Archetype In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Character Archetype

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was an example of the character archetype, “The Sidekick,” because he was a faithful and supportive companion of Gilgamesh. Although Enkidu and Gilgamesh initially fought, a strong friendship was sealed between them.

When Gilgamesh wanted to slay the monster Humbaba, Enkidu showed the signs of a helpful sidekick by trying to convince Gilgamesh that the feat would be too dangerous and lead to death. Enkidu's caution was also shown through his description of the Humbaba: "When he roars it is like the torrent of the storm, his breath is like fire, and his jaws are death itself." (pg 17) By attempting to scare Gilgamesh, this showed Enkidu's concern for him. However, despite Enkidu’s fear of the Humbaba, Enkidu choose to trust Gilgamesh and eventually helped slay the Humbaba with Gilgamesh. Furthermore, Enkidu’s archetypal role of the sidekick

The unhealable wound can be a physical or emotional damage to the hero. The hero cannot recover from this affliction. Gilgamesh’s emotional unhealable wound was Enkidu’s death. Gilgamesh was extremely affected by his death and dealt with a mix of anger and sadness. The extent of his feelings was shown when Gilgamesh found that Enkidu had no heartbeat and was dead: “he began to rage like lion, like a lioness robbed of her whelps…., he tore out his hair and strewed it around.” (pg 26) Gilgamesh was heartbroken. he continued to grieve for Enkidu and this emotional wound could not be consoled. Gilgamesh even decided to “cause all the people of Uruk to weep over Enkidu,” (pg 26) and “issued a proclamation through the land…, and commanded them, ‘Make a statue of my friend.’” He is unable to let go of Enkidu, his faithful companion. Consequently, this unhealable wound leads to Gilgamesh’s call to adventure: the search for