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Gilgamesh and Enkidu
What can we learn from gilgamesh epic
Gilgamesh and Enkidu
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To begin with, kings have a powerful role to their own nation, begin an arrogant and insolent such as Gilgamesh with his nation. The story show that Gilgamesh love the role of power and limited modesty. Enkidu and Gilgamesh share the same idea where they interested in love of power and exaggerated pride where they have many events in the story indicate that. For instance, Enkidu said “where Gilgamesh is prefect in strength, like a wild bull lording it over the menfolk”; “I will challenge him, for [my strength]is mighty, I will vaunt myself in Uruk, saying “I am the mightiest!” (9).
In the epic Gilgamesh, the characters traits of both Gilgamesh and Enkidu help to build a lasting friendship through their differences. For example, Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, a city of culture, and personifies the highest of human virtues, such as fairness, bravery, and courage. However, Gilgamesh is often unstable. In sharp contrast, Enkidu was raised in the wild and is foreign to civilization. Enkidu is caring and thoughtful and equal to Gilgamesh in strength.
That tragedy is Enkidu graduating from Uruk High. I did a bit of foreshadowing of something bad was about to happen with the line “It was the end of the year graduation, a happy time for seniors.” Then immediately follow it with “Gilgamesh and Enkidu were juniors.” After Enkidu graduates, Gilgamesh changes which is seen in his thought “Could that happen to me?”
I think Gilgamesh and Enkdiu embody the dichotomy between human civilization and the wilderness through themes such as immortality. Towards the end of the book Gilgamesh really struggles with the fact that some day he will die and like Enkidu but at the end of Enkidu’s life his only worry is that he didn’t die in battle I think this really shows the fine line difference between human civilization and the wilderness with humans we seem to have a hard time deleting its out humanity and the fact that some day we will die and even thought Gilgamesh was moral he seemed to deal with the same issue of fearing death and the unknown where as Enkidu ,who is more wild and more repressive of the wilderness, did have fear at the end of his life it wast because of the unknown but because he wouldn't die with what he considered honor dying a death sick in his bed wasn't an honorable death for Enkidu as shown in the Epics of Gilgamesh in line 69 though 71 “My friend lid me the greatest curse of
Jaedon Corredor Ancient Medieval Literature Honors October 5, 2015 Gilgamesh and Enkidu Gilgamesh is the fifth leader of Uruk, a city near a forest guarded by a demon named Humbaba. Enkidu is a creation from the gods made to be Gilgamesh's equal. He lived among the animals for most of his life, while Gilgamesh was born in the city and became a tyrant towards his people. Even with such drastic differences between them they still find a way to be similar.
After the battle, Gilgamesh and Enkidu became best friends. They went on many quests and journeys to protect their kingdom. When Enkidu died, GIlgamesh went on a huge and final quest to find the secret of immortality. Not much time after Gilgamesh died, people were telling stories everywhere. Nowadays, many people are listening stories about this legendary human who lived in Mesopotamia.
One thing that humans have that separates them from other animals is their consciousness. That is why in order to be civilized you must be able to share, feel, and embrace emotion. You have to be able to share ideas to communicate with the people around you. Being able to understand people and feel empathy towards them is what makes us civilized. Just like how Enkidu from Gilgamesh, learned how to love and the ways of human life.
The loss of Enkidu made Gilgamesh suffer, but it also made him go on a good journey in search for something that he wanted, so that what happened to Enkidu, would not happened to him. When Enkidu died because of the incident between him and Ishtar, Gilgamesh suffers. His suffering affects many people in many ways. Because Enkidu died, Gilgamesh became scared of death, and that made him go on his journey to achieve immortality. “He said to himself that he would hasten to him, the dangers of the journey notwithstanding,” (Ferry 48).
Generally, when a person works hard to gain an item that s/he has been looking for a long time. They will often keep it for themselves and not think of sharing it with others. Nonetheless, Gilgamesh decides to share this marvelous youth reviving plant with the old men in his kingdom and plans to revive his youth last. This detail shows that Enkidu changed Gilgamesh for the better because before Gilgamesh met Enkidu, Gilgamesh only thought about himself and demanded to be
Cole and Ortega’s The Thinking Past is a book that covers the history of humans and civilization. The authors cover the transition of humans from a hunter-gatherer life into a sedentary life, forming the civilizations we know today. This transition can be witnessed through the character, Enkidu, in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Enkidu—a glorified forager—is created by the gods to keep the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh, in check.
However, he is the only child that lives in a wild zoo. For example, Ishmael surrounds himself with other animals and enjoys talking to them. I notice how the visitors, at the zoo, were using onomatopoeia which includes the words as that make gorilla sounds. The visitors wanted to attract attention from a female chimpanzee, so they can call out the name Goliath. The visitors talk to a baby female chimpanzee through communication and communicates with Ishmael in the same
Through their relationship they become wiser and more viable assets to each other and their society. Before meeting Enkidu, Gilgamesh was a powerful leader, revered by his subjects, but his arrogance and egotism fueled his decisions. Contradistinction, Enkidu had only physical power; he was mentally incompetent as a human. The text describes their relationship as an intimate one: "'[I fell in love with it], like a woman I caressed it, / I carried it off and laid it down before you, / Then you were making it my partner'" (48-50).
The wild adopted Enkidu. He drank milk from the teats of gazelles and ran with the herd. He never knew he didn’t belong and never considered life in Uruk. Left undisturbed, he would’ve died a man among gazelles. But, a harlot seduced him.
Friendship is one of important part in our lives. Most of the time, a good friend knows you better than yourself. There are many meanings that relay to being a good friend, especially because everyone does not have the same personality. Similarly, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, we can perceive several relationships, but the one between Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s friendship plays an important part of the story.
The ideas of shepherd and sheep-pen are used to show the initial contrast between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Enkidu is designed by the gods as a younger counterpart to Gilgamesh as a way to distract the king from abusing his people. Gilgamesh is said to be the “shepherd” of “Uruk-the-Sheepfold”, but he is described as tyrannical to the point that his citizens appeal the gods to do something about his unchecked reign of terror. The people of Uruk live in “the Sheepfold” – the city is meant to be a safe place and their king is meant to be the city’s protector. Although that is the intent, calling Uruk a “sheepfold” causes the city to seem like a holding pen where Gilgamesh can pick and choose which of his citizens he will take advantage of each day.