Enkidu is outraged when he hears about Uruk’s oppression,
especially how its king takes advantage of women in general and
new brides in particular, but lust might not be Gilgamesh’s only
motivation. His ritual deflowering of the brides might be a form
of tribute to Ishtar, whose temple and rites play such a central
role in the affairs of the city. Conceivably, Gilgamesh was dutifully
enacting a sacred ritual, rather than basely enjoying a selfish
pleasure. But in one old Babylonian version of the story, the lords
of Uruk rejoice at Enkidu’s arrival in the city, calling him a hero
for “men of decency,” which suggests otherwise.
The language describing the friendship between Gilgamesh
and Enkidu is erotic, as is the description of the wrestling match
that brought them together. Other erotic descriptions and actions
appear throughout Gilgamesh. We are told that Gilgamesh
loves Enkidu like a “bride,” for example, and they often kiss and
embrace. In many ways, they appear to be lovers, and many critics
believe this is a reasonable interpretation of their relationship.
One writer summarizes the story of Gilgamesh as that of a rampantly
heterosexual king who wrestles with a handsome, wild man and loves
him like a wife until the gods punish his lover by killing him with
a wasting disease. However, other critics oppose this interpretation
and claim that any language suggesting a sexual relationship is
metaphorical. In any case, the same-sex friendships of Mesopotamian
warriors do not fit comfortably into our contemporary categories
of friendship, marriage, and sexual partnership, ensuring that the
true nature of Gilgamesh’s relationship with Enkidu remains a mystery.
Humbaba, or Huwawa, in some translations, is a vague and sometimes
changeable adversary. The poet describes Humbaba as a personification
of an erupting volcano. Geological fault lines run through nearby
Turkey and other areas adjacent to Mesopotamia, and Gilgamesh’s
earliest chroniclers most likely remembered the active volcanoes
in the region. The cedar trees that Humbaba guards would have been
a precious commodity in the relatively treeless region of southern
Mesopotamia where Uruk is located. An actual trade mission or military
raid into hostile territory, possibly Syria or Iran, undertaken
by the historical King Gilgamesh, may have inspired the story of
this quest. However, much of the narrative is clearly allegorical,
and later in the poem Humbaba is referred to simply as “Evil.”
Domesticated by the prostitute, Enkidu in turn tames Gilgamesh. He
calms Gilgamesh’s destructive urges, making him less wild and more
human. Just as Enkidu once identified more with animals than with
people, Gilgamesh himself is at first a kind of animal, vicious and
violent, before Enkidu comes along. After befriending Enkidu, Gilgamesh
turns his restless energies outward, no longer content to live in
and for the moment. Now he wants to accomplish great things, both
for his own fame and for that of his city. He thinks ahead to his
death, of the ultimate purpose and meaning of his life. These themes
dominate the second half of the poem.
