Gilgamesh is the main character of Sumerian mythology. Gilgamesh was prince of Uruk, a city in ancient Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh became king after his father’s death and Gilgamesh’s best friend was Enkidu. Gilamgesh and Enkidu are introduced in the tablet when Gilgamesh is king of Uruk and people are complaining about Gilgamesh’s rought behavior. Gilgamesh orders his men to go on a journey to find someone who can defeat Gilgamesh in battle so Gilamgesh would have respect in the kingdom.
Gilgamehs men return with Enkidu, who is known as a wild man whose body is covered with hair. The two meet each other at the gate of Uruk, Gilgamesh holds out his hand and shakes Enkidu’s hand (which according to Sumerian customs was like saying you were friends). Enkidu instantly becomes Gilgamesh’s best friend and they do many great things together such as defeating the ogre Humbaba.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu are inseparable until they have a fight about Gilgamesh sleeping with Enkidu’s sister which eventually leads to Gilgamesh’s death in the future. Gilgamesh is one of the oldest heroes in literature. Gilgamesh appears in poems, stories, songs, and myths from Mesopotamia throughout history. Gilgamesh is known for two main things: being the king of Uruk and his best friend named Enkidu who was killed by a woman before Gilgamesh could get there to help him.
The poem “Gilgames” begins with Gilgamesh as king of Uruk with people coming up to Gil to complain about Gil’s behavior. Gilgamesh sends his men to find someone who can defeat Gilgamesh in battle so Gilgamesh would have more respect. Gilgamesh’s men return with Enkidu, Gil gives his hand to Enkidu and shakes it which is a sign of friendship between the Sumerians. Gilgamesh and Enkidu are inseparable until they fight about Gil sleeping with Enkidu’s sister which leads to the death of Enkidu later on.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu relationship Gilgamesh was the ruler of Uruk, a city located in Mesopotamia (Iraq). Gilgamesh had many responsibilities. He made sure that all the people were doing their jobs and he also went to war when necessary. Gilgamesh was two parts human and one part god. He was extremely strong and handsome. Gilgamesh had no equal in strength besides his best friend Enkidu. Gilgamesh was both loved and feared by the people of Uruk, for this reason Gilgamesh was not very approachable or friendly to anyone other than his mother. Gilgamesh was a kind person but he preferred to be alone most of the time.
Gilgamesh liked having Enkidu as a friend because he had no one else with whom he could speak on an equal level, except for Enkidu. The first description of Gilgamesh comes from Tablet I , where Gilgamesh talks about how great he is that the common men could only gaze up at him in wonderment, while the women hid behind closed doors in fear of his great power. Gilgamesh is described as a half-god and half-man, who patrols the city nightly to make sure the citizens of Uruk are safe. Gilgamesh is said to be Gilgamesh, whose father was unknown; he was thought to be “of the mountain”.
Gilgamesh was considered an overall good ruler. Despite this, Gilgamesh began to feel bored with his daily responsibilities which eventually turned into feelings of depression. Enkidu also happened to be very depressed because there were no wild animals or humans for him to fight with anymore. So Enkidu traveled all over until he came across a shepard who told him about Gilgamesh. When Enkidu heard Gilgamesh’s name, he was very excited because Gilgamesh was very strong and famous for killing Humbaba, a monster with the face of a bull. Enkidu finally met Gilgamesh after fighting him in an epic battle.
Gilgamesh won that fight but couldn’t bring himself to kill his new friend so they became friends instead. Gilgamesh and Enkidu soon realized how much they meant to each other when Gilgamesh took Enkidu to Uruk for the first time after defeating Humbaba. Seeing Gilgamesh’s mighty kingdom made them realize how insignificant they were compared to Gilgamesh’s greatness, making them more determined than ever to be great men like their beloved Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and Enkidu trained together for a while to improve their strength. Gilgamesh spent years perfecting his skills in archery while Enkidu focused on becoming stronger.
After this, Gilgamesh and Enkidu became well known to the people of Uruk because Gilgamesh was strong like an ox and could shoot arrows like lightning. Gilgamesh’s archery skills were so great that he threatened to kill anyone who displeased him; this made Gilgamesh very unpopular with the common people because Gilgamesh would not hesitate to kill them if they did something wrong. Enkidu was present when Gilgamesh killed Humbaba, making it possible for Gilgamesh to be Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was Enkidu’s equal when he defeated the monster and Gilgamesh was not going to let anything stand between them, not even a big Humbaba.
Gilgamesh’s feelings for Enkidu were very strong because Gilgamesh went out of his way to make sure that Enkidu would remain safe from harm. After Gilgamesh noticed that the people of Uruk no longer showed him the proper respect due to a king, Gilgamesh set out on a journey to find eternal life so he could live forever in peace without having to worry about death. On his way, Gilgamesh met Utnapishtim who told Gilgamesh how he became immortal after the flood. Gilgamesh was so angry by this revelation that he forgot Utnapishtim’s offer to join Gilgamesh on his journey for eternal life.
Gilgamesh then began his long journey home alone, but not before killing the giant Humbaba once again just because he could. After Gilgamesh returned to Uruk, Gilgamesh noticed that someone had broken into his palace and stolen all of his prized possessions while he was gone. The thief, who happened to be one of Gilgamesh’s own citizens named Enkidu, had taken everything because Gilgamesh said he would kill whoever dared break into his house. When Gilgamesh found out it was Enkidu who stole from him, Gilgamesh was furious and wanted to kill Enkidu.
Gilgamesh definitely would have killed him too, but Gilgamesh’s other citizens begged Gilgamesh not to kill their friend and Gilgamesh eventually calmed down. Enkidu then told Gilgamesh about his journey with Gilgamesh who had also found a man named Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh told Enkidu that he should go meet Utnapishtim as well so he could obtain eternal life like Gilgamesh, but Enkidu declined because he felt it would be better if they were buried together instead of apart. A few days later, Enkidu became very sick and eventually died after dreaming of the underworld.