The Epic of Gilgamesh
Summary
Characters
Gilgamesh- King of Uruk, the strongest of men, and the personification
of all human virtues.
Enkidu- Companion and friend of Gilgamesh. Hairy-bodied and brawny,
Enkidu was raised by animals. Looks much like Gilgamesh and is
almost his physical equal.
Shamhat- The temple prostitute who tames Enkidu by seducing him
away from his natural state.
Utnapishtim- A king and a priest of Shurrupak, whose name translates
as He who Saw Life
Characters
Utnapishtims wife- an unnamed woman who plays an important role in
the story. She softens her husband toward Gilgamesh, persuading him
to disclose the secret of the magic plant called How-the-Old-Man-OnceAgain-Becomes-a-Young-Man.
Urshanabi The guardian of the mysterious stone things.
The Hunter Also called the Stalker. The hunter discovers Enkidu at a
watering place in the wilderness and plots to tame him.
Characters
Partial List of Important Deities and Demons
Anu- The father of the gods and the god of the firmament
Aruru- A goddess of creation who fashioned Enkidu from clay and her
spittle
Ea The god of fresh water, crafts, and wisdom, a patron of
humankind.
Humbaba- The fearsome demon who guards the Cedar Forest
forbidden to mortals.
Plot Summary
PRELUDE
The epics prelude offers a general introduction to Gilgamesh,
king of Uruk, who was two-thirds god and one-third man. He built
magnificent ziggurats, or temple towers, surrounded his city with
high walls, and laid out its orchards and fields. He was physically
beautiful, immensely strong, and very wise. Although Gilgamesh
was godlike in body and mind, he began his kingship as a cruel
despot. He lorded over his subjects, raping any woman who
struck his fancy, whether she was the wife of one of his warriors
or the daughter of a nobleman. He accomplished his building
projects with forced labor, and his exhausted subjects groaned
under his oppression.
Plot Summary
The gods heard his subjects pleas and decided to
keep Gilgamesh in check by creating a wild man
named Enkidu, who was as magnificent as
Gilgamesh. Enkidu became Gilgameshs great friend,
and Gilgameshs heart was shattered when Enkidu
died of an illness inflicted by the gods. Gilgamesh
then traveled to the edge of the world and learned
about the days before the deluge and other secrets
of the gods, and he recorded them on stone tablets.
Plot Summary
The epic begins with Enkidu. He lives with the animals, suckling at their
breasts, grazing in the meadows, and drinking at their watering places. A
hunter discovers him and sends a temple prostitute into the wilderness to
tame him. In that time, people considered women and sex calming forces
that could domesticate wild men like Enkidu and bring them into the
civilized world. When Enkidu sleeps with the woman, the animals reject
him since he is no longer one of them. Now, he is part of the human
world. Then the harlot teaches him everything he needs to know to be a
man. Enkidu is outraged by what he hears about Gilgameshs excesses,
so he travels to Uruk to challenge him. When he arrives, Gilgamesh is
about to force his way into a brides wedding chamber. Enkidu steps into
the doorway and blocks his passage. The two men wrestle fiercely for a
long time, and Gilgamesh finally prevails. After that, they become friends
and set about looking for an adventure to share.
Plot Summary
Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to steal trees from a distant cedar forest forbidden
to mortals. A terrifying demon named Humbaba, the devoted servant of Enlil, the
god of earth, wind, and air, guards it. The two heroes make the perilous journey
to the forest, and, standing side by side, fight with the monster. With assistance
from Shamash the sun god, they kill him. Then they cut down the forbidden trees,
fashion the tallest into an enormous gate, make the rest into a raft, and float on it
back to Uruk. Upon their return, Ishtar, the goddess of love, is overcome with lust
for Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh spurns her. Enraged, the goddess asks her father, Anu,
the god of the sky, to send the Bull of Heaven to punish him. The bull comes
down from the sky, bringing with him seven years of famine. Gilgamesh and
Enkidu wrestle with the bull and kill it. The gods meet in council and agree that
one of the two friends must be punished for their transgression, and they decide
Enkidu is going to die. He takes ill, suffers immensely, and shares his visions of
the underworld with Gilgamesh. When he finally dies, Gilgamesh is heartbroken.
Plot Summary
Gilgamesh cant stop grieving for Enkidu, and he cant stop brooding about
the prospect of his own death. Exchanging his kingly garments for animal
skins as a way of mourning Enkidu, he sets off into the wilderness,
determined to find Utnapishtim, the Mesopotamian Noah. After the flood, the
gods had granted Utnapishtim eternal life, and Gilgamesh hopes that
Utnapishtim can tell him how he might avoid death too. Gilgameshs journey
takes him to the twin-peaked mountain called Mashu, where the sun sets into
one side of the mountain at night and rises out of the other side in the
morning. Utnapishtim lives beyond the mountain, but the two scorpion
monsters that guard its entrance refuse to allow Gilgamesh into the tunnel
that passes through it. Gilgamesh pleads with them, and they relent.
Plot Summary
After a harrowing passage through total darkness, Gilgamesh emerges into a
beautiful garden by the sea. There he meets Siduri, a veiled tavern keeper,
and tells her about his quest. She warns him that seeking immortality is futile
and that he should be satisfied with the pleasures of this world. However,
when she cant turn him away from his purpose, she directs him to
Urshanabi, the ferryman. Urshanabi takes Gilgamesh on the boat journey
across the sea and through the Waters of Death to Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim
tells Gilgamesh the story of the floodhow the gods met in council and
decided to destroy humankind. Ea, the god of wisdom, warned Utnapishtim
about the gods plans and told him how to fashion a gigantic boat in which
his family and the seed of every living creature might escape. When the
waters finally receded, the gods regretted what theyd done and agreed that
they would never try to destroy humankind again. Utnapishtim was rewarded
with eternal life. Men would die, but humankind would continue.
Plot Summary
When Gilgamesh insists that he be allowed to live forever, Utnapishtim
gives him a test. If you think you can stay alive for eternity, he says, surely
you can stay awake for a week. Gilgamesh tries and immediately fails. So
Utnapishtim orders him to clean himself up, put on his royal garments
again, and return to Uruk where he belongs. Just as Gilgamesh is departing,
however, Utnapishtims wife convinces him to tell Gilgamesh about a
miraculous plant that restores youth. Gilgamesh finds the plant and takes it
with him, planning to share it with the elders of Uruk. But a snake steals the
plant one night while they are camping. As the serpent slithers away, it
sheds its skin and becomes young again.
Plot Summary
When Gilgamesh returns to Uruk, he is empty-handed but
reconciled at last to his mortality. He knows that he cant live
forever but that humankind will. Now he sees that the city he
had repudiated in his grief and terror is a magnificent, enduring
achievementthe closest thing to immortality to which a mortal
can aspire.
