Two Thirds God, One Third Man-Gilgamesh Tablets 1,2,3

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the telling of a man, a king who loses his best friend then searches for a way to escape death, searches for immortality. Gilgamesh was born in the city of Uruk. The gods created Gilgamesh with a perfect body. Shamash, the sun, gave him beauty; Adad the god of the storms gave him courage. His beauty was greater than all others like “a great wild bull.” Two thirds of him was god and the other third man. He was born king of Uruk. He was mightiest of men, none could surpass his might. The people loved him and he protected them. He set out to find men that could match or even surpass his strength but none could withstand him. But there was a problem; he had no heirs to provide for the kingdom. The people although they loved him at the same time he was a disturbance in the city of Uruk. The people of Uruk prayed to their gods for help and the gods created a man to match Gilgamesh’s strength, his equal in every way. So Enkidu was brought to the world, “born in the grasslands.” He roamed with the animals, ate and drank with them. They enjoyed his company. Then Gilgamesh had two dreams, he consulted his mother to interpret them and she told him that he would have a “friend, and a counselor.” But when Gilgamesh heard of the man supposedly stronger than him, he was furious. He sent a woman to the place where Enkidu drank from the lake to lure him into the city so he could prove his might. When Enkidu heard of Gilgamesh he became envious of him and wished to defeat him. He marched into Uruk and the people praised him, they gathered around him and kissed his feet. Gilgamesh was in the streets going to a bridal bedroom as was custom for the king. As he neared the building Enkidu stepped out and challenged him. They wrestled and fought, destroying the gate posts to the house. Eventually Gilgamesh threw Enkidu to the ground and Enkidu said to him, “There is not another like you in the world. Ninsun who is as strong as a wild ox in the byre, she was the mother who bore you, and now you are raised above all men, and Enlil has given you the kingship, for your strength surpasses the strength of men.” After these words they became friends and Gilgamesh’s dream came true. They stayed friends for a long time and the kingdom was well. But one day Gilgamesh heard news of a monster impeding progress in the woods. It was Humbaba the guardian of the forest sent by Enlil, the father of the gods. Humbaba was a monster, a giant, “When he roars it is like the torrent of the storm, his breath is like fire, and his jaws are death itself. He guards the cedars so well the wild heifer stirs in the forest, though she is sixty leagues distant he hears her.” Gilgamesh wished to challenge the beast but the council thought that Enkidu should go with him since he knew the way. Enkidu didn’t like the idea but agreed.