The Importance Of Friendship In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Friendship can often spring out of the most unexpected places. People often say that the best friendships were those that no one anticipated. In “The Epic of Gilgamesh” Gilgamesh himself finds the truest of friendships in the most unexpected of places. He finds them in a young man named Enkidu who shares his same enjoyment of competition, the desire for attention, and the love of a good fight. Gilgamesh and Enkidu start out their relationship with a good story to tell. Enraged by one of Gilgamesh’s decisions, Enkidu stands guard over the new bride of a citizen of Uruk allowing no one, not even the King of the land to enter the chambers of this young woman. Gilgamesh became immediately enraged that he was not being allowed to have his way with the woman and begins to fight Enkidu.
To be confident that another person will defend your honor when you are not around, to know that there are people that you can count on, that is the thing that everyone looks for when starting new relationships with people. The loyalty between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is one that even transcended death. From the Shamat the harlot knew that Gilgamesh and Enkidu would be the most loyal of friends. “And so, like a wild bull, he lords it over the people. You are just like him, you will love him like your own self” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, lines 13-15 p.107). Hours later Gilgamesh and Enkidu meet for the first time. Not long after their first encounter they begin preparing for battle together. “There dwells in the forest the fierce monster Humbaba, You and I shall kill him and wipe out something evil from the land” Gilgamesh says to Enkidu just moments are they had met. “You can call out to me, Go on, be not afraid! If I fall on the way, I’ll establish my name” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, lines 182-183 p.111). A friendship that just began starts with such devotion. All the while both men had been completely assured of the abilities of the