Your Clothes Say More About You Then You Think in The Epic of Gilgamesh

In many heroic tales we see extraordinary changes in the hero’s character as the story progresses. Many of the changes that are seen are small and subtle and are failed to be seen as significant moments. This also holds true for The Epic of Gilgamesh. There are tiny moments in this tale like the shedding of clothes that may be overlooked at first but when analyzed afterwards show a great significance in the course of the tale. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the shedding and donning of clothes is very important because it shows the change in Enkidu and Gilgamesh’s fundamental character as evidenced in Enkidu’s change from wild to civilized and Gilgamesh’s change from exploitive, impulsive king to a wise, responsible one.

From the very first tablet of The Epic of Gilgamesh a change is seen in Enkidu when Shamhat sheds her clothes. At the beginning Enkidu is a wild man who is “coated in hair like the god of the animals, with the gazelles he grazes on grasses”(The Epic of Gilgamesh, I 109-110). The animals accept Enkidu as one of them and it is said that “[his strength] is as mighty [as a rock] from the sky.”(The Epic of Gilgamesh, I 125) However Enkidu’s character changes after Shamhat sheds her clothes, first baring him with sex and then donning him with clothing. Enkidu is no longer the same man; he “(is) weakened” and “(can) not run as before” but now posses a “wide understanding” that he did not have before. (The Epic of Gilgamesh I 201-202). Even the animals know that he has changed and when “the gazelles (see) Enkidu, they (start) to run” (The Epic of Gilgamesh I 197). This is when Enkidu “(knows) by instinct” that “he should seek a friend” and thus puts on clothing and joins civilized life with Shamhat (The Epic of Gilgamesh I 214)...

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...g said, clothing is significant because in the course of the story it represents the civility of Enkidu and Gilgamesh. For both, when they are donned in clothing, they are better people, human beings that fit into society. Clothing in the course of the story presented stages of civility as they become apart of the civilization. For Enkidu he comes straight out of the wild and the shedding and donning of clothes changes his fundamental character and makes him more civilized. For Gilgamesh, the transformation from ruthless leader to wise king is seen after he dons clothes of the wild and later puts back on clothes of royalty. He became a better king and more civilized from the begging in of the story. Hence, the importance of shedding and donning clothing is very significant in changing the fundamental character of Enkidu and Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh.