Cheng 1
Shirleen Cheng
Feraco
Myth/Sci-Fi P.2
22 October 2012
“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and
something to hope for” –Joseph Addison
Prior to meeting Enkidu, Gilgamesh lives a drab life, one with little meaning for him. He
takes little interest in anything that happens around him and lets others suffer along with him
without any concern for their welfare. He pushed his people half to death to build a wall he could
care less about, he sleeps with the virgin brides simply because he can—in other words,
everything he does is without a true motivation or reason.
Perhaps his two-thirds divinity makes him feel as if he doesn’t belong to Uruk. He’s
neither powerful enough to rise to the levels of the gods, nor is he the same as the people he rules
over. He’s one of a kind and his difference alienates him from everyone he knows, providing him
with little to look forward to. As such, his life is meaningless and he has nothing to lose.
The walls of Uruk that he has his citizens build are meant to protect against the potential
invaders, but it may be that he’s trying to hide away from something else from the outside,
natural world. The Steppe, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and whatever lays beyond all hold
some sort of life, they are filled with meaning, the opposite of what his life is like. They are new
areas where Gilgamesh has never explored and contain things beyond his control, and as
Gilgamesh states in his conversation with Ninsun about his dreams, he has never failed before.
The walls of Uruk may simply be barriers to shield him from that which can make him fail, and
by staying within the decaying walls of Uruk, he stays within the familiar where he’s certain that
he cannot fail.
It is only when he meets someone of equal status, Enkidu, does he see life with a new
purpose. He becomes instilled with a desire to leave a legacy/prove his worth because Enkidu
offers a reasonable rivalry, he is a healthy encouragement, someone who can compete and
Cheng 2
cooperate with and understand him. Enkidu gives him something worth living for and worth
taking risks for—friendships and connections.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Make yourself necessary to somebody.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
After meeting Enkidu, Gilgamesh declares that he and Enkidu should go to destroy the
evil Humbaba who guards the Cedar forest. Humababa is a fearsome creature that most if not all
people in Uruk fear, he represents something that cannot be defeated by any normal man. As the
elders discuss what they’re to do about the forest guardian, Gilgamesh barges in and lets them
know of his plans to adventure into the unexplored to slay Humbaba. He manages to convince
them that the citizens of Uruk need the fight, that they need him to destroy the unfeasible.
Gilgamesh is making himself necessary to the people. By boosting his morale, he boosts
that of those in Uruk. He becomes the person that the people need to break the cycle of decay.
Enkidu in turn agrees to lead Gilgamesh through the Cedar forest and help him defeat
Humbaba in spite of his reluctance. Enkidu has no desire to face Humababa, a creature which
Enkidu had learned to say away from during the time he spent with the animals, and yet, he
agrees to go on Gilgamesh’s reckless trek because Gilgamesh depends on his guidance. He gives
up his safety to become somebody Gilgamesh can rely on for help. And he risks his life to
preserve his bond with Gilgamesh.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Only the gods are immortal anyway” —Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh speaks lightly of Enkidu’s injury that he obtains passing through the
gate of Cedar Forest. He is primarily concerned with just leaving a mark, to leave a lasting
impression in the minds of his people with little regard for the high risk he’s taking by seeking
out Humbaba. Or rather, he’s willing to take the risk, because Enkidu taught him to value the
bonds with others. His companionship with Enkidu gives him some new meaning to life and he
sees life with more value. As such, the two seek out Humbaba, and once they find him, Enkidu is
injured before Gilgamesh comes to his senses and helps Enkidu defeat Humbaba.
Cheng 3
Following the slaying of Humbaba, Ishtar the goddess of love, war, and fertility appears
before Gilgamesh, asking to become his wife. However, Gilgamesh angrily refutes her because
of her history of relationships. He knows that she is also on a higher level than mortal men,
including himself despite his partial divinity, and he knows that because she is higher than him,
she could never truly love him. She also grows tired of a relationship easily and puts little value
in the bonds she forms with her suitors. Eventually, she’ll leave them all heart broken and in a
meaningless cycle of loneliness and despair.
Had Gilgamesh succumbed to her request, he would have enjoyed a fleeting moment of
happiness and pleasure in his companionship with Ishtar, however he would return to the person
he was before learning the value of love and friendship from Enkidu because she would rob him
of his bonds.
Thus Gilgamesh chooses to reject her, and he unwisely throws a bunch of curses and
insults to her face before calming down. Ishtar, someone who is accustomed to having things go
as she desires, brings down the Bull of Heavens to punish Gilgamesh and to set him in his
rightful place.
However, Enkidu, seeking to help Gilgamesh in anyway he can, lunges at the bull and
takes it down before it has a chance to injure his friend. Aside from Enkidu’s strong desire to
protect his friend, we don’t really see another reason for his interference between Gilgamesh and
Ishtar’s feud. While it’s said that by having Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, he gives the gods
more of a reason to punish him later on in the story, it may also be that Enkidu is trying to show
Gilgamesh just much a relationship moves a person. It may not be rational or intelligent (like
when Enkidu decides to throw the limb of the Bull of Heaven at Ishtar), but is love or deep
devotion rational? Not necessarily: “Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the
delight in the recognition” –Alexander Smith
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After the Ishtar incident, Enkidu and Gilgamesh find themselves in a corner. The gods are
angry with them for killing Humababa and the Bull of Heavens and they’ve disgraced Ishtar, one
of their own. They seek punishment, and despite Shamash’s protests, Enlil demands that Enkidu
dies as a consequence for their actions.
