The Epic of Gilgamesh: Friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu
Have you ever heard of Hercules? What about Odysseus? While this story is similar in the amount of issues and the typical emotional and mental growth, this is not about either of them. This is about a man who while had unlimited power, was ignorant to societal norms. Gilgamesh is a chap who through the meeting of his best friend Enkidu comes to be a changed man. In the poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, through similar themes of the Bible in different areas we learn of Gilgamesh and Enkidu growth. Thus, the establishment of friendship plays an important role of humanizing one and making the other more civilized and humble.
First, Gilgamesh was born two-thirds God and made one-third man (Sanders, The Epic of Gilgamesh) in Uruk by the Gods. He did tremendously good deeds in Uruk as stated in the prelude of The Epic of Gilgamesh, in the following statement, “In Uruk he built walls, a great rampart, and the temple of blessed Eanna for the God of the firmament Anu and for Ishtar the goddess of love. However, since he was the King of Uruk, he seemed to have twisted his understanding of how a king or leader was supposed to act as a protector rather than an unrestrained man due to lack of punishment. Gilgamesh was very arrogant and was described as “a handsome youth…His entire body exudes voluptuousness supreme over other kings”. This caused the existence of Gilgamesh to bore as a double-edged sword in most circumstances.
The story of Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk who is two thirds god and one third human, is a interesting and intriguing piece of literature. The story tells of Gilgameshs' strength, bravery, intelligence, looks, and loyalty making him a true model hero. It says that Gilgamesh was (pg.13), "given a perfect body and endowed with beauty and courage and his beauty surpassed all others." Throughout the story he is constantly going into battle and going on long adventures to find answers that will better his city. He is also respectful to those he meets along his journeys and asks God for strength during his battles. Gilgamesh is a religious character that posseses super human strength, bravery, selflessness, and intelligence making him a model
Further analysis of the poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, described the characteristic of king Gilgamesh from the beginning, middle, and end. Throughout the poem, there are immature and petrified moments of Gilgamesh, but more importantly he learned to grow as he explore his journey. Friendship, love, and fear appears to be essential in this poem. Why are those terms relevant ? and how does it connect with the trait of Gilgamesh ?, let’s continue to find out the truth about Gilgamesh.
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.
At first, Gilgamesh was seen as an oppressor to his people. He was known to be among the best of creation; as stated in the prolouge "When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body...". This emphasizes his signification of his situation and makes him feel better
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.
Gilgamesh was the King of Uruk which is thought to be in modern Iraq around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. He built the great City of Uruk complete with fortified walls encompassing the three and a half square miles of city. When he was born, it was known he was two thirds divine and one-third human. Unfortunately, he was known to be quite harsh on the people of Uruk. He “strode back and forth, Lording it
Gilgamesh worked hard to achieve a great name for himself. He had companions, respect, confidence, and
Gilgamesh perceived himself as the greatest being to ever walk the earth. All the people of Uruk were blessed to even look upon him. He thought of himself as a god, and the people did as well. This is proven with this section of the book “Gilgamesh the tall, magnificent and terrible, who opened passes in the mountains, who dug wells on the slopes of the uplands, and crossed the ocean, the wide sea to the sunrise;” (2). Gilgamesh was definitely looked up to by his people. They obeyed his every command no matter how degrading it may be. The city of Uruk paid heed to him with good reason though. Gilgamesh committed incredible actions that make him clearly stand out among the average man. He was well known among the gods who spoke of him frequently. He would even speak to them himself at some points. “Said Gilgamesh to him, to the hero Shamash: ‘After roaming, wandering all through the wild, when I enter the Netherworld will rest be scarce? I shall lie there sleeping all down the years!” (71). He spent a large portion of his life attempting to achieve immortality. He also slew a nature divinity, Humbaba, “Gilgamesh smote him in the neck, his friend Enkidu gave encouragement. He … he fell, the ravines did run with his blood. Humbaba the guardian he smote to the ground” (46). Gilgamesh committed many commonly perceived sins in his lifetime. He truly enjoyed his everyday decadence. Gilgamesh puts on airs every second of
Gilgamesh, ruling king of Uruk, was expected to be a prominent warrior, provide protection for the city, and honor the gods. Through trials and tribulations he helped make his city-state a much stronger civilization.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh begins as an inconsiderate ruler who does not respect his people or the community. It becomes clear from early on in the novel that Gilgamesh has caused an upset in society, and for the population to function smoothly he has to change his ways. The text reads, “Neither the father’s son nor the wife of the noble is safe in Uruk; neither the mother’s daughter nor the warrior’s bride is safe” (Gilgamesh, I:i). This excerpt shows how the subjects under Gilgamesh’s rule were scared of him. Not a soul in the town was safe because of the king, and this caused a great upset to the ways of society. Gilgamesh did not see the wrong in his doings and did not take into account the consideration the feelings of his pupils. In order for the community to obtain peace, their ruler will have to learn that he is the change that needs to occur.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh begins as an inconsiderate ruler who does not respect his people or the community. It becomes clear from early on in the novel that Gilgamesh has caused an upset in society, and for the population to function smoothly he has to
In the first five books of the epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was created to be a double of Gilgamesh and match his courage, strength and stormy heart. Instead of their being a power struggle between the two, instead, they become friends and slay the monster in the Cedar Forest. I would characterize the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu s being one between two equals. So far it seems that Enkidu is loyal to Gilgamesh and is the more rational of the two. This can be seen in book III when Enkidu tries to convince Gilgamesh not to enter the Cedar Forest and fight Humbaba because he will be putting his own life at risk. And his localness can be seen because regardless of his fear of going into the forest he goes anyways to support Gilgamesh and
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.
Friendship is the feeling built on the basis of common characteristics between one person and another. A beautiful friendship must first be a friendship construct of empathy, impartiality, not profitable, or calculation. That means the friends should come together to share and confide. In a beautiful friendship, friends treat each other sincerely and cordially. To give each other motivation, people do not need to give out valuable gifts, it can be compliments as well as encouragement. In “The Epic of Gilgamesh”, the story is about a powerful friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, however they started to fight as soon as they seen each other. This made readers think that they are not in agreement and will become enemies. As the story goes