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King Gilgamesh Friendship Analysis

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Friendship is one of the most powerful and necessary bonds between two people, and in Irving Finkel’s, “The Hero King Gilgamesh”, he portrays the true meaning of this strong force. This is a story filled with Middle Eastern gods, curses, and most importantly heros. King Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu tackle ferocious beasts and take down wild monsters. Along Finkel’s exhilarating story, he showcases the power of friendship and how it can change a person through the ordinary world, trials, and success. Friendship always starts with an awkward first “hello”, but in Finkel’s story, it started with a conflict between two who were destined to meet. Not long after the fight started, “He [Enkidu] acknowledged Gilgamesh as his superior and from that …show more content…

Having someone to face these trials with, makes a stronger team to work with. Teamwork is a bond that comes with friendship, these bonds work hand in hand, and this can be seen on Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s first adventure together when, “He [Humbaba] began to make the most ferocious and distorted expressions. Gilgamesh was terrified… Enkidu rallied his friend by reminding him of their own great weapons… and the two heroes turned together to face Humbaba,” (10). As shown in the text, it has not only portrayed that teamwork makes two stronger together, but it shows the trust that Gilgamesh has in Enkidu. Enkidu has yet again, changed Gilgamesh’s mindset to a stronger, braver, and confident character through their bond. Not only have the two faced the dreadful monster Humbaba, but, “Once again Gilgamesh and Enkidu found themselves side by side in battle with a monstrous enemy [the Bull of Heaven]” (12). In their final battle together, Gilgamesh and Enkidu were faced with another beastly animal Neither of them let the other one face a battle alone, making them stronger as a pair. Together Gilgamesh and Enkidu are almost undefeatable because their trust in one another makes it easier to tackle any obstacle in their

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When he died, Gilgamesh started changing for the superior. Just as the article says, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Heroic Life, “The most a man

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In this tale, a godly man, Gilgamesh, develops a friendship with beast-turned-man, Enkidu, who begins to teach Gilgamesh about the world and helps him to grapple with challenges. After one challenge in particular, a battle with the giant Humbaba, Enkidu dies abruptly, leaving Gilgamesh alone again, and forcing him to overcome adversities by himself. Gilgamesh is initially despondent, but these adversities eventually give him the strength to grow in wisdom and appreciation. Gilgamesh flourishes from his failures because he can finally understand the meanings of life and death, accept

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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.

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The bond each share shows the overwhelming idea that if soulmates were real, the bond between these pairs would be the epitome of the world. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was made specifically to combat the arrogant, reckless spirit of Gilgamesh. Anu heard the voice of the people when they wanted someone to curb Gilgamesh’s insubordination, and he commanded Aruru to “create a partner for Gilgamesh, mighty in strength, Let them contend with each other … create what Anu commanded, To his stormy heart, let that one be equal” (1.84-85,88-89). The gods made Enkidu be the equal of Gilgamesh, and their friendship was destined to help each other come to a middle ground in their personalities (Enkidu to be less wild, and Gilgamesh to be less egotistic). This companionship was made by the hands of gods, and when Enkidu faces death, Gilgamesh cries out in immense pain: “I mourn my friend Enkidu … You who stood by me when we climbed the mountain … Come back to me!”

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Together, they balance out the tamed and untamed worlds and with Enkidu ’s help Gilgamesh becomes a hero king. Together they go on to defeat Huwawa, the monster in the cedar forest, they defeat the bull of heaven sent from Ishtar, and at the end Gilgamesh is shown to represent a real hero king due to the friendship of

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During the fight between Enkidu and Gilgamesh, they wrestled and held each other like bulls (6). When Enkidu and Gilgamesh first meet, they fight each other to show off their strength. Another instance is in Gilgamesh’s dream when he grabs hold of a wild bull. The bull responds by kicking up dust, seizing his arm, and biting his tongue (9). Even though this conflict is in a dream, the aggression between Gilgamesh and the bull can be seen.

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In comparison, it’s always observed on how different scholars find the similarity of especially marital settings, characters, and as well as the wanderings of the mythological world. Different events within the life of these characters cover broadly a huge range of epic encounters that are heroic. The character, emotional and psychological development of Gilgamesh can be borrowed especially from the ancient heroic perspectives of mortality and death while comparing with Achilles. Mesopotamian civilization has had several phases in which hero Gilgamesh has been in existence, however having similar attributes. One of the earliest stories of Gilgamesh is developed from Sumerian texts, one of the most influential and well-known poems (Michelakis & Pantelis 2007).

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Gilgamesh is an epic hero because, he part divine, interacts with gods and his story has a series of adventures and superhuman victories. Gilgamesh is a king that shows off his power and enviably shows his weak side in most altercations. Most scholars see him as a historical figure, but I myself think he is definitely an epic hero. He oppresses people who call out to the gods, this is not very heroic, but his other actions will show the truth. Gilgamesh IS an epic hero.

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Enkidu is forced into civilization after being disowned by nature for sleeping with Shamhat. We see him transformed from a wild beast into a civilized person. As we follow Enkidu’s transformation, we see how he changes for the better, but also experiences some downfalls. The transition was not smooth, it took time to fully adjust, and although there are many disadvantages of leaving the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, the benefits made it worthwhile. Through Enkidu’s exposure to Gilgamesh, he changes from a human that lives among nature, to this great warrior that is willing to kill beasts for no other reason, but glory.

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After six days with the harlot, Enkidu realizes he lost his strength. The harlot gets him to join civilization, so he becomes a normal human. He is treated like a royal until Gilgamesh defeats him in battle. After that Gilgamesh and Enkidu become friends and fight in battles together until Enkidu suddenly dies. Gilgamesh does not want the same fate, so he goes looking for eternal life but dies anyway.

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