Good And Evil In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Written by Sumerians on clay tablets thousands of years ago, The Epic of Gilgamesh has been a window for the modern world to see the thoughts and beliefs of these ancient people. The epic’s main characters include Gilgamesh, the arrogant, half-man, half-god king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild beast of a man created by the gods to be Gilgamesh’s opposite and eventual friend. Because the gods control all of the things that happen to humans in the epic, they often revere the gods out of fear alone. However, Enkidu displays several acts of disobedience and trickery toward the gods, which mark him as the least religious character. Through these acts of rebellion toward the gods, tricking of the gods, and the throwing of the Bull of Heaven’s leg at

Although Enkidu was weary of this idea at first, he ultimately agrees to the plan, despite the fact that he knows this act will displease Enlil, the god that put Humbaba in the forest. After walking through the forest and finding Humbaba, the duo begins to use their weapons to lash out at the forest beast. During combat, Humbaba begins to plead for his life. This prompts Enkidu to tell Gilgamesh to have no mercy and to kill the beast because the god, Shamash, approves and is helping them. Shamash’s help is given despite the fact that the killing of the beast will enrage Enlil. While Enkidu does display that he slightly cares for the gods’ input here, he is still causing another god great displeasure. Also, his main purpose of mentioning Shamash was probably driven by his need to convince Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba.

After the conquerors of Humbaba return home, Gilgamesh is confronted by Ishtar with a marriage proposal. Gilgamesh all but politely declines this proposal by naming several reasons why he would never marry her along with a crude little song. “Ishtar is a hearth gone cold, a broken door that cannot hold, a fort that shuts its soldiers out, a commandant who’ll only pout...” (Lines 41-44). Sending Ishtar into an embarrassed fury, she complains incessantly to her father, Anu, denying any truth to Gilgamesh’s