The name of Enkidu is taken from a virtuous character in the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh, a Babylonian saga which we know of primarily from Akkadian tablets. The story details the exploits of King Gilgamesh and his companion, Enkidu. Due to the early date of the myth, Gilgamesh is usually considered the first in the long line of heroes that characterizes epic works. However, we believe this distinction more rightfully should lie with Enkidu. It is Enkidu who suffers a fall from grace, who mollifies the tyranical Gilgamesh through personal combat, and who, in confronting the Gods, suffers the ultimate punishment.
Gilgamesh was fashioned by the Gods, one-third human and two-thirds god, and sent to rule as king the great walled city of Uruk. However, he abused his privilege mightily, fighting with the young men and compromising the young women. The people of Uruk were rightfully incensed that the Gods had provided them with such an arrogant despot, and begged for a companion for Gilgamesh, to tame his fury. The god Anu heard their pleas, and instructed the goddess Aruru to bring forth valiant Enkidu - an equal to Gilgamesh in all respects. Wild in appearance and nature, Enkidu was birthed among the animals on the steppes.
Wandering the Steppes, Enkidu was at one with nature. He fed with the gazelles, drank with the wild beasts, and thwarted the attempts of hunters to disturb the creatures. A young hunter, vexed by Enkidu, was told by his father to go to Uruk and tell Gilgamesh of this powerful wild-man. Doing so, Gilgamesh gave the young hunter a "harlot-lass", who was to "lay bare her ripeness" and seduce Enkidu at his watering-place. For six days and seven nights Enkidu and the harlot cavorted, after which Enkidu found that the wild beasts no longer welcome him. However, he "now had wisdom, broader understanding."
The harlot convinced now-lonely Enkidu to accompany her to ramparted Uruk and challenge Gilgamesh, whose tyrannical disposition has been described to Enkidu. Before leaving, however, the harlot teaches Enkidu the ways of modern man, and he becomes a hero to the country people- watching over the cattle and scaring off the lions. Enkidu then goes to Uruk and confronts Gilgamesh. They clash like mighty bulls, shaking the very wall of Uruk. The fight goes on for hours, with Enkidu emerging as the nominal victor. After this battle, Enkidu and Gilgamesh become inseperable friends and joint heroes of Uruk, with Gilgamesh no longer abusing his position of authority.
Gilgamesh is determined to fight the monstrous Huwatha in the Cedar Forest, telling Enkidu that only by defeating this beast will his name achieve immortality. On the way, Gilgamesh has terrible dreams of death and despair, and loses morale. Enkidu repeatedly reassures him, and in the end Huwatha is defeated (note that in some versions of the myth, it is Enkidu that has the dreams). Details of the actual fight with Huwatha are sparse, but it is clear that both heroes play a part in the victory. The pair return to Uruk in glory.
After Enkidu and Gilgamesh return from the Cedar Forest, the goddess Ishtar becomes entranced with Gilgamesh, and attempts to seduce him. However, Gilgamesh rejects her, recounting in detail the less than admirable fates of her past lovers. Ishtar is enraged at this insolence, and begs her father Anu to send the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. In exchange for a seven year drought, he agrees, and the Bull of Heaven wreaks havoc on Uruk, killing hundreds of men. Enkidu seizes the Bull by its horns, and together with Gilgamesh slays the creature. Ishtar appears on the walls of Uruk, cursing Gilgamesh. Enraged by her capricious actions, Enkidu tears off a leg of the bull and hurls it at Ishtar, lamenting that he cannot rend her as well.
In response to the deaths of Huwatha and the Bull of Heaven, the council of gods dictate that one of the heroes must die. The god Enlil dictates that it shall be Enkidu, despite Shamash's protests that he is an innocent in the whole matter. So it is that Enkidu is struck by sickness. Embittered Enkidu bemoans the train of events which have led to his downfall, cursing the hunter who found him and the harlot who seduced him. However, after Shamash reminds Enkidu of the wisdom that ultimately derived from these encounters and of his friendship with Gilgamesh, Enkidu relents and changes each of his curses to a blessing. Twelve days after being stricken, Enkidu dies.
Gilgamesh is devastated by Enkidu's death, pulling out his hair and tearing off his fine clothes. He commissions a gold statue of Enkidu to stand in Uruk's marketplace and vows to make the people of the city share in his sorrow. Forced to confront his own mortality, Gilgamesh dons a simple lion skin and wanders the steppes. Hearing of the immortal Utanapishtim, who, as a survivor of the Great Flood, keeps the secret of eternal life, Gilgamesh resolves to search him out. Although he eventually finds Utanapishtim, his quest is in vain - immortality can not be achieved.
Although Gilgamesh is ostensibly the hero of this epic, Enkidu has the more heroic personality. Conceived as the savior for the people of Uruk, he undergoes a fall from grace which transforms him from a peaceful creature at one with nature to a knowledgeable man, with all the attendant worries and problems. Unlike Gilgamesh, Enkidu becomes a benefactor of the common people. Fighting Gilgamesh, he cleanses him of his tyranical spirit. During their Huwatha adventure, Enkidu must coddle Gilgamesh back to bravery after every bad dream. Finally, even though it is Gilgamesh who angered the Gods by deciding to kill Huwatha and insult Ishtar, it is innocent Enkidu who must pay the price. After Enkidu's death, it is not his absence that primarily torments Gilgamesh, but rather the realization of his own mortality. In short, Gilgamesh is a self-centered, bad-tempered cry-baby, while Messianic Enkidu is the magnaminous righter of wrongs.
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