How Did Gilgamesh Change

Civilization means to develop in society, to grow towards a higher advancement. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, N.K. Sanders, the main character Gilgamesh goes on many journeys with his friend or brother Enkidu. Throughout the book Gilgamesh and Enkidu go through stages, or transitions that change who they are mentally and physically. They both change in the end, but Gilgamesh change is more mentally than physically. Gilgamesh’s transition from the way he acted before Enkidu and after Enkidu, Enkidu’s transition from having more of an animalistic nature to becoming a more civilized being, and

Before Enkidu, Gilgamesh was seen has only a king, he was seen as the man who knew everything. He acted as he did. The people who lived in the city would tell

“His body was rough, he had long hair like a woman’s[...] he was covered in matted hair…He was innocent of mankind.” Enkidu fit well with animals and the animals appealed to him. A trapper saw Enkidu and said to his father, “There is a man, unlike no other, who comes down from the hills. He is the strongest in the world…He ranges over the hills with wild beasts and eats grass.” The father told his son to find Gilgamesh, and when he did find the harlot to seduce Enkidu. Soon the trapper came back with the harlot, and the harlot and Enkidu stayed together for six days and seven nights. After the seventh day, the harlot said to Enkidu, “You are wise, Enkidu, and now you have become like a god. Why do you want to run with the beasts in the hills?”(N.K. Sanders 65) The harlot believes after the time they spent together Enkidu has become a man. She tells him about Gilgamesh and the great strength he has. “I will challenge him boldly, I will cry out aloud in Uruk, ‘I am the strongest here, I have come to change the old order, I am he who was born in the hills, I am he who is strongest of all.’” (N.K. Sanders 65). Both Enkidu and the harlot go to Uruk, the city were Gilgamesh lives, and Enkidu challenges him. When they meet they fight each other and soon after become friends. The transformation for Enkidu was more physical that than Gilgamesh’s. Enkidu change from have a more animalistic nature and behavior