Enkidu

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Enkidu

Enkidu (??

Wang Fei may refer to:*Faye Wong, with Chinese name Wang Fei, a Beijing-born pop singer*Wang Fei , a guqin player of Chinese descent*Wang Fei , female Chinese beach volleyball player...
??

Wang Fei may refer to:*Faye Wong, with Chinese name Wang Fei, a Beijing-born pop singer*Wang Fei , a guqin player of Chinese descent*Wang Fei , female Chinese beach volleyball player...
?? EN.KI.DU₃ "Enki

Enki

Enki was a deity in Mesopotamian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology. He was originally chief god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and also to Hittite and Hurrian areas....
's creation") is a central figure in the Ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the ancient literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian language poem much later; the most complete version existing today is pr...
. In the story he is a wild-man raised by animals and ignorant of human society

Feral child

A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language....
until he is bedded by the temple priestess Shamhat

Shamhat

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh also known as Bilgames in the earliest text , was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk , ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the Sumerian king list....
, king of Uruk

Uruk

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Enkidu (??

Wang Fei may refer to:*Faye Wong, with Chinese name Wang Fei, a Beijing-born pop singer*Wang Fei , a guqin player of Chinese descent*Wang Fei , female Chinese beach volleyball player...
??

Enki

Feral child

Shamhat

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh also known as Bilgames in the earliest text , was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk , ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the Sumerian king list....
, king of Uruk

Uruk

Uruk , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is modern Warka , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient Nil canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna Governorate, Iraq....
. Enkidu loses and becomes the king's constant companion, accompanying him on adventures until he is stricken ill by the gods for interfering in their will. The loss of Enkidu inspires Gilgamesh's quest to escape death in the remainder of the narrative.

Older sources sometimes transliterate his name as Enkimdu, Eabani, or Enkita. Enkidu is a modern variant.

First Tablet

Enkidu is the quintessential savage person in the beginning of the epic:

Enkidu roamed with the beasts of the wilderness. He protected the animals, destroying the hunters' traps, and lurked around the watering holes to protect the game. These actions were much to the chagrin of a local trapper. The trapper went to King Gilgamesh to ask for help. Gilgamesh offered the advice "Trapper, go back, take with you a harlot, a child of pleasure ... he will embrace her and the game of the wilderness will surely reject him." The trapper did what he was told, and hired the temple prostitute Shamhat

Shamhat

Shamhat is the name of a female character who appears in Tablets I/and II of the Epic of Gilgamesh-. She is given the title of "harimtu", a cultic devotee of the goddess Ishtar, whose title originates from the verb "haramu", the sense of which is "to cover" , suggesting restricted exposure to the world outside the temple....
for acculturation. Enkidu was immediately taken with the harlot and bedded her. The animals begin to avoid him, the bond he once shared with them having been broken. Now "he scattered the wolves, he chased away the lions" and the herders could lie down in peace, for Enkidu was now their watchperson.

After the abandonment of his animal brethren, Enkidu is introduced to a pastoralist way of life. He works for the trapper and shepherds, hunting and killing the animals he once served. Soon he grows restless, looking for a greater challenge.

Shamhat tells of a great king in the city Uruk

Uruk

Uruk , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is modern Warka , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient Nil canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna Governorate, Iraq....
(Gilgamesh) and says, too, that he would be a worthy challenge for Enkidu. Gilgamesh is surprised by Enkidu. The two wrestle fiercely for some time, until suddenly Gilgamesh gains the upper hand and throws Enkidu to the ground. Knowing his defeat, Enkidu praises Gilgamesh and both swear an oath of friendship, and thereafter cohabit.

Enkidu later in the Epic of Gilgamesh

Enkidu assists Gilgamesh in his fight against Humbaba

Humbaba

In Akkadian mythology Humbaba or Huwawa, also Humbaba the Terrible was a monstrous giant of immemorial age raised by Utu, the Sun....
, the guardian monster of the Cedar Forest

Cedar Forest

The Cedar Forest is the glorious realm of the gods of Mesopotamian mythology. It is guarded by the demigod Humbaba and was once entered by the hero Gilgamesh who dared cut down trees from its virgin stands during his quest for immortality....
. Contrary to Enkidu's conscience, he cooperates in killing the defeated Humbaba

Humbaba

In Akkadian mythology Humbaba or Huwawa, also Humbaba the Terrible was a monstrous giant of immemorial age raised by Utu, the Sun....
. Afterwards, he again assists Gilgamesh in slaying the Bull of Heaven, which the gods have sent to kill Gilgamesh as a reprisal for spurning the goddess Ishtar

Ishtar

Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Mesopotamian mythology Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte....
's affections. Ishtar demands that the pair should pay for the bull's destruction. Shamash

Shamash

Shamash was the common Akkadian language name of the Solar deity and god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Mesopotamian mythology Utu....
argues to the other gods to spare both of them, but could only save Gilgamesh. The gods pass judgment that Enkidu had no justification for fighting the Bull of Heaven and was interfering with their will. Enkidu then is overcome by a severe illness. Near death, he has visions of a gloomy afterlife, and curses the trapper and Shamhat for civilizing him. He retracts his curse on Shamhat, however, after Shamash scolds him, reminding him that it was Shamhat who taught him about civilization, and ultimately, brought him to Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh mourns over the body of Enkidu for several desperate days. In a vivid line repeated in the epic, Gilgamesh

Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the ancient literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian language poem much later; the most complete version existing today is pr...
only allows his friend to be buried after a maggot falls out of the corpse's nose. Gilgamesh's close observation of rigor mortis and the slow decomposition of Enkidu's body provides the hero with the impetus for his quest for eternal life, and his visit to Utnapishtim.

There is another non-canonical tablet in which Enkidu journeys into the underworld, but many scholars consider the tablet to be a sequel or add-on to the original epic.

Popular cultural references

See adaptations of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Bibliography

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Foster, Benjamin R. trans. & edit. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. ISBN 0-393-97516-9