Gilgamesh in response to Foster

Foster presents the themes of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" as a model of what human knowledge and experience really is. He suggests that sex is a requisite for becoming human, which is to be succeeded by the idea of love and unity with another human being (not necessarily in a sexual sense). However, Foster explicitly includes the notion that these unifications are as mortal as human beings themselves, and are ultimately "doomed to disintegrate". Through this deterioration of a human relationship, Foster claims the individual (the human) has "acquired the next highest human knowledge". In plain terms, to fully feel human, one must endure suffering.

This concept of a multifaceted human experience, which is presented in a hierarchical fashion, is clearly demonstrated in the "Epic of Gilgamesh". Both the development of Enkidu as a human character and the grieving state of Gilgamesh validates this very notion.

Enkidu endures the first few levels of human experience as highlighted by Foster. He experiences the primary level through his sexual union with Shamhat, giving in to her charm and allure as an animal, but leaving the experience as a ‘man’. After being taken to Uruk by Shamhat, he then begins to build a strong relationship (which is purely unsexual and rather rooted in human emotion and connection) with Gilgamesh upon accepting him as a friend and brother. His development in to a human can be affirmed by his acceptance as an adoptive child by Gilgamesh’s mother herself.

Gilgamesh’s experience of loss leads to strife, toil and extreme suffering which shows him what is truly means to be human. The disintegration of his relationship with Enkidu, through the absence of this friend, establishes pain in his life which develops in to a strong fear of death. His unsuccessful plight for immortality and the impossible leads him to further suffering but ultimate acceptance of his life and the importance of himself even without his dear friend.