The Epic of Gilgamesh comes across as a creation myth of sorts, an allegory with moral undertones, and an archetypal psychological projection.  At the very least it's a simple prose form poem, somewhat primitive and underdeveloped in structure, however, the combinations of characters and events make for an entertaining read.    

​We begin the journey with Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, who's apparently part god and part man, and his frienemy Enkidu, part animal, part man, who's "born on the Steppe" and runs with animals.  Gilagamesh is a dick to his people and let's his city walls go to shit.  Enkidu comes into town, people seem to like him, and Gilgamesh gets all pissed because Enkidu is blocking his way in a market.  They 'drop dem hands' for a few rounds, get all tired, then look each other, and, in the eyes and Gilgamesh "saw himself in the other, just as Enkidu saw himself in Gilgamesh."   Everyone's all like, 'wtf is going on!'.  Gilgamesh and Enkidu have a laugh and hug like good ol' boys.  
 
Gilgy talks Enkidu into fighting a creature named Humbaba in the forest; they agree, and venture out.  They fight Humbaba and defeat it, but not before Enkidu gets his shoulder all jacked-up with a wound.  
 
A goddess name Ishtar, the goddess of war, peace, and fruitfulness, comes out, and tries to marry Gilgamesh.  He all, 'naw, you a hoe'.  He actually says, "Your love brings only war!  You are an old fat whore...".  Not kind words. She's hurt by this so she sends down The Bull of Heaven to kill them, but Gilgy and Enkidu aren't phased by this nonsense either.  They defeat the bull.  Enkidu is still hurt though, and getting worse from his shoulder wound. He slowly inches toward death and whispers, "Everything had life to me.....the sky, the storm, the earth, water, wandering, the moon and its three children, salt, even my hand had life.  It's gone.  It's gone."   Enkidu dies...a little bit of a drama queen.   But he seemed fun - life of the party kind of guy.   
 
Gilgamesh is stricken with grief so he wanders into the desert and mountains and travels beyond a gate guarded by Scorpion people.  Gilgy wants to talk to his father Utnapishtim across the sea of death, about bringing Enkidu back to life, but he can't seem to find him.  He meets a barmaid named Siduri who tells him he needs to find a boatman named Urshanabi to shepherd him across a river to the sea.  The only way to find this dude is by following some stones with images on them.  Gilgy smashes some of these stones, (for unknown reasons, other than smashing stuff is fun and Gilgs is still pissed about Enkidu, I guess), right as he finds Urshanabi, then Urshanabi promptly explains, "You have destroyed the sacred stones that might have taken you across!".   Poor form Gilgz!
 
But....Urshanabi explains another way.  Urshanabi tells him to use his ax and cut down a boatload of trees to make poles so he can push himself out of a channel and into the sea of death.  Alternate approach #1 is successful and Gilgs sails across the sea to find his father on the opposite shore.  His father instantly starts spouting some whack wisdom and stories, and overall seems pretty happy to have a little company after only hanging with his old wife for many years.
 
Gilgamesh asks his father for something to bring Enkidu back to life but his father gets all pissed at this question and tells Gilgamesh to bugger off.  Utnapishtim's wife tells him to ease up and help his son.  He ponders for a bit, then offers this, "I will tell you a secret I have never told...there is a plant in the river.  Its thorns will prick your hands as a rose thorn pricks but it will give to you new life."  Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet and wades into the river to procure the plant.  He thanks his father, then carries on back across the sea of death, to the other shoreline, and takes a rest.  The plant is unattended for a moment; a snake sneaks up and eats it, sheds its skin, then bounces out.  Deuces yo.  
    
Gilgamesh grieves heavily since he knows now his friend is lost for good, and promptly returns to Uruk.  He asks a blind man if he's ever heard of Enkidu, the blind man "shrugged and shook his head."  Gilgamesh then looks up at his walls "awed at the heights his people had achieved and for a moment -  just a moment - all that lay behind him passed from view".  
 
Who were these characters and what are we supposed to make of them?  As I read these passages, images from other, later stories, emerged.  Genesis starts with Adam and Eve in a walled garden.  Uruk is a walled city.  We can view the wall as the archetype of order.  Gilgamesh is the ruler of Uruk, or the ruler of order.  He is the father.  But, Gilgamesh is cruel to his people and his city walls are crumbling.  He is the tyrannical father in the archetypal sense.  Enkidu lives outside the walls and represents mother nature and renewal.  When they meet, they initially fight, in a kind of tussle between the mother and father, the young and the old, the new and the tired.  They realize the need for each other and quickly become friends.  
 
Humbaba embodies the external threat to society.  It's the chaos outside the wall that breaks apart the balance between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and the young and the old.      
 
When Enkidu succumbs to his wounds, Gilgamesh is left without his friend.  The new, the young, and the innocent is gone, and Gilgamesh wants to bring it back.  He must cross the sea of death to renew his friend's life, but is ultimately denied the chance when a snake eats the plant he obtained to bring Ekidu back.  The attachment to his friend is cut short by the snake, a representation of chaos.  Here we see that chaos can rear it's head at any time, rendering our actions moot through disorder.  Gilgamesh wants his grief to subside by bringing his friend back, but the chaos of the snake denies him.  In the end he's left with his city which has renewed itself without his tyrannical oversight.  
 
The story is read as a fight between order and chaos and a reconciliation of the old and the new.  In order for Gilgamesh to become renewed again, which manifests in the city during his absence from Uruk, he must venture out into a world where chaos exerts its spontaneous and destructive force.  By first becoming attached to Enkidu, and then through losing him, (and his ensuing grief that follows), Gilgamesh integrates the innocent and new, the wild and the free, that Enkidu represented.  In the end, he rejoins his city of Uruk as a complete integrated person - the loss of Enkidu fading from his memory as the reconstructed walls, (and his psyche), meet again, renewed.

Summary:  Short and enjoyable creation myth/archetypal story of sorts, with intriguing insight into ancient Mesopotamian psychology.  
 
Rating:  7.0

-E.B.
 2017-08-27