Argument Against Love

While love does play a role in The Epic of Gilgamesh and I agree that love was important to the authors of the story, I don’t believe that love really fueled the progression of events. Gilgamesh and Enkidu obviously had a very close and respectful relationship, but Gilgamesh’s love for Enkidu doesn’t directly change how Gilgamesh rules his kingdom. Gilgamesh, after killing the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba, returns to his kingdom and nothing more is said on the subject of his lust for women or his decree of taking sons away from their fathers. We aren’t safe to assume that he treated his people more justly because of Enkidu’s advice. There is no evidence that he worked to make life better for his people.
Furthermore, when Gilgamesh and Enkidu go on their journey through the forest, it is true that they enjoyed each other’s company and worked well together in their pursuit, however the real goal of their passage was to “leave an enduring name.” Gilgamesh was more wrapped up in his quest for immortality, in actual life and in history, than in his companionship with Enkidu.
When he returns home after Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh is consumed with the thought of death. I don’t necessarily believe that Gilgamesh went out on a quest for eternal life because he lost a dear friend, but because he was afraid for his own mortality. If anything, Enkidu didn’t make Gilgamesh less selfish, but opened his eyes to more self centered things. Gilgamesh was obsessed with saving himself from death, and no more is heard of the situation of his kingdom. He seems to neglect his duties as a king when he is off in search of something unobtainable, and therefore love has more of an ironic role.