In ancient times the Sumerians had a king whose name was Gilgamesh. This king’s story is recorded on a series of tablets entitled The Epic of Gilgamesh. The tales contained within the Epic are of great deeds, interactions with the gods, and a quest for eternal life - so their historical accuracy is questionable. However, they do make for a great story!
As you might have guessed from its title, Gilgamesh is the main character of the Epic. He is said to be two-thirds god, one-third man - I’m not entirely sure how that works, but lets roll with it. Gilgamesh’s life, as told in the Epic, follows the formula of the hero’s journey. (In fact, this formula is partially based off of the Epic of Gilgamesh, since the Epic is one of the first tales of its kind.) True to this formula, Gilgamesh at first refuses to be that which he is meant to be. Gilgamesh is a king, but he does not behave like it. He is constantly getting into fights with the young men of the city, and sleeping with all of the women.
Gilgamesh’s subjects are made desperate by his actions and turn to the gods for help. Their prayers do not go unanswered. The gods observe Gilgamesh, take his measure, and create a man designed to be his equal. This man is Enkidu, formed from clay and set loose into the wilderness.
(It is at this point that I wonder how familiar Mary Shelley was with Mesopotamian mythology. The character of Enkidu has very strong similarities with Frankenstein’s Monster. Both are very primitive men at the beginning of the tale. Both are left to roam the wilderness by their creators. Lastly, both are shown to be vastly more “manlike” after their interactions with a woman.)
Enkidu roamed the forest after the gods set him loose. He had no interactions with mankind; instead, he befriended the cattle and gazelles. He moved and ate like a beast, mimicking their habits.
Perhaps this would have continued indefinitely, were it not for the fact that there was a hunter who roamed the same forest as Enkidu. This hunter kept finding his traps disarmed, his pits filled in, and his prey freed. All of these things were done by Enkidu to keep his animal friends safe.
One day the flummoxed hunter happened across Enkidu at a watering hole. He retreated without doing anything, but later told his father about the encounter. His father encouraged the hunter to take the matter to the king, so he did so. When Gilgamesh was told that one of his subjects was being prevented from doing his job by a wild man, he came up with a plan to take away Enkidu’s connection with nature. To this end, he sends the prostitute Shamhat with the hunter.
The hunter takes Shamhat to the watering hole where he first saw Enkidu, and the two lie in wait. After several days Enkidu returns to the water source, and the hunter sends the whore out to meet him. She strips, and Enkidu, overcome with desire, sleeps with her for a week.
When Enkidu finally leaves Shamhat, he finds that the beasts of the field refuse to come near him. The way he walks and the way he thinks have changed from his time with the woman; the animals now recognize Enkidu as a man rather than a beast.
Confused by these changes, Enkidu returns to the prostitute. She tells him that he has become a man, and that he is stronger than any other man alive. When he hears of the king, Enkidu decides that he wants to go and challenge Gilgamesh, and “alter destiny” by beating him.
The whore replies that Gilgamesh has already dreamt of Enkidu’s coming. The tablets then relate Gilgamesh’s dreams: He had two of them, each of which contained a different item that was fawned over by the common people. Confused, Gilgamesh brought these dreams to his divine mother, Ninsun (a cow goddess) so that she would interpret them. Ninsun tells him that the object represents Enkidu. At the end of each dream, Gilgamesh takes the item and keeps it close to him, for he loves it. Ninsun tells Gilgamesh that this shows that Enkidu will become Gilgamesh’s dearest friend.
The story then returns to Enkidu, who is traveling to the city to meet Gilgamesh. Along the way he meets a group of shepherds, who recognize him as a powerful man and accompany him. By the time Enkidu enters the city he has a large group of commoners following him.
Meanwhile, Gilgamesh is continuing in his womanizing ways. He has his eyes set on a woman who has just been married, and plans to enter her bridal tent before her groom. However, when Gilgamesh goes to enact this plan he finds his path blocked...by Enkidu.
The two begin to fight. The ground shakes; the earth rumbles. In the end, neither can overcome the other - for the gods have made Enkidu to be Gilgamesh’s equal. Unable to defeat one another, the duo quickly become fast friends.
After this point in the story Enkidu takes on a roll similar to that of Jiminy Cricket - he is the voice of reason for Gilgamesh, a calming influence on the unruly king. Their friendship matures Gilgamesh, slowly leading the king to grow up and guiding him down the hero’s path.
Unfortunately, their happy times together cannot last.
We’ll continue the story of Gilgamesh in my next post, which features Ishtar’s interactions with the king. Sounds like fun, right? Same as always, please feel free to post below or email me with any questions or comments. I’ll see you on Monday - same myth time, same myth channel!
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