Preview

Gilgamesh And Enkidu Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
275 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gilgamesh And Enkidu Analysis
The Epic of Gilgamesh tries to define immortality as not a long life but as a life that leaves behind an immortal impact by the deeds done in it. Gilgamesh’s friend Enkidu, in life and death, leads him to change his outlook on life. Enkidu is portrayed as someone who lives for the moment. He is pictured in this state at the beginning of the story, “The deer and Enkidu drank, side by side, - companions - loving life and liberty, apart from hate and strife”(pg. 4). After Enkidu dies from the battle Gilgamesh feels the pain of losing him. He also begins to fear his own death. Gilgamesh sets out on a quest to find immortality. But before that he goes to find a life after death, and Shamash plainly says, “The eternal life you are seeking you shall

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The journey that Gilgamesh took after Enkidu died was a turning point of his life. The reason it was so meaningful to Gilgamesh and the story was because it showed Gilgamesh and the readers reading the book, that no one life has immortally. Gilgamesh was very distraught and he set on a journey to seek immortally for himself. “…did bitterly weep as he wandered the wild…” (Gilgamesh 70) Gilgamesh thought that he was immortal but seeing could what happen to Enkidu he could not let that happen to himself also, because he was afraid of death and what would become of him. His journey is to find Uta-napishti, who has immortally. Then, when Gilgamesh meets Uta-napishti, Uta-napishti ask why Gilgamesh is so down in the dumps, telling him how he was…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the cedar forest, Humbaba lay lifeless on the ground, surrounded by the regretful Gilgamesh and the triumphant Enkidu. Before Enkidu was able to convince Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba, Gilgamesh was considering doing the right thing by allowing him to live. However, Gilgamesh succumbed to Enkidu’s persuasion, decided to kill Humbaba, and allowed Enkidu to strike the final blow. Gilgamesh should have listened to his conscience and should not have let Enkidu affect his actions. Enkidu’s persuasion harmfully influenced Gilgamesh’s actions, subsequently having a negative impact on both Humbaba’s and Enkidu’s…

    • 92 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “"Come now, Harlot, I am going to decree your fate, a fate that will never come to an end for eternity! I will curse you with a Great Curse… may a crossroad be your home, may a wasteland be your sleeping place…” In the Epic of Gilgamesh, having crossed paths with Gilgamesh and his harlot, the life of our character, Enkidu, was turned to a wasteland. Enkidu lived freely. He ate with gazelles and drank with lions in a manner uncomplicated by pursuit or expectation. Unbeknownst to Enkidu, however, his life was never his own. He was created as a parallel to Gilgamesh, imparted with power meant to foil the rule exercised by the king without parry, “Let him be equal to [Gilgamesh’s] stormy heart, let them be a match for each other so that Uruk may find peace!”.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A hero is a genuine soul. He or she is always willing to risk his or her life for the safety of another. He or she has a need for things to be right in the world, but evil will always return. A hero she also possesses some extraordinary power or gift that a normal human being does not. It is very interesting when Gilgamesh is compared with Enkidu. It is easy to tell at the beginning of the story that Enkidu is going to be a hero. It takes a little bit longer for the reader to warm up to the idea of Gilgamesh becoming a hero.…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Myth of Gilgamesh Analysis

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Perlin, John. A forest journey: the role of wood in the development of civilization. New York: W.W. Norton, 1989. Print.…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Enkidu Vs Gilgamesh

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Page

    Even though both Gilgamesh and Enkidu display feminine behaviors they appear to start acting like normal men again. Shamhat the harlot is a character who is responsible to get Enkidu into appear more like a human and less like an animal through sexual intercourse. This was done by Gilgamesh himself to make Enkidu be just like him a human. What most noticeable about this is that the only time in the epic were the gender behaviors and reactions were normal meaning Enkidu acted just like a man and Shamhat acted like a woman. We are told of the process of when the two began to act like how normal relationships are supposed to be in an epic:…

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gligamesh

    • 604 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gilgamesh is a man of little value, just like all the other men of his time. He is deemed peripheral, because he cannot procreate. He is told he is “two thirds a god but one third a man.” He wants to live forever and after witnessing the death of his beloved friend, Enkidu, he must do just that. He goes to the land of Dilmum to find the only immortal man, Utnapistum. He travels to the mountain of Mashu where he is questioned and ridiculed for his notion of being everlasting. The Scorpions guard the door from him, standing in the way of eternal life and him, but finally he is let in. Here he is again remind that his quest is unavailing, this time by Shamash the Sun God: “You will never find the life for which you are searching.” He meets Siduri, the goddess of wine she too reminds him of his vacuous journey and the common lot of men: “Be merry and rejoice, cherish your child and embrace you wife.” Not only is Gilgamesh again told his fate; she too locks her tavern, barring him again from reaching the next level to immortality. Eventually, Gilgamesh meet with the epitome of the male hope, Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim gives him a speech that averages to “nothing last forever”. He…

