Characteristics of Gilgamesh and Enkidu in Foster's The Epic of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh is a hero. He notably did good, had a humane purpose to do good, which in the end displayed an everlasting message. In The Epic of

Gilgamesh is not a completely flawed character; he possesses, and obtains through his adventures, many positive qualities or virtues. For example, he is courageous. This virtue is evident during his battle with Humbaba. This forest giant is a fearsome adversary, aided by the gods, with a considerable size and strength advantage. Defeat of Humbaba takes the combined efforts of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. To succeed, Gilgamesh had to gain the courage to undergo this task. Enkidu rallies his friend by saying, “O Gilgamesh, remember now your boasts in Uruk. Forward, attacks, son of Uruk, there is nothing to fear.” (Sandars 20) With this, Gilgamesh’s “courage railed” (Sandars 20). He defeats and eventually kills Humbaba for which he is subsequently praised.

     At first, Gilgamesh is a controlling and arrogant king, who thinks only of himself. He constantly works the men, building enormous walls surrounding the

Gilgamesh struggled to establish moral principle. His personality at first was an arrogant, self-centered tyrant ; he was described by Enkidu "His teeth are dragon's fangs, his countenance is like a lion his charge is the rushing of the flood..." (pg. 16 line 3-6). But towards the end of this epic narrative Gilgamesh switched

As the epic starts, Gilgamesh is portrayed as a self-centered, self-admiring leader who believes that he is the only individual that can lead the city of Uruk. Gilgamesh believes that he is a god-like figure and often refers to himself as one. He believes that he is above everyone else in the city of Uruk. For example, in the epic there is a scene where Gilgamesh enters the city of Uruk, the epic describes the scene as; “He entered the city of Uruk-the-Town-Square, and a crowd gathered around. He came to a halt in the street of Uruk-the Town-Square, all gathered about, the people discussed him” (15). This quote is a good example of how Gilgamesh expected those around him to respect and look up to him as a god-like figure. He did not lead the city of Uruk humbly; he wasn’t a leader who strived to feel like a normal citizen of the city. Instead, Gilgamesh felt that he was entitled to more privileges than the average person. Early on in the epic, Gilgamesh is described as a “tall, magnificent and terrible, who opened passes in the mountains, who dug wells on the slopes of the uplands, and crosses the ocean, the wide sea to the sunrise” (2). This demonstrates how selfish Gilgamesh truly was, and how all

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.

After reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, I have come to realize that Gilgamesh is not a hero, but a failure. His journey does not follow the traditional circular hero’s journey and he does not posses the traits that an admirable hero should have.

During Gilgamesh's search for immortality, we once again see improvement in his character. When Utnapishtim offers Gilgamesh a rejuvenating plant, Gilgamesh plans to give it to the elderly in Uruk rather than keeping it to himself. Here we see that Gilgamesh has been humbled. Although a snake steals the rejuvenating plant, Gilgamesh still learns a great deal from his journey. From Utnapishtim, Gilgamesh learns a great deal about immortality as well as responsibility. This knowledge is the final step in Gilgamesh's transition to a good

Beginning with Gilgamesh, his entire life he was known as a tyrant king. He became so arrogant and erratic that the gods were forced to create another being in order to challenge him. This being, Enkidu, was sent so they could “contend together and leave Uruk in quiet” (The Epic of Gilgamesh 4). This is a perfect example to the fact that Gilgamesh was arrogant and unpredictable. With that being said, he is referred to as a hero for he was the almighty presence in the kingdom. Before Enkidu was created, there was no creature powerful enough to challenge Gilgamesh. This was in part due to him being two-thirds god, however his human side was still generations ahead of anyone else. All in all, Gilgamesh was a mighty human, and a dominant force.

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

Gilgamesh was an all arounded person who went from being a selfish, greedy and unruly leader, to a selfless, committed man, willing to do anything for the good of his people. For this reason, there is no doubt that this man should be remembered in history. Sure, people can be remembered for doing horrible things, but then we remember them so that we can learn off of their mistakes (although that person’s action were probably not mistakes). But what really stands out about Gilgamesh is that he changed, as stated before. This is probably the biggest quality that a single human being can have. At first, he was ordered to fight Enkidu, who was sent from the gods as a lesson for Gilgamesh. Ironically, the two of them became great friends, slaying

However, when the characters are starting their main journey, we begin to see that there is more to our first impressions of them. Gilgamesh ends up sort of adopting Enkidu. Enkidu and Gilgamesh go off to defeat the guardian of the forest, Humbaba. Who did nothing wrong. They went and

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, friendship is a strong theme that drives the story. The bond that Gilgamesh and Enkidu develop throughout the myth is a bond similar to that of brothers. Gilgamesh was fearless, but arrogant and Enkidu was created by the gods specifically to keep the legacy crazed Gilgamesh in check and to teach him humility; Enkidu becomes his conscience of sorts. Gilgamesh was oppressing the people of Uruk and Enkidu and needed to put a stop to it by confronting and fighting him. From what initially started as a violent encounter, their relationship bloomed into something that neither of them could have expected. Their connection really takes off after their encounter with the giant Hambaba and seals the deal on their friendship. They become basically inseparable and after Enkidu passed it completely rocked Gilgamesh because he had lost a huge part of his life. Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s eventual bond is the perfect example of checks and balances within life making this oldest hero’s tale still very relevant today.

Enkidu continues to push Gilgamesh to smite Humbaba. On p. 44, once Enkidu makes the final case to Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba, Humbaba curses both of them: “My friend, Humbaba who guards the Forest [of Cedar —]/ [finish him,] slay him, [do away with his power,] /.../ Humbaba heard...and…[bitterly cursed them:]/ ‘May the pair of them not grow old,/ besides Gilgamesh his friend, none shall bury Enkidu!” Humbaba curses Enkidu for fervently encouraging a hesitant Gilgamesh to kill him. Although Gilgamesh in in the position to kill Humbaba, it is Enkidu who commits the worse crime: betraying the natural world—the world that raised him. Humbaba entrusted Enkidu with his life, to protect him from civilization. Enkidu does not bend to any of