Gilgamesh Relationship

Gilgamesh and Enkidu: True Friendship The relationships between Enkidu and Gilgamesh and the way in which they shaped each other’s lives comprise the central idea in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Two completely opposite characters were destined to become the closest of friends, and in a way, they complete one another. Despite their vastly different natures, Enkidu and Gilgamesh were true friends who cared for each other with an outlasting love that changed them both. Although one might argue that the relationship between them was sexual, the love they felt towards each other was in fact brotherly and represented a not atypical masculine relationship in Mesopotamia during that time. Gilgamesh, one third human and two thirds being of divine birth,
One was a selfish, conceited, and civilized man, and the other was almost animal, covered with hair and raised in the wild. Both of them were lonely and bored and were desperate to find a true companion. Although they were destined to become friends, upon meeting they had to test each other in a grueling fight. When Enkidu learned that every bride goes through Gilgamesh before the groom, he became filled with anger and went to Gilgamesh to prove his superior power. As soon as they saw each other, they began to fight. Though the two fought long and hard, they did not indented to kill each other; they rather wanted to measure their strength. Eventually, they realized their equal power united them and allowed for mutual respect and
Enkidu, for instance, became civilized and entered the human world, and Gilgamesh learned about the relationships between men and women from Enkidu. Though he once terrorized the people of Uruk, Gilgameshe began to use his powers to protect the city. Together with Enkidu, Gilgamesh killed Humbaba and the Bull of Heavens. Their union was unbreakable, and together they could face any beast. When Gilgamesh encouraged Enkidu to fight Huwawa, he said: “Two boats lashed together will never sink. Two intimate friends cannot be defeated” (Mitchell, 106). They were stronger together then they were apart. Enkidu knew the forest and the nature and Gilgamesh, on the other hand, was brave and fearless. The friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is similar to that of Achilles and Patroclus in Homer’s Iliad. The two characters shared the same love and courageousness, and they fought together and followed each other both in war and in peace. In both stories, the characters are connected by strong, brotherly love, and in both tales, one of the partners dies. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the death of Enkidu motivated Gilgamesh to search for immortality, while the death of Patroclus led Achilles to continue the Trojan War. However, in both stories death only strengthened the love of Gilgamesh and Achilles and brought great sorrows to their hearts. The relationship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh