The astonishing Mesopotamian poem that was reported to be discovered in the ruins of a library located in Nineveh called The Epic of Gilgamesh has an interesting yet unique theme about love and death transforming a friendship between two strangers. Through storytelling and various translations, this poem has become a classic in English literature. Love is powerful it is no surprise that people change for the good or bad depending on their experience of this emotion. On top of that, witnessing the death of a loved one can cause fear and even concern in relation to death which is applicable in the world today. Friendship involves love and loyalty for one another no matter how different or a similar one may be. True friendship overcomes everything and is powerful enough to change a person’s personality. This can be seen in the two main characters of the story. Gilgamesh, a selfish king who rules the city of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild beast raised by nature who fought when they first encountered each other outside a ceremony. Surprisingly, this initiated a pure friendship between the two, and started their journey together by first defeating the protector of Cedar Trees, Humbaba, and slaying the Bull of Heaven that was sent by the goddess Inanna after the rejection of Gilgamesh. Within this story, the love of their friendship revolutionizes their personalities, helps each other grow, and accept their destiny. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, characterization demonstrates that the amount of love developing in a friendship can change an individual’s perspective about death.
The friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu transformed one another through love and loyalty. It made Gilgamesh a hero worthy of evocation. In the Epic, the solid foundation of the story was the love that grew between these two. Gilgamesh was known to be a self-centered yet very powerful king that terrified the people of Uruk. The existence of Enkidu in Gilgamesh’s life was necessary to help Gilgamesh understand true friendship and transform him into the perfect leader for his kingdom. In the story Enkidu says to Gilgamesh “Cries of sorrow, my friend, have cramped my muscles, woe has entered my heart” ( “The Epic of Gilgamesh” 103) referencing the speech that Gilgamesh told Enkidu after their fight. The king of Uruk found his way into Enkidu’s heart and modified him to move beyond his fears throughout the story which can be seen in the journey to slay Humbaba, the guardian of Cedar Trees who represents fear and the unknown. Gilgamesh helps his friend overcome this emotion by saying “let the paralysis leave your arm, let weakness quit your knees, take my hand, my friend, let us walk together” (114). Enkidu’s loyalty towards Gilgamesh was always greater than his fear of Humbaba, the Bull of Heaven, and most importantly his own death. The meaning of friendship in this poem is beautiful, seeing Gilgamesh mature through the friendship of Enkidu and his desire to gain wisdom shows how deep his beastly friend meant to him and the role he played in his life through the short period of knowing each other. Love and friendship can be viewed in this poem as a component of life that gives existence deep meaning.
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The death of Enkidu created fear within Gilgamesh’s soul. He never thought of death before he experienced the loss of his beloved friend Enkidu who passed away from an unknown disease and was a sacrificial due to their consequences. This painful event made Gilgamesh view death from a different point. He was never scared of anything and was known not only for his beauty but his strength as well. In the Epic, Gilgamesh states “Shall I not die too? Am I not like Enkidu? Oh woe has entered my vitals! I have grown afraid of death, so I roam the steppe” (128). He struggles in accepting the state of mortality and searches for a magical plant that will make him immortal but so fails in attaining it. Although he did not obtain immortality, Gilgamesh gained knowledge through his quest, even being two-thirds god, he cannot escape death. He is accustomed to fighting creatures physically like Humbaba and the Bull but when death comes upon he does not know how to deal with it because it has no physical form. The death of Enkidu has a strong impact on Gilgamesh’s life, he never cared about anyone or anything before Enkidu or even had a friendship like this. After dying in his arms and mourning his friend’s death he did not want to experience the same fate that Enkidu went through which started his own personal journey in the search of eternal youth and his determination in living forever. He felt lost and helpless because he was alone once again. While speaking to the tavern he says, “after his death, I could find no life… May I not see that death I constantly fear!” (132). He was used to Enkidu accompanying him through his journeys and interpreting his dreams. No one has ever earned Gilgamesh's respect as Enkidu did through his nobility. Everyone is afraid of something to Gilgamesh it was death, no matter if he was two-thirds of a god he was still part human and just like the rest his time would come to an end.
The Epic of Gilgamesh demonstrates the role that love, friendship, and death have towards the characters of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. They both guide each other to the correct path and find not only comfort but security with one another. Enkidu was created to teach Gilgamesh how to become a true king and unblind him from his selfish ways. Throughout their adventures, the king of Uruk helped overcome the fear of Enkidu towards Humbaba with comfort and encouragement. Heartbroken after the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh soon realizes that he is afraid of something after all. He searches for a thorny plant that has the gift of immortality but quickly learns that he cannot change his destiny. Sometimes when a pure bond is created between two individuals at an unexpected time is what one needs the most to focus on what is important in one’s life.
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