Epic of Gilgamesh: Difference between revisions

When the god Anu heard the city of Uruk lamenting the cruelty of their king, he responded by demanding of the goddess of creation: “You made him, O Aruru, now create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart” (19).  Thus [[Enkindu]] was created to counterbalance the despotic Gilgamesh:  whereas Gilgamesh was two thirds god and one third man, Enkindu was two thirds beast and one third man.  Enkindu also acts as a reflection to Gilgamesh in that both must learn what it means to be human.  In order to do this, each must distance himself from his animal or godly instincts.  As for Enkindu, Jager states that “the wild man who is about to enter the human city must…forego living in a state of absolute unity with a savage and untamed nature.”  Enkindu must break the bond between himself and the wilderness in order to be cultured and civilized.   Similarly, Jager notes that “The king seeking to humanly inhabit his realm must forego treating that realm as a mere physical extension of himself to which he has completely unrestricted access.” Gilgamesh, like a weaning child, must recognize the break between himself as a ruler and the kingdom he reigns over. Both must learn how to properly inhabit the human realm before they can be considered human.