Did Gilgamesh Change After Enkidu's Death?

Name: Bektur

Surname: Beishembiev

Topic: Does Gilgamesh change after Enkidu's death? If your answer is positive explain how, if your answer is negative explain why.

In this essay I will discuss about the main changes of Gilgamesh throughout the epic, especially after the death of his closest friend Enkidu. Does Gilgamesh change after Enkidu's death? My answer is yes because in the beginning of the epic the main hero Gilgamesh was very confident and superior among citizens of Uruk but after Enkidu’s death he started to fear. He understood that death can reach him. Moreover, he decided to go on a far journey to find immortality.

Firstly, when reading the beginning of the epic, we can conclude that Gilgamesh is very bad king and

fully uses his rights doing bad things; sleeps with the virgins of his own town, kills the young boys, humiliate others, shows himself from the worst side. “He is king, he does whatever he wants, takes the son from his father and crushes him, takes the girl from her mother and uses her, the warrior’s daughter, the young man’s bride, he uses her, no one dares to oppose him.” (Stephen. M) Because Gilgamesh was very strong and had an immeasurable power nobody in the city of Uruk could fight him. Finally, people gave up and cried out to heaven. Then god Anu commanded to goddess Aruru to create a man who equals to Gilgamesh in strength and power. It shows us that Gilgamesh initially was fearless, confident and proud of himself.
Secondly, what caused Gilgamesh and Enkidu to fight with one of the strongest monsters Humbaba, which lived in Cedar Forest. In my point of view, Gilgamesh just wanted to show that he has changed to the better side and by killing the monster he would show that he loves his city, and ready to defend it. People of Uruk city hated him so much because of his terrible behavior. It was an extremely hard task for Gilgamesh and Enkidu to kill such a strong monster. They were not confident in their strength before the fight, but they helped each other to win the fear in their hearts. By the help of the god Shamash they killed Humbaba and Gilgamesh became respected by his people. If we will compare Gilgamesh what a person he was in the beginning and after killing the monster, we will come to conclusion that he has changed to the better side because initially he put himself above others and the destiny of his nation was not important for him, but now he is like a real king who cares about his kingdom.
Thirdly, after Gilgamesh and Enkidu come to the great Uruk after killing the Humbaba, the princess Ishtar fallen in love and offered to Gilgamesh to marry her, but he refused because her previous husbands ended badly.

Princess was in fury and she went to her father Anu in order to take Bull of Heaven. After taking it, she immediately led it down to the earth. Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed the Bull of Heaven. After this event, gods decided to kill Enkidu. He became weak and suffered twelve days. Finally, he died on the hands of his best friend. Gilgamesh cried wildly and organized the best funeral for him. Then, he went outside the city into the forest. He said to himself: “Must I die too? Must I be as lifeless as Enkidu? How can I bear this sorrow that gnaws at my belly, this bear of death that restlessly drives me onward? If only I could find one man whom the gods made immortal, I would ask him how to overcome death.” (Stephen. M) To what a conclusion we will come after this citation? This is a big question, but mainly Gilgamesh started to fear death because the gods easily killed his friend who was equal to him in power. Maybe he had never imagined himself dying because during his life until Enkidu’s death he thought that he is immortal. Gilgamesh understood that he is not immortal and that death can reach him. Moreover, he decided to go on a long journey in order to find immortality. Finally, he reached his goal and find Utnapishtim who overcame death and was immortal. He said to Gilgamesh that in order to become immortal he has to prove that he is worthy. Utnapishtim said him to stay awake for seven days. Unfortunately, Gilgamesh closed his eyes and slept during the test because he was very exhausted. Utnapishtim said to his wife, “Look at this fellow! He wanted to live forever, but the very moment he sat down, sleep swirled him like a fog. All men are liars. When he wakes up, watch how he tries to deceive us.” (Stephen. M) After failing the test Gilgamesh came

to his own city.
In conclusion I want to say that the main hero of this oldest epic Gilgamesh changed through the events which are discussed above. He gained a new friend, who was really faithful. He became a better king, who cares about his nation and city. In my opinion, in the end of the epic Gilgamesh understood that the death is inseparable part of human’s life and it is impossible for people to overcome death. After he came to his city from Utnapishtim, he calmed down and he had already known that death will come after him.