    • 604 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Following the passing of Enkidu, his closest companion, he transforms into a man with a new purpose. Throughout his life, Gilgamesh has ruled his kingdom from afar, never connecting with his people. He has always been envious of the immortal gods because, though he is two-thirds god, he will never be immortal. Along his journey, he constantly grasps with chances to prove his equality to the gods, depicted perfectly in his defeat of Humbaba. With that in mind, it is clear Gilgamesh demonstrates his power as a king whenever he is given the opportunity. Though Gilgamesh may think that demonstrating his power prove his equality to the deities, it actually makes him more human in many ways. After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh begins to truly and deeply understand the capabilities of the gods he has strived his entire life to become. When he loses the plant of life, Gilgamesh realizes that he is not fit for immortal life and that he should move on because the dead will stay dead. Finally, because of this new found enlightenment, Gilgamesh is finally able to forgo his past desires and live freely without the weight of death, specifically Enkidu’s, on his shoulders. From Gilgamesh’s story of painful lessons turned positive, people can conclude and learn that at the end of every difficult journey, there will be development. However, in order to obtain the acceptance that although generations go by and people pass away, the cycle of life and the hand of time never stops, in essence, humanity never fades away. People going through hardships similar to that of Gilgamesh’s, need to learn the extremely difficult lesson, and undergo the journey, about life and more importantly, self-discovery. For Gilgamesh this means living in the moment, not in the past or the…

    • 1344 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The emphasis on the thoughts of Gilgamesh and Enkidu as they traveled to meet Humbaba reveals the nature of courage is to be able to face your fears. During the journey Enkidu worries about how he doesn’t have the strength to protect both himself and Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh tries to calm Enkidu’s worries by saying that it’s ok if they die fighting Humbaba, because if they do then at least they will be remembered for their actions. Gilgamesh also mentions that it is better to be known as the person who died doing something dangerous but corangage rather than be the one who is know for running away from the fight. As a way to make is point on the matter Gilgamesh says he won’t return to the city of Uruk until he has defeated Humbaba unless he…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the poem, before Gilgamesh and Enkidu went to the cedar forest, Gilgamesh went before his mother for her to show them their journey that was before them; they wanted guidance and direction towards their destination. As quoted,”Up, blood-brother. Let us go to Egalmah, the great temple, to the presence of Ninsun, the great queen. Ninsun the wise, who knows everything. A wise path she will lay out for our feet.” When in stress, mind religious people pray to their gods for an answer to their problem or a form of direction to take.…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gilgamesh and Enkidu became friends in a very strange way, but I guess back then it was normal. To see someone being honor at, rather than oneself drove Gilgamesh mad. Gilgamesh was king and everyone should praise him, but along came Enkidu who was given a special treatment, and that brought displeasure to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was the first one to attack and they ended up in a crazy physical fight, breaking things left and right. They hit each other till they were exhausted and with a last look in one another's eyes, they start laughing it off leading to the beginning of the new friendship. Immediately after becoming friends they set off to the forest of Humbaba.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Epic of Gilgamesh by Donna Rosenberg revealed the tale of the two-thirds god and one-third mortal king, Gilgamesh, whose biggest fear was the common fate of all human beings - death. Throughout his journey to find immortality, the story portrayed various examples of different categories of archetypes that influenced the passage, and added to the overall meaning of the text. The most important archetypes that impacted the plot of the story include Gilgamesh’s heroic characteristics, Enkidu’s death, and the idea of immortality.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gilgamesh Research Paper

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gilgamesh has unusual circumstances of his birth by being a god and a human along, with Gilgamesh born to become a king. According to Gilgamesh it states, “Gilgamesh was two- thirds God and one-third man” (28). Gilgamesh was unusual when he was born since, he was both God and human. Because of his unusual birth it meant that he's a still human and will eventually face death. But, Gilgamesh knowing that he can die any moment doesn't stop him from going on the adventures and fulfilling his quests. As a result Gilgamesh's birth is an aspect of him becoming a hero. The text states, “Gilgamesh was the renowned king of the city of Uruk. To his people, Gilgamesh was a tyrant who became a great hero” (28). In other words Gilgamesh was known to…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The story of Gilgamesh revolves around two characters, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and their adventure throughout the story. Gilgamesh, being the king of Uruk, comes from a civilized background, while Enkidu comes from wilderness and nature. A major event is when Enkidu was introduced to civilization by a Harlot, who stripped naked and aroused the wild Enkidu. Eventually, the wilderness rejected Enkidu after being with the Harlot, forcing Enkidu to join civilization. Another key event is when the goddess of love, Ishtar, tries multiple attempts to win Gilgamesh as her lover, but Gilgamesh rejects Ishtar and chooses to be with a man and continue his journey in the wilderness even after killing the mighty Humbaba. It is as if Gilgamesh rejected…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Epic of Gilgamesh presents a fascinating interpretation on what means to be human, and informs us a great deal about how the ancient Mesopotamians saw themselves in relation to a seemingly chaotic natural order. An initial reading of the Sumerian epic presents a bleak and confusing outlook on the events of the story, was the story of Gilgamesh irrelevant? While his quest for immortality was ultimately in vain, and he would have to concede the uncomfortable fact of his own mortality, this is not the entire truth of the text. The story of Gilgamesh presents a much more optimistic view on humanity then this superficial interpretation; death is an inevitable part of all human existence, yet similar to Gilgamesh, we can all attain something meaningful with the time allotted to us. Gilgamesh learns this universal of the human connection through his relationship with Enkidu; their friendship is a source of joy for Gilgamesh, a relationship which enables him to accomplish great things and create a lasting legacy. The Epic of Gilgamesh serves as reminder, not only to the ancients to whom recited the tale but to the modern reader, that while we are destined to perish, what we do with what little time we have should define us, not the fear of the inevitable, thus the epic depicts human life as a thing of consequence, an end in itself.…

    • 1632 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays