Enkidu’s encounter with the prostitute allows him to accept the friendship between Gilgamesh and himself. When he meets this women, Enkidu embarks upon a metaphorical journey from beast to man. The symbolism that Shamhat “showed him the things a woman knows how to do” (pp. 8) completed Enkidu’s journey and allows him to his new identity. Now the creatures upon “seeing him, they fled. The creatures were gone, and everything was changed” (pp. 8). The encounter with the prostitute is pertinent to the entire epic because without this encounter the relationship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh would never have moved forth. Neither Gilgamesh nor Enkidu had ever had a friend that was a man before. Enkidu knew only of the grassland animals, and Gilgamesh, a tyrannical king, had never treated anyone as his equal.
Ninsun’s prophecy is correct, and the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu stems from great loyalty and trust. Moreover, the formation of their bond is very abrupt. Upon meeting, they fight fiercely, stop, and embrace. This briefness gives an air of resourcefulness to the relationship, but this quality is later shattered by their loyalty to one another in following scenes.
Enkidu’s devotion to Gilgamesh is shown in their battles with both Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. By partaking in these battles with Gilgamesh, Enkidu is expressing his friendship. The conquests are not his idea, and he begins to protest them and to give in to his friend’s will. Enkidu dies for Gilgamesh, in essence. If not for Gilgamesh, Enkidu would not have been wounded in the battle with Huwawa and would not have died later on: “Why should he [Enkidu] die? Angry Enlil said: ‘You went with them as if you were companion, day after day as they went upon their journey to violate the Forest and kill the gaurdian’” (pp. 37). His death is a voluntary one in the sense that he dies carrying out his friend’s mission.
Gilgamesh’s own loyalty to the friendship seems questionable until Enkidu dies. During the battle with Huwawa, Enkidu does most of the work and gets hurt, while Gilgamesh receives the glory of the fatal blow. The Bull of Heaven’s death, however, falls on Enkidu, and it is he who faces the immediate ramifications of Ishtar’s curse. As Enkidu beomes ill, Gilgamesh is worried about his friend’s impending death. However, he also seems preoccupied with his own loneliness as well as the consequences of his own mortality: “Enkidu has died, Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh Be like that?” (pp.48) This statement reflects on Gilgamesh and how he worries for himself, on the most part, due to the fact that Enkidu is going to die.
The concept of friendship sheds new light on the epic of Gilgamesh. Enkidu, a true friend to the animals and a loyal friend to Gilgamesh, remains true to these ideals throughout the poem. Gilgamesh, although seemingly changed by his companionship with Enkidu, appears self-serving. Focused on his own loneliness and journey, Gilgamesh contributes far less to the companionship and therefore causes the relationship to be tarnished.
