The Epic of Gilgamesh

There are many strong themes in The Epic of Gilgamesh that even relate to prime examples in today's society. One theme that I took interest to was that Gilgamesh and Enkidu's friendship/love for one another grows stronger after every battle they have together. From tablets I through XII, the two characters continue to become closer after each fighting. There are three major events that support the theme that Gilgamesh and Enkidu are closer after a battle of some sort.

The prelude/first tablet introduces Gilgamesh and his great city of Uruk. Even though the city is great, the people of Uruk are tired of Gilgamesh and ask the gods to do something about it. In response, they create Enkidu, a man of the wild made from clay. Gilgamesh becomes knowledgeable of Enkidu and sends a prostitute to weaken him, so that he is able to defeat him in battle and keep his reign. This is successful, but Enkidu concedes that he is not as strong, and the two men kiss, embrace, and become friends, and eventually brothers. This shows that through the battle of the two, they create a friendship with the utmost respect. This can compare to modern day, when professional hockey players respect one another enough that they ask the opposition to fight before they drop the gloves. They are friends afterwards and have respect for the opponent, even though they "battle."

Another battle that occurs with Gilgamesh and Enkidu is when they battle Humbaba. At first, the people of Uruk try to persuade the two not to go, but Gilgamesh and Enkidu rally together and leave. Enkidu continues to encourage Gilgamesh whenever he is hesitant, and they become even closer on their journey towards Humbaba. After Gilgamesh dreams, he always shares them with Enkidu, and this also shows how the battle against Humbaba brought them together. When they defeat Humbaba, Enkidu wants Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba right away, hinting that he is jealous that Humbaba could take Enkidu's place in Gilgamesh's life. Gilgamesh listens to Enkidu, despite believing they could be cursed afterwards, because they are brothers. This bond is shown as almost unbreakable and as strong as ever.

Lastly, the battle against the gods, when Enkidu becomes sick brings the two characters very close. When they "lose" this war, Gilgamesh is shattered. He shouts his grief to the city elders. Gilgamesh then goes into the wild to live like Enkidu was meant to. He tries to support Enkidu's death by representing him in the present. In the end, Gilgamesh experiences a "rebirth" after travels caused by Enkidu's passing.

The two characters friendship becomes stronger after each battle they participate in together. Also, with this comes the strength increased in each individual. After the battle between the two, the battle against Humbaba, and the battle against the gods during Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are closer together every time. The Epic of Gilgamesh demonstrates how a relationship can become more tightly knit after every fight spent together.


A modern day example where there are many battles that increase the level of friendship between two people is in the movie, Miracle. Two players on the team, Jack O'Callahan and Rob McClanahan hated each other during tryouts and into the first couple practices of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team. The reason for this hatred was from a previous incident between their respective clubs in the NCAA hockey championships, when McClanahan took a "cheap shot" on Jack O'Callahan. However, after they started battling (playing games) together, they developed a strong friendship, as if they were brothers. Just like Enkidu, O'Callahan suffers an injury that prevents him from playing in the Olympics (considerable to death for a hockey player), but McClanahan rallies behind him and supports him during the whole games. The hockey games or battles bring the two players closer to one another, after they started off as enemies.