Comparing Gilgamesh And Enkidu's Relationship

For my World Literature research project, I was tasked to formulate a research question based on one of the three stories we’ve read in class, investigate from a variety of sources about my topic, and present a digital visual presentation about my research. I decided to focus my project on the ambiguity of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship and whether or not their relationship would be classified as homosocial or homoerotic by Babylonian standards. Throughout my process, I have conducted extensive research on my topic, learned how to distinguish facts from biased analyses, and organized my information in a way the audience can understand.

When I was first assigned this project, I immediately decided on my topic. During my experience reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, I noted that the epic

constantly used erotic language to describe the interaction between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. I wondered why such language was so prevalent throughout the chapters and what was the purpose of it. After conversing with my classmates about it, I also noticed that my classmates had very interesting perspectives on the nature of their relationship. They mentioned that the text seemed to suggest that the two heroes could possibly be lovers, which was something I wanted to look further into. Before I conducted any research, it was so easy to assume that Gilgamesh and Enkidu must be romantic partners based on our modern conceptions of homosexuality. However, for this project, I needed to draw on historical facts about homosexuality in ancient times and literary criticisms about the epic to have better judgement when I make my final conclusion.
For the past two weeks, I spent my time analysing several books, scholarly articles, and different translations of the epic. I first focused on learning more about same sex relationships back in the Mesopotamian time period when the epic was written. According to The Origins and Roles of Same Sex Relations in Human Societies, homosexual activity was prevalent and even considered commonplace. Among archeological ruins, there were “statuettes, dating from as early as the beginning of the third millennium B.C., that depicted two men engaging in sexual intercourse (Neil 83).” Then I started to explore several scholarly articles exploring the different views of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship and similar relationships from other stories. I had to balance my sources so that I wouldn’t be biased towards one conclusion. Susan Ackerman’s When Heroes Love was a particular book that explores the stories of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, David and Jonathan, and Achilles and Patroclus, examines their relationships through the ancient understanding of gender roles defined as either active (male) or passive (female), and argues that shows the texts' language and erotic imagery suggest more than just an intense male bondings. which possibly suggests that the two heroes had sexual relations. In contrast, Jerrold Cooper’s Buddies in Babylonia discusses Jacobsen’s gradual conclusion that the relationship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh is not sexualized through a series of articles Jacobsen wrote from the 1930s-1990s and how “Enkidu symbolized a rejection of growing up for a boyhood friendship (74).” Lastly, for my actual analysis, I read several translations of the epic which included the Akkadian, Babylonian, Foster, and Mitchell versions and noted down the differences between the language used and what erotic imagery prevailed between the four versions.
As I created my Google Slides presentation, I followed an outline to help guide my process.

The first two slides were used for background information of the epic and the controversy that surrounds a certain relationship. Following the background info, I introduced the question whether the two heroes’ relationship could be seen as homosocial or homoerotic. For the actual research portion of my presentation, I discussed the nature and treatment of same sex relations in ancient times, broke down key events in the epic regarding Gilgamesh and Enkidu and examined the significance of the erotic language (from Gilgamesh’s dreams about Enkidu through Enkidu’s death), and the parallels between the stories of David and Jonathan and Achilles and Patroclus, As for my concluding thoughts, I concluded that while erotic language plays a significant role in the epic and should not be discarded, but it does not automatically mean that the two characters were in a homoerotic relationship. The relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu went beyond In addition, I also included a class survey at the end to see how my research influenced the audience’s perspectives on Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s

relationship.
Deconstructing the strong yet ambiguous bond of the ancient Sumerian heroes proved to be a challenge. Through weeks of research, I had to learn how to disregard my modern conceptions of homosexuality and look at the literary piece by the standards of ancient Mesopotamians. Creating this research project, I expanded on my previous knowledge of interpreting literary works and distinguished facts from biased sources. I hope to achieve with my research that more people will dare to question more about what they read and not be afraid to draw their own literary criticisms about issues that are important to them.