Here we see that the gods are committed to maintaining their status above the humans.
Once they feel that their rule/power is challenged, they try to whip the humans back into place,
Cheng 4
on the tier below the heavens. The agitated relationship between mankind and the divinity is
further illustrated as such—men seek ways to find immortality, some way to preserve themselves
when death comes to pass whether it be actual immortality or to live on memorably in the minds
and hearts of the people (as Gilgamesh seeks when he goes to slay Humbaba); but because the
gods are selfish, they seek to keep eternal life to themselves and impede the advancement of
those below them.
In his final moments, Enkidu curses Shamahat for entering his life and opening his eyes
to the world of men. He blames his encounter with her for causing his death, and while Shamash
convinces him that Shamahat showed him something he would never have gained if he had not
met her, Enkidu has a point. Had Shamahat never gone to Enkidu, he would never have lived
with the humans; he’d continue to live innocently with the animals. Shamahat changed his life.
Even with his entire prowess, Shamahat is able to change him, just as he is able to change
Gilgamesh for the short time they were together.
“Even with talent, it’s who you meet at the right time that tips the scales”—Richard Briers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other” –
Mother Teresa
Gilgamesh stays by Enkidu’s side for seven days after Enkidu dies. He mourns and
mourns and after the maggot falls out of Enkidu’s nose, Gilgamesh realizes that his friend has
truly moved on. Enkidu’s death leaves a considerable impact on him, it scares him into realizing
that death is just held by a sliver of thread and can swoop down at any time to claim a mortal’s
life. Thus, Gilgamesh becomes restless and starts to wander. He travels through the desert, the
mountains of Mashu, the Road of the Sun, and into the valley in utter isolation (excluding his
encounter with the Scorpion man and his wife).
The valley, which is a relatively happier place in comparison to the other areas he’s been
through, represents opportunities for Gilgamesh to start anew. It shows that the life continues to
Cheng 5
move on despite someone’s death. However, because Gilgamesh seeks to find immorality
instead, he doesn’t consider the possibilities that his life still holds for him. The valley may also
represent some sort of peace—a place for Gilgamesh’s restless heart to settle down once he has
come to terms with Enkidu’s death; but Gilgamesh does not see the peace in front of him. He is
wrapped up in his loss of Enkidu and repeats his name over and over. Instead of finding peace,
he blocks it off with his sorrows because he’s tied down to his bond with Enkidu.
His encounter with the barmaid, Siduri, also illustrates his inability to come to peace and
move on. Siduri, who offers a chance for him to start a new life with her, fails to help Gilgamesh
settle down and Gilgamesh leaves the opportunity to live again to continue on his journey to find
Utnaphishtim.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Gilgamesh continues on, he acts capriciously and destroys the magical stones that are
meant to help him across the Sea of Death. His actions only impede his progress to him goal and
when Urshanabi helps him realize this, Gilgamesh calms down a bit. But because Gilgamesh is
determined to get across the waters at any cost, he’s still restless and thus still sees the world
with blind eyes. Urshanabi fails, just as Siduri fails, to help Gilgamesh come to terms with his
loss, but he does manage to get him to focus on a new goal. He has Gilgamesh cut down trees for
poles to push himself across the water and by doing so, he gets Gilgamesh to open up a little
more to new possiblities.
Once all his poles, save for one, decay he improvises and uses his clothes and the last
pole to build a mast to sail across the water. A subtle action, but one that slightly suggests that
Gilgamesh may be coming to terms with Enkidu’s death, he no longer shields himself
completely and by taking off his clothes, he leaves himself vulnerable to things beyond his
control.
When Gilgamesh reaches the shore where Utnaphishtim stands, he asks Utnaphishtim
how he cheated death and Utnaphishtim recounts his tale of survival. Essentially, he tells
Gilgamesh that there really isn’t a way to avoid the end and that rather than moping for the rest
Cheng 6
of his life, Gilgamesh should take the advantage he has and start his life over again.
Utnaphishtim is trying to do what the others before him has done, he’s trying to get Gilgamesh to
forget his sorrows and leave the past behind; and while he doesn’t succeed completely, he directs
Gilgamesh to the plant of youth.
The plant, which Gilgamesh procures from the depths of the Sea of Death, instills
Gilgamesh with new hope. He starts to travel back to Uruk, but the hope he carries with him is a
façade as it is quickly stolen from him when the serpent eats the unguarded plant. However, this
final loss that Gilgamesh endures finally opens his eyes, he realizes that all along, he was
searching for something that cannot be obtained and that he wasted part of his life doing
something in vain. He returns to Uruk with wisdom and sheds his sorrows. He looks at the walls
his people built for him and comes to realize that “every moment is a golden one for him who
has the vision to recognize it as such. Life is now, every moment, no matter if the world be
full of death.” –Henry Miller.