Quick Examples for Essays on “Gilgamesh and Enkidu”The Dynamic Duo: How do the contrasting qualities of Gilgamesh and Enkidu contribute to the strength of their friendship? Explore the specific traits and behaviors that make Gilgamesh and Enkidu such a unique and complementary couple in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Impact of Pride and Humility Analyze the role of pride in Gilgamesh and Enkidu's character development and their friendship. Discuss how Gilgamesh's pride and Enkidu's humility shape their decisions and interactions throughout the story. Gods, Mortals, and Friendship Examine the influence of divine and mortal qualities on the personalities of Gilgamesh and Enkidu and their friendship. Consider how their partial divinity and humanity affect their moral values ​​and worldviews. The Evolution of Gilgamesh Trace Gilgamesh's character arc from a self-centered ruler to a wise and compassionate king, highlighting Enkidu's role in this transformation. Learn how Enkidu's presence and eventual disappearance impacts Gilgamesh's personal growth and leadership qualities. Lessons from Quests for Immortality Analyze how Gilgamesh's character's pursuit of immortality ultimately shapes morality of the history and legacy of his friendship with Enkidu. Examine the themes of mortality, friendship, and the human condition in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and Enkidu Essay Example In the book, Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and Enkidu go on an adventure to kill Humbaba. The two characters, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are complete opposites of each other, which helps them overcome a difficult challenge. Gilgamesh, the epic hero, and Enkidu, the foil, have many character traits that help motivate the other. Gilgamesh possessed several great qualities such as heroism, perseverance and loyalty. He also has multiple flaws that slow him down, such as pride, self-righteousness, and selfishness. Enkidu also had several great qualities. His qualities ranged from confidence, omniscience, and leadership. The two main qualities of Gilgamesh presented in the book are his overflowing pride and his perseverance. Out of pride, he does not listen to Enkidu. This is a major flaw in the book. You can also see Gilgamesh's perseverance when he discovers that the results of this challenge might not please him. Even after discovering this, he continues to go and pray to Shamash. Enkidu's two main qualities shown in the book are his leadership and his loyalty. His leadership can be noticed when the elders of Uruk tell Gilgamesh to let Enkidu lead and he willingly takes the lead and guides them to the cedar forest. You can also see Enkidu's loyalty when Gilgamesh makes a dangerous idea and Enkidu helps him move away from that idea because they are great friends. If Gilgamesh were a modern-day epic story, then Gilgamesh and Enkidu would have to acquire some new characteristics. Gilgamesh should have a social media page where he posts all his accomplishments, he would be bad at texting or emailing, and he would always be too distracted by his phone to listen to what Enkidu had to say. Enkidu was sent to Uruk to fight Gilgamesh according to the will of the gods that the people of Uruk prayed to. The fight had resulted in a friendship that no one in the town had seen coming. Gilgamesh and Enkidu had just enough similarities to stay close, and enough differences to stay sane. AThe similarity they had to each other is that they were both somewhere between a god and a human. Being a third human meant that both lacked the quality of morality and therefore were not invincible like the gods who created Enkidu, and like the gods Gilgamesh wanted to be and thought he was. Another similarity was that they had divine qualities and they were both extremely strong. This was demonstrated when they decided they would eliminate Humbaba, a demon who exists to protect the forest from mortals. No one would have thought of taking on this task, but Gilgamesh and Enkidu wanted their names to live on forever, while believing they were doing what the gods desired. These similarities allowed their friendship to flourish as their similar qualities pushed each other. Gilgamesh and Enkidu also showed many differences, both before and while they were friends. Gilgamesh is two-thirds god, while Enkidu is two-thirds beast. This may have created a difference in how everyone treated women and nature. Gilgamesh considered himself a god and showed it by the way he treated the people of the city and the way he dealt with women. As Enkidu was part animal, he respected nature and therefore had different morals than Gilgamesh. Enkidu adhered to normal moral ethics while Gilgamesh was attracted to lust, wealth, and mortality. This shows how Gilgamesh and Enkidu's personalities are different, but how that can make them great friends, because opposites create different thought processes, just like relationships in real life. Another key difference between the two characters is that Enkidu can interpret Gilgamesh's dreams, while Gilgamesh cannot. This keeps Enkidu as an important part of the story in several different ways. Enkidu interpreting Gilgamesh's dreams kept Gilgamesh sane, as he would wake up from the dreams questioning himself and guessing their plan to kill Humbaba. Enkidu would assure Gilgamesh that dreams are all a good thing and that they are an omen that their quest will be rewarded. Dream interpretation also allowed Enkidu to be more of a family and brotherly figure to Gilgamesh, as it would ease his mind by telling him that everything would be okay. Without this quality, Enkidu would only be in the story for his strength in first trying to defeat Gilgamesh and then helping defeat Humbaba and would not get the same attention as Gilgamesh. In real life, no two people are the same. , but they can still be great friends. Most of the time, the differences between people are what makes a friendship stronger, because different perspectives can keep you out of trouble. The similarities and differences between Gilgamesh and Enkidu are no different and help move the narrative forward while strengthening their friendship. All of Gilgamesh's weaknesses were overcome by Enkidu's strengths, and all of Enkidu's weaknesses were then strengthened by Gilgamesh's strengths. This was evident when they searched for Humbaba. Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu are very strong, even to the point where Enkidu thought he was stronger than Gilgamesh. Even though they were both strong, Enkidu hesitated to fight Humbaba, while Gilgamesh was never afraid because that was how he lived his life. In the end, they killed Humbaba, but having someone who can think about a different situation than you, like Enkidu, can strengthen the relationship by ensuring that the decisions made are in the best interest. The most important part of their friendship was Gilgamesh seeing Enkidu die. Gilgamesh.