18 pages • 36 minutes read
AnonymousThe Epic of Gilgamesh
Fiction | Poem | AdultA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Friendship and the Masculine Experience
One early theme of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is the impulse of male aggression and the need to discipline it to become fully human. In Book I, Gilgamesh is defined by his strength as a warrior and his power as a king, but his reign is excessive:
The people suffer from his tyranny, the people cry out that he 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 oppose him. Is this how you want your king to rule? (Line 73).
Gilgamesh is a powerful king, but his sexual appetites and proclivity for violence are out of control and unchallenged. When he faces Enkidu, his double, he learns the value of companionship and respect of other men. As a result, Gilgamesh becomes are more even-tempered ruler and focuses his aggression to outward threats (the monster Humbaba) rather than his own subjects.
Likewise, Enkidu experiences a similar transformation. Having grown up wild in the company of animals, Enkidu changes as the result of a sexual encounter with a priestess. Losing his virginity represents a crucial rite of passage for Enkidu as a man, who sheds the innocence of childhood and experiences an awakening: “Enkidu sat down at Shamhat’s feet. He looked at her, and he understood all the words she was speaking to him” (Lines 79-80). Now open to human intimacy, he finds greater meaning through homosocial relations with Gilgamesh.
With both men now awakened to their new understanding of what it means to be human, they join together against the greater challenges of life with their companionship and connection as reinforcements. Together, Gilgamesh and Enkidu face the terrifying monster Humbaba, the goddess Ishtar, and the Bull of Heaven. While it lasts, their friendship makes both men stronger, braver, and more moral.
Death, Life, and the Unknown
Gilgamesh’s confrontation of death figures as a central theme in "The Epic of Gilgamesh". Death looms large throughout the text, as Gilgamesh and Enkidu face multiple threats and try to create a legacy of heroism. When finding the courage to face Humbaba, Gilgamesh reminds Enkidu that a hero’s death is better than living with cowardice: “If I die in this forest on this great adventure, won’t you be ashamed when people say, ‘Gilgamesh met a hero’s death battling the monster Humbaba. And where was Enkidu? He was safe at home!’” (Line 93).
Yet when Gilgamesh is forced to confront the loss of Enkidu in book VII, he is blindsided with grief and fear of his own death. Panicked, he tries to negotiate his own mortality, seeking to win eternal life from Utnapishtim. Along the way, multiple people intervene with advice and encouragement as Gilgamesh tries to “overcome death” (Line 161). For example, Shiduri the tavern keeper seeks to pull Gilgamesh’s attention away from immortality to enjoying the life he has:
But until the end comes, enjoy your life, spend it in happiness, not despair. Savor your food, make each of your days a delight, bathe and anoint yourself, wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean, let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand, and give your wife pleasure in your embrace. That is the best way for a man to live (Lines 168-69).
Similarly, Utnapishtim urges Gilgamesh to give up his quest against death and gratefully embrace his life, saying, “Yes: the gods took Enkidu’s life. But man’s life is short, at any moment it can be snapped, like a reed in a canebrake” (Line 178). Ironically, both Utnapishtim and Shiduri teach Gilgamesh valuable lessons about life as he pursues mastery over death. They assert that valuable time is lost in a fruitless pursuit of immortality. Whether these lessons stay with Gilgamesh as he returns to Uruk is unknown, but by proxy they are communicated to ancient and modern audiences alike.
Facing Monsters, Inside and Out
When the reader first meets Gilgamesh, he is the monster. As the narrator relates, Gilgamesh struts through the city with “his head raised high, trampling its citizens like a wild bull” (Line 72), not unlike the Bull of Heaven he later slays. The people ask for help from the gods from Gilgamesh’s tyranny described as a shepherd savaging “his own flock” (Line 73). He kills young men and uses young women with no regard for their lives. Gilgamesh is transformed from a monster into a decent human and responsible ruler through his friendship with Enkidu, which allows him to refocus his energy toward defeating other monsters in his land.
Part of what sets Gilgamesh apart as an exceptional hero is his ability to face—and even intentionally seek—these monsters in his quest to prove his greatness. While his companion Enkidu may need some convincing to hunt down Humbaba, or when he falters in his fight against the Bull of Heaven, Gilgamesh typically confronts these challenges with enthusiasm and vigor. However, Gilgamesh remains relatable as a hero who slays monsters—particularly when he is worried by dreams that cause him to second guess his pursuit of Humbaba in Book 4. The comforting words of his companion give him the courage to continue on his journey, implying that there is strength in friendship that cannot be achieved alone. And in fact, Gilgamesh is at his most successful with the help of a friend, and he is unstoppable in his successive defeats of Humbaba, Ishtar, and the Bull of Heaven.
However, with the loss of Enkidu, Gilgamesh must face his inner monsters as his journey extends beyond the boundaries of his kingdom. These victories are not as easy to obtain and reflect the true existential crisis Gilgamesh faces when his own mortality becomes the undefeatable “monster.” The elusive prize of immortality drives his journey through the underworld to seek Utnapishtim who, like the tavern keeper Shiduri in Book 10, assures Gilgamesh it is a fool’s quest and his time is better spent enjoying life, rather than seeking to defeat mortality. The true test of the hero in the last books of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is to stop chasing monsters and learn to enjoy life while coexisting with the fear, sadness, and temporality of human life itself.
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