The last tablets

After returning home from battle, Gilgamesh is welcomed by the goddess Ishtar. She wants to be his wife, but Gilgamesh does not appreciate her treatment of past relationships. I don't know why he rejected her; she is just like him. When he refused to become her husband, Ishtar ran home to her mother and father. Seeing how she is just as selfish as Gilgamesh, she wants Anu, her father, to send the bull of heaven to take revenge on the people. When he denies her, she threatens to kill off the entire population by opening the doors to the abyss. I only bring her up, because eventually Anu allows her to release the bull of heaven; which is indirectly the downfall of Enkidu.

When the bull ends up in Uruk, it opens up wells in the ground that sucks in 300 men; but when it tries to kill Enkidu, he climbs out and starts wrestling with it. Even though Gilgamesh is perfectly aware of what is happening (he was probably standing right next to them), he does nothing to help Enkidu; that is, until Enkidu subdues him. Why is it that Gilgamesh can only strike the winning blow? He doesn't do any of the hard part. He is still a coward unable to take action until someone else comes to his rescue (this time Enkidu wrestled the bull, last time Shamash captured Humbaba).Through his actions, Gilgamesh kills his best friend (indirectly of course).


Because the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba have been killed by Enkidu and Gilgamesh, the gods decide it is time for one of them to perish. This time Enkidu has a dream and he can understand it all by himself. After the Bickering and decision of the gods, Enkidu becomes ill. He curses the door and Shamhat, but he should be cursing Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh wanted to go kill Humbaba. Becuase they were successful, Ishtar wanted to marry Gilgamesh. Which leads in Gilgamesh and Enkidu slaying the bull of heaven. Finally, the gods make Enkidu ill. Enkidu does not curse his friend and he takes back everything that he already cursed, proving how amazing this man is. I won't get into detail, but what happens after Enkidu's death irritates me greatly.

For Gilgamesh to make his entire city mourn, including mountains, rivers, and forests (even the forest where Humbaba was killed?), over Enkidu proves that they were indeed great friends. It is also a little honorary, but he ruins everything by going into the forest. Gilgamesh has to be hurt from loosing his friend, but being afraid of his own death while Enkidu took it like a man is a kick in the face to Enkidu. He further disrespects him by wanting to live forever. Firstly, how can he want to live forever with all the torment and anguish that Enkidu's death is putting him through? Secondly, if Gilgamesh really cared about Enkidu, he wouldn't want to live forever. This is because when he dies, he will be able to see Enkidu again down in the netherworld.

Gilgamesh is still a fool. He is selfish and disrespectful to his friend Enkidu. After finishing, I asked myself why anyone would want to write an epic, or any other type of literature for that matter, on Gilgamesh. I have not come to a conclusion, but it was probably written to make Enkidu the real hero, that is if Gilgamesh was an actual person. All in all, the epic of Gilgamesh is pretty decent. It is a good (or bad) story that both makes me angry and kept me excited. It is an great story of two friends. That's what I think the goal of Gilgamesh really is; to teach people how to be a great friend such as Enkidu.