Essay On The Character Of Enkidu In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Although The Epic of Gilgamesh primarily details the exploits and adventures of its title character, the two-thirds god and one-third mortal King of Uruk, Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s friend and companion, Enkidu, is also central throughout the course of the epic. In the beginning of the epic, the goddess Aruru fashions Enkidu from clay, so as to create a counterweight against Gilgamesh’s rapaciousness and brutish strength. While Enkidu does initially serve almost as a foil of sorts to Gilgamesh, they seemingly inevitably become fast friends and the closest of companions soon after actually meeting one another. In particular, Enkidu contrasts with Gilgamesh in his mere origins as a man of the wilds. While Gilgamesh is a demigod of sorts, and the ruler of Uruk, Enkidu is “matted with hair” and “knows not a people, nor even a country” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I.105-108). As such, Enkidu’s transition to civilized life from living in harmony with the animals in the wild represents a pivotal moment in the epic, whereby Enkidu casts off his ties to his woodland companions and enters the civilized world, no longer innocently shrouded in blissful ignorance, yet also more enlightened as a whole. Enkidu’s domestication …show more content…
The lasting bonds that Enkidu has formed with Gilgamesh are the culmination of his undertakings as a member now of human civilization. In his relationships with both Shamhat and Gilgamesh, the prevalence of human bonding and companionship is consistently reinforced as one of the hallmarks of human civilization, from Enkidu’s merest introductions to it with Shamhat to his eventual death by the side of his enduring companion,