The problem with friendship

This is a rather sad part in the book since Enkiru dies. The chapter starts when they are returning from the Cedar forest with Huwawa’s head. They are received very well and Gilgamesh is known as a hero. Then the goddess Ishtar fell in love with him and when Gilgamesh rejects her she is enraged. On page 32 she sais to her mother and father “The king of Uruk has insulted me. He has found out and told about my foulness.” She asks for the bull of heaven and it is given to her. It kills men of Uruk until Enkiru fights it and calls upon Gilgamesh to help him. This shows how important team work is and how together you can do much more than by yourself. On page 34 Enkiru sais to Gilgamesh “The life of man is short, let us contend with the bull of heaven, and win.” Thought the story a great relationship has grown between us and you can see how someone who was supposed to be enemies ended up being friends.

After they kill the bull Enkiru has a dream in which the gods have a counsel. They decide that either Enkidu or Gilgamesh must die, and after a discussion they decide Enkidu should die. Shortly after he gets sick and dies. I wonder why the author wanted to kill Enkidu and why they chose Enkidu. