Completion

One of the basic determinates of human behavior is the desire for attention, or more specifically, a deep, mutual relationship between two humans. The desire to be understood, sympathized with, and loved. Gilgamesh offers such insight into human behavior through the relationship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Before Gilgamesh meets Enkidu, he is reckless; Gilgamesh does not care for the needs of his city, he takes any woman, and he “went abroad in the world, but he met none that could withstand his arms” (62). The key word in this statement is but. Rather than use the word “and,” which would imply arrogance of Gilgamesh’s power, “but” suggests that Gilgamesh had been searching for an equal. He is unmatched is power, beauty, and strength, yet these god-bestowed qualities do not satisfy him. He “leaves no virgin to her lover,”(62) but women do not gratify his desire for another to understand his situation. In recognizing Gilgamesh’s recklessness as a result of his loneliness, the gods then create Enkidu, “[Gilgamesh’s] own reflection, a second self, a stormy heart for a stormy heart” (62). In other words, a man that would understand Gilgamesh, and provide him the companion to which they can be “contented together” (62).

From the moment of his enlightenment, Enkidu similarly “longed for a comrade…one who would understand his heart” (65). Enkidu recognizes his power, and his desire for companionship cannot be satisfied by the harlot’s company. But together, “their friendship was sealed” (69), and the two find completion in the other’s companionship. However, once Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh is again left with a void that cannot be filled, for the gods only created one man, Enkidu, worthy of equality with Gilgamesh. Again, Gilgamesh becomes reckless; he abandons Uruk for a fruitless search for eternal life, for again he is left without the satisfaction of fulfillment of another close companion.