Friendship In The Epic Of Gilgamesh And Enkidu
The Great Companionship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu
Friendship in the third millennium BC must have been way different then how we see friendship today… Or is it? When you have a friendship with someone, you “fill their gaps” of what they don’t necessarily have. N. K. Sandars demonstrates that “filling of the gaps” in The Epic of Gilgamesh. The friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu benefits them both greatly by making up for each other’s limitations. You see this when they become stronger together to fight Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, when Enkidu rationalizes with Gilgamesh and when Gilgamesh inspires Enkidu to become less of a cowardly man.
When two men fight with each other; there is strength, and with strength comes protection. There are …show more content…
When they conquer Humbaba, Enkidu is the one to protect Gilgamesh as they walk towards the cedar forest: “Let Enkidu lead the way… Let Enkidu protect his friend, and guard his companion…” (75-76). Enkidu knowing how to get to the cedar forest makes up for Gilgamesh’s limitation of NOT knowing the path. Since Gilgamesh is ¾ God, he makes up for some of the strength that Enkidu lacks. “When two go together each will protect himself and shield his companion,” (77) Sandars implies how protection and strength are equal to each other, just like Gilgamesh and Enkidu are equal to each other in their friendship. Another concrete example of how Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s friendship come hand in hand with strength and protection is when they fight the Bull of Heaven after Ishtar gets insulted from the rejection of Gilgamesh. When Ishtar got the Bull of Heaven to “destroy Gilgamesh” (87), Gilgamesh and …show more content…
The town of Uruk gets very frustrated with Gilgamesh and that is how Enkidu is born. The people wanted the Gods to “create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart” (62). This shows us that Enkidu was made specifically to rationalize with Gilgamesh and to make him more of a humble man. In the first chapter, we see that Enkidu literally “stood in the street and blocked the way” (69) of Gilgamesh and a new bride. When Enkidu explains himself and rationalizes with Gilgamesh on not sleeping with the bride, their “friendship was sealed” (69). When Ishtar tries to marry Gilgamesh, we can see how the friendship with Enkidu has influenced his limitation to become more rational about sleeping with woman. “How would it go with me?”(86) Gilgamesh asks Ishtar. He doesn’t see why Ishtar would want to marry him while she has all of these men that she sleeps with and then abandons. “Which of your lovers did you ever love forever?” (86) He asks her again. We notice that Gilgamesh is now level headed with the idea of not sleeping with every woman he sees. The whole journey that Gilgamesh and Enkidu experience in this Epic shows how Gilgamesh has changed from being an arrogant, cheating man to a more rational, humble and charitable man. This is all thanks to the advice and opinions
Friendship in the third millennium BC must have been way different then how we see friendship today… Or is it? When you have a friendship with someone, you “fill their gaps” of what they don’t necessarily have. N. K. Sandars demonstrates that “filling of the gaps” in The Epic of Gilgamesh. The friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu benefits them both greatly by making up for each other’s limitations. You see this when they become stronger together to fight Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, when Enkidu rationalizes with Gilgamesh and when Gilgamesh inspires Enkidu to become less of a cowardly man.
When two men fight with each other; there is strength, and with strength comes protection. There are …show more content…
When they conquer Humbaba, Enkidu is the one to protect Gilgamesh as they walk towards the cedar forest: “Let Enkidu lead the way… Let Enkidu protect his friend, and guard his companion…” (75-76). Enkidu knowing how to get to the cedar forest makes up for Gilgamesh’s limitation of NOT knowing the path. Since Gilgamesh is ¾ God, he makes up for some of the strength that Enkidu lacks. “When two go together each will protect himself and shield his companion,” (77) Sandars implies how protection and strength are equal to each other, just like Gilgamesh and Enkidu are equal to each other in their friendship. Another concrete example of how Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s friendship come hand in hand with strength and protection is when they fight the Bull of Heaven after Ishtar gets insulted from the rejection of Gilgamesh. When Ishtar got the Bull of Heaven to “destroy Gilgamesh” (87), Gilgamesh and …show more content…
The town of Uruk gets very frustrated with Gilgamesh and that is how Enkidu is born. The people wanted the Gods to “create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart” (62). This shows us that Enkidu was made specifically to rationalize with Gilgamesh and to make him more of a humble man. In the first chapter, we see that Enkidu literally “stood in the street and blocked the way” (69) of Gilgamesh and a new bride. When Enkidu explains himself and rationalizes with Gilgamesh on not sleeping with the bride, their “friendship was sealed” (69). When Ishtar tries to marry Gilgamesh, we can see how the friendship with Enkidu has influenced his limitation to become more rational about sleeping with woman. “How would it go with me?”(86) Gilgamesh asks Ishtar. He doesn’t see why Ishtar would want to marry him while she has all of these men that she sleeps with and then abandons. “Which of your lovers did you ever love forever?” (86) He asks her again. We notice that Gilgamesh is now level headed with the idea of not sleeping with every woman he sees. The whole journey that Gilgamesh and Enkidu experience in this Epic shows how Gilgamesh has changed from being an arrogant, cheating man to a more rational, humble and charitable man. This is all thanks to the advice and opinions