Gilgamesh Character Analysis

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

maker of wine, since I have seen your face do not let me see the face

     Overall, Gilgamesh is a horrible king. His biggest problem is his selfishness. He uses his godly position to obtain whatever he wants. His

Gilgamesh was a very intelligent leader. He shows throughout the entire epic a sense of foresight that keeps him safe and his city powerful. It is known, that a good leader must prove that he is powerful, and that he can defend his people in the best way possible. Gilgamesh knew that by fighting the terrible beast Humbaba he would prove to his people that he was strong and powerful and could out wit even the strongest beast. He tells Enkidu that, “All glory will be ours if now we conquer this unprecedented foe and risk the woe that frightens others.” He also shows foresight by respecting his mother’s wisdom when she told him that Enkidu was his true friend. Additionally, throughout the entire epic Gilgamesh looks to his mother, “who is wise and worries not,” for advice and counseling on things to do and the right paths to take in his life. Looking to those who are wise and more intelligent, is

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

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.

of the people in his city and he becomes loved. He did a great deed for his people, and he felt very gratifying about it. Although this played a role in his personality

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

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.

In the beginning, Gilgamesh is a fantastic athlete and warrior. As one would expect from an individual who is two thirds god and one third man, his beauty, strength and courage surpassed all others. He built great walls for his city and temples for the gods. Gilgamesh's flaw, however, is that he is a poor king. He is known for

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

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

Before the coming of Enkidu, Gilgamesh was a man of pure power. A being of which there was no equal match, Gilgamesh boasted upon his overwhelming glory and power. This arrogance was accompanied with an extensive abuse of power, which led the city of Uruk into a state of injustice and rage. "His arrogance has no bounds by day or

Apparently, the narrator uses heroic terms to describe Gilgamesh at the start of the epic. In fact, the narrator always uses heroic terms whenever describing Gilgamesh. For instance, the narrator talks of Gilgamesh as a man to whom everything was known because he was not only wise, but also had seen mysteries. The narrator continues to praise Gilgamesh as the king who knew secret things. Even when describing Gilgamesh’ physique, the narrator is clinical.