to say such things, but when Ishtar says she will raise the dead, the god agrees to her request. Yet again, Anu must show his wrath. The Bull of Heaven is released onto Uruk, but together, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are able to defeat it and save the city. Enkidu throws part of the bull’s body at Ishtar, and Gilgamesh hangs its massive horns in his bedroom, which of course only further angered Ishtar. After a night of celebration, Enkidu has a dream in which the gods say that he must die. Another example of the wrath of the gods, Enkidu falls ill and dies after twelve days. Hoping to discover how he himself can avoid the fate of his comrade, Gilgamesh goes on a journey to find Utnapishtim, a man who survived a great flood and was granted eternal life by the gods. When Gilgamesh finds him, Utnapishtim tells him the story of the flood he experienced, which was sent from the gods for no other reason than they were angry. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the wrath of the gods is provoked for many reasons, whether it is to teach a lesson, or the gods are simply angry. Either way, the wrath of the gods is present in this poem.

For a while everything is fine in Enkidu's life until one day a trapper sees Enkidu and notices that Enkidu is preventing the trapper from catching any game. So to his father and the father send the trapper to Gilgamesh to get a harlot to trap Enkidu. And how does she trap Enkidu? By using her womanly powers, sex, and these powers Enkidu cannot resist. When Enkidu tries to return to his home in the forest, roaming with the animals, the animals reject Enkidu. The wild beasts reject Enkidu when he has been with a woman, as if being with a woman is contaminating: "When next he comes down to drink at the wells she will be there, stripped naked; and when he sees her beckoning he will embrace her, and then the wild beasts will reject him." So then the woman teaches Enkidu her ways. But then back with Gilgamesh, the power of lust and sex takes Gilgamesh and Gilgamesh try to take another virgin before the husband. Word gets back to Enkidu, who is the good to Gilgamesh's evil, and Enkidu travels to Uruk to stop Gilgamesh. When Enkidu arrives Enkidu fights Gilgamesh.

He was provoking Gilgamesh. He says to him, “Listen to me, not Humbaba’s curses.” (Chapter 5, Tablet 5) Humbaba curses Enkidu and Gilgamesh finally makes up his mind and kills Humbaba. Afterwards, they desecrate his remains. Towards the ending, the gods punish Gilgamesh and Enkidu by giving Enkidu a slow, painful, and inglorious death for killing the demon Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. He has a dream one night that the Gods have decided that for killing Humbaba, chopping down the Cedar, and killing the Bull of Heaven, either he or Gilgamesh must die. Enlil chooses Enkidu and he immediately, under mysterious circumstances gets ill, and after much suffering he dies. Gilgamesh is sad and heartbroken about his friend’s