Humbaba, And Enkidu's Death In The Epic Of Gilgamesh
“To the one who survives [the gods] leave grieving: the dream leaves sorrow to the one who survives” (Tablet VII.75-76). In the poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu challenge the gods, and as a punishment, the gods kill one, and the other must live with the guilt of survival. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were punished because they slayed Humbaba, a minion of the gods. Because of this, Ishtar, the Goddess of Love, asks Gilgamesh to marry her. Gilgamesh refuses, pointing out the bad things that happened to her previous husbands. As a punishment, Ishtar sends the Bull of the Heavens down to destroy Uruk, but Enkidu and Gilgamesh slay the bull as well. For this, as well as murdering Humbaba, the gods decide someone must pay the
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Gilgamesh’s understanding of this system is demonstrated when he said, “To the one who survives [the gods] leave grieving: the dream leaves sorrow to the one who survives” (Tablet VII.75-76). He knows that the gods are punishing both of them for their previous actions of killing Humbaba and the Bull of the Heavens, and the gods only have to make one fall ill, for both Enkidu and Gilgamesh to be punished. If one falls ill, the other has to live with the guilt of survival. When Enkidu falls ill at the hands of the gods, he respects the law, so he loses the will to live, and eventually dies. When Gilgamesh sees his friends deteriorating state, he promises many things such as a statue of him made of gold, “[...] fashion your [Enkidu] statue in gold without limit [...]” (Tablet VII.82). Despite investing all of this money in a statue, he does not try to plead to the gods for his friends life. Gilgamesh’s respect of the law goes beyond how much he values his friend, and he would not negotiate with the gods, because that goes against how the law works; he and Enkidu killed minions of the gods, so now they must pay the price. In the end, the punishment does work to some extent, because he is devastated by the loss of his dear friend for the rest of the
Gilgamesh’s understanding of this system is demonstrated when he said, “To the one who survives [the gods] leave grieving: the dream leaves sorrow to the one who survives” (Tablet VII.75-76). He knows that the gods are punishing both of them for their previous actions of killing Humbaba and the Bull of the Heavens, and the gods only have to make one fall ill, for both Enkidu and Gilgamesh to be punished. If one falls ill, the other has to live with the guilt of survival. When Enkidu falls ill at the hands of the gods, he respects the law, so he loses the will to live, and eventually dies. When Gilgamesh sees his friends deteriorating state, he promises many things such as a statue of him made of gold, “[...] fashion your [Enkidu] statue in gold without limit [...]” (Tablet VII.82). Despite investing all of this money in a statue, he does not try to plead to the gods for his friends life. Gilgamesh’s respect of the law goes beyond how much he values his friend, and he would not negotiate with the gods, because that goes against how the law works; he and Enkidu killed minions of the gods, so now they must pay the price. In the end, the punishment does work to some extent, because he is devastated by the loss of his dear friend for the rest of the