Epic of Gilgamesh Theme

Two understand how the gods influenced our hero, Gilgamesh, one must first look at the various ways the gods meddled into his life. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale of a half-mortal man whose quest to break his own boredom turns into a tale of friendship, immortality, and kingship. However, his tale would not have been able to happen if it was not for the influence of the various Sumerian deities. After the people of Uruk complained to the gods about Gilgamesh’s child-like behavior, the goddess Aruru creates the man that will become Gilgamesh’s closest friend, Enkidu. Enkidu was created as an equal to the king so that Gilgamesh would have a way to occupy his time. Unfortunately, after the two friends defeated the giant Humbaba, a terrible demon creature, the god Enlil becomes enraged, but despite Enlil’s best effort, he is unable to punish the two.

Further analysis of the poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, described the characteristic of king Gilgamesh from the beginning, middle, and end. Throughout the poem, there are immature and petrified moments of Gilgamesh, but more importantly he learned to grow as he explore his journey. Friendship, love, and fear appears to be essential in this poem. Why are those terms relevant ? and how does it connect with the trait of Gilgamesh ?, let’s continue to find out the truth about Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh's friend Enkidu runs wild until he sleeps with a harlot, after which the wild beasts which were once his friends reject him, suggesting that femininity is also a source of male disempowerment. Although Aruru is the source of both the life of Gilgamesh and his beloved companion Enkidu, the two friends create a society between themselves that is essentially masculine. This masculine relationship is the most positive force in the epic. Gilgamesh is known for his sexual prowess amongst women, but his feelings for Enkidu run much deeper and are more profound. He is said to be drawn to Enkidu "as though to a woman" but no relationship Gilgamesh has with women parallels the one he has with Enkidu (2).

This concept is present throughout the entire epic - wisdom is constantly gained at the expense of something else. While sexual love is presented as a powerful transforming force, ultimately it is the platonic love between Enkidu and Gilgamesh that is the superior power in the text. Sex is represented as a way to become more civilized at the expense of carnal qualities, while the loss of platonic love is used as a vehicle for wisdom. Furthermore, it is evident that it is not the love itself that brings wisdom - Enkidu urges Gilgamesh to slaughter Humbaba even though it is known that the monster is appointed guardian of the forest “so ordered [by Enlil]”, and brings mortal illness down upon himself (5.168-173). However, it is the suffering that comes from Enkidu’s death that urges Gilgamesh to become wiser. Returning to the circular nature of the epic, the narrator describes Gilgamesh as “the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood” (1.37). While these are the first few lines in the poem, they reference events that happen later in the epic, meaning that Gilgamesh becomes a wiser king only after facing the loss of Enkidu.

Many stories address the importance of companionship in one’s life and how a closeness with another person can lead to a mutual improvement on both sides of the relationship. The ancient Sumerian epic Gilgamesh explores the relationship between two soul mates, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, whose story was immortalized because of their dependence and trust in each other. Gilgamesh would not have been able to reach his full potential as a king, warrior, or person if it was not for the influence of Enkidu.

But when Enkidu dies while fighting Humbaba, one can tell a change in Gilgamesh’s character. Since Enkidu was his close and only friend, it makes it more visible that everyone is mortal. One may say that, by going into the forest and facing Humbaba, Gilgamesh makes a name for himself and changes the views of the people in his city. The great accomplishment of killing Humbaba makes him a better person because he protects his city and for his love of Enkidu and his people. This is a considerable amount of change from the beginning of the story. There are no major changes in the character of Gilgamesh until Enkidu enters the picture. Enkidu is the primary reason for the ultimate changes in the personality and maturity of Gilgamesh. The main factor contributing to the changes in Gilgamesh the love that develops with Enkidu. Enkidu is made to make Gilgamesh more human. In the first paragraph of the book the gods are angry with Gilgamesh and send down an equal of himself, they send down Enkidu. After becoming friends, Gilgamesh changes because he has an equal to be with.

In the epic of Gilgamesh the transformation of Enkidu is a crucial turning point of the story. The mixture of Enkidu spending nights with a prostitute and his desire to challenge Gilgamesh caused Enkidu to become a human man. Before humanity Enkidu was a wild man of the steppes who did not know fear or wisdom and had a certain state of innocence not much seen in human kind. It wasn’t until after spending the nights with a prostitute and observing Gilgamesh that Enkidu realized the aspirations of the human species. One

The people saw him as a problem, so his mother sought out a companion for him. In the eye’s of the people, Enkidu, was seen as a hero and someone that could possibly stop Gilgamesh from committing his careless acts. I noticed that the two, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, were opposites, but contained similar physical traits. The creation of Enkidu creates a platonic love. The text constantly repeats that Gilgamesh wants a friend, “his own counselor.” Enkidu’s creation fills the void Gilgamesh has and friendship is introduced. I find the relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu to be very interesting. The two did not welcome each other with open arms, but with a show down in front of the church doors. After receiving a blessing from Ninsun, the two became a “team.” After Ninsun’s blessings were given, a sense of agape love was created. The deities instructed Enkidu to guide and protect Gilgamesh. Due to Enkidu’s knowledge of the forest of cedars, it only seems right that he leads the way keeping the two of them out of danger. Enkidu has to risk his life by leading the way displays a self-sacrificing and spiritual love for Gilgamesh and with the deities. Eros is also introduced when Shamhat encounters Enkidu. The luring of Enkidu required him to lay with her, causing a sexual love to evolve. The use of the harlot caused the man to present himself, rather than the beast we were

The second significant change in Gilgamesh was caused by the loss of his brotherly companion, Enkidu. Gilgamesh couldn't bear the loss of a love so powerful. Despite his astonishing power and leadership, something in his life was missing. He wept for seven days and seven nights, in hope of bringing Enkidu back to him. Gilgamesh said, "I thought my friend would come back because of my weeping. Since he went, my life is nothing". It is in this stage of the epic that we see the truly sympathetic and compassionate side of Gilgamesh. The grief in his heart had far surpassed the magnificent pride that he had previously displayed so boldly.

The definition for a motif is essentially an important idea or subject that is repeated throughout a book (Merriam-Webster). A motif of fire and ice was present in this novel through a binary of love and hate. In Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, binaries were created using different elements within the novel, symbolism, imagery, etc. While profoundly reading Jane Eyre, I tracked the image/motif of fire and ice. The fire and ice are used throughout the story to thoroughly develop a binary between love and hate.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, friendship is a strong theme that drives the story. The bond that Gilgamesh and Enkidu develop throughout the myth is a bond similar to that of brothers. Gilgamesh was fearless, but arrogant and Enkidu was created by the gods specifically to keep the legacy crazed Gilgamesh in check and to teach him humility; Enkidu becomes his conscience of sorts. Gilgamesh was oppressing the people of Uruk and Enkidu and needed to put a stop to it by confronting and fighting him. From what initially started as a violent encounter, their relationship bloomed into something that neither of them could have expected. Their connection really takes off after their encounter with the giant Hambaba and seals the deal on their friendship. They become basically inseparable and after Enkidu passed it completely rocked Gilgamesh because he had lost a huge part of his life. Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s eventual bond is the perfect example of checks and balances within life making this oldest hero’s tale still very relevant today.

Mesopotamian theology defined the gods as rulers and human beings as their servants, with nature being an object to be managed for the profit and well being of both. Consequently, deity worship plays a significant role in both the daily and religious lives of the ancient population; the two are undeniably intertwined. One of the most important goddesses in the Mesopotamian pantheon, and the one with which this paper will be concerned, is Inana. As the Sumerian goddess of sexual love and warfare, Inana—or Istar, in Akkadian—embodies two of our most instinctive and impulsive drives, as demonstrated by Freud through Eros and Thanatos (Heffron). This, then, has given Inana her simultaneously creative and destructive qualities. Inana occupies a unique diatomic space encompassing characteristics of both the traditional female and male archetypes, making her one of the most complex deities, exhibiting contradictory, and even paradoxical, traits. In Sumerian poetry, she is sometimes portrayed as a coy young girl, and at other times as an ambitious and persistent goddess; this is the basis of her dual representation (Heffron). One consistent aspect in the text, however, is her sexuality. Therefore, this paper will explore possible responses to two primary questions: 1) how is Inana portrayed in various texts, and why is this significant? And 2) what can be learned about the nature of ancient Babylonian religion and its relationship to the people through her representation? By

However, Gilgamesh befriends Enkidu and the two of them form a bond surpassing that which Gilgamesh has felt for women. Through his physical overcoming of Enkidu and his civilization of the other man, Gilgamesh begins to show more of an inner life than he did

This constant use of the loom is a motif. The use of motifs makes a piece of literature a classic because they create a sense of continuity and security, and they get the reader to react. The themes of revenge and hubris, and the use of motifs allow The Odyssey to be a timeless classic.

In the epic of Gilgamesh, there are two major themes evident.The first one is friendship.Friendship is very evident in through the poem.But in society, today friendships are not as strong.The next theme is civilization .This was one of the main focuses in the poem.This year people have been acting less and less civilized.