Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Gilgamesh: Tablets IV & V

What I first noticed in these tablets is that Gilgamesh seems to behave like a spoiled little prince who always gets what he wants, while Enkidu seems to be the wiser one, the one who can interpret his dreams and encourage him to be brave. Gilgamesh can be wealthy and powerful but he does not have Enkidu's bravery and different kind of intellect. But as the story progresses, we see that even though Enkidu's interpretations of the dreams were all "fortunate", both were afraid when they had to face Huwawa. This is where their group work comes and Enkidu acts as the foil. Both fought Huwawa and triumphed together. There was a detail I noticed and it was that during their trip to the Cedar Forest, once something had to be built it was stated that since "Enkidu was from the wild, he built their shelter.." and this happened a few times. Just because Enkidu was from the wild he was responsible for building or other manual works. There you can see the difference between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. But after their battle against Huwawa, Gilgamesh was the one that built the gate and it is said that they both built the raft to get back to the city and for Gilgamesh to claim glory for defeating Huwawa. I wonder if Gilgamesh will ever succeed without the help and support of Enkidu? Will the Gilgamesh's dreams present themselves again, but this time with bad omens? What will the people of the city have to say about the defeat of Huwawa?

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