Gilgamesh, Stephen Mitchell

Story Summary:

Gilgamesh, as told by Stephen Mitchell, is an epic about a man 2/3 god and 1/3 human named Gilgamesh, who is unparalleled by any other being until he meets Enkidu; the two men develop a relationship of true friendship and love whilst committing powerful and heroic acts together, until Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh goes on in search of eternal life to escape the same fate.

Reflections:

As I was reading Gilgamesh, I concentrated specifically on the language concerning Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship. The three most common words I found describing their relationship are “friends,” “brothers,” and “beloved.” “Beloved” suggests a love relationship paralleling that of a husband and wife, while “brothers” and “friends” suggest a relationship intimate in a different way. The epic seems to establish their relationship as more homosocial than homosexual; a physical desire for one another is only fleetingly suggested. The strongest example of this seems to be on page 83, where it reads, “You will take him in your arms, embrace and caress him the way a man caresses his wife.” On page 90, the two men kiss. Oftentimes throughout the story they hold hands. However, besides these debatable signs, the book does not seem to establish their love as definitively homosexual. There are many direct signs that portray the opposite; for example, Enkidu’s repetitive love making with Shamhat and Gilgamesh’s claim to every girl’s virginity.

The epic does, however, establish that their love is true and lasting. It also offers up a distinct contrast to love/lust with a woman. On page 132, Gilgamesh refuses Ishtar’s marriage proposal, questioning, “What will happen to me when your heart turns elsewhere and your lust burns out?” Women’s love is outlined here as fleeting, cruel, and fake. Ishtar cannot love a man unconditionally; she becomes bored with them and disposes of them cruelly, only to repeat the process. Gilgamesh’s love for Enkidu is quite the opposite; it is consistently established as everlasting. They pledge to always be there for one another. Even after Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh says, “I will mourn for him as long as I breathe” (152). Their love continues, even after death. In this way, the story seems to argue that the love relationship between two males is stronger than that of a man and a woman.

However, the last portion of the epic after Enkidu’s death complicates the notion of true love for me. Gilgamesh is clearly heartbroken for Enkidu and his love for him lives on; however, his one true focus from that point seems to be entirely selfish. As he sees Enkidu dead, he puts more anguish into fearing for his own life than mourning his beloved “friend” and “brother.” Instead of yearning to die to stop the pain of loss, or attempt to join Enkidu in the underworld, Gilgamesh travels to the end of the earth to seek eternal life. Enkidu’s death seems to scare him more than upset him; this calls into question how unconditionally Gilgamesh loved Enkidu. Although the story supplies evidence throughout that Gilgamesh and Enkidu had the strongest love bond possible, it ends suggesting the contrary. I am uncertain which argument is stronger, yet I am still lead to believe that Gilgamesh truly loved Enkidu, more than he could have loved any other being.

Words: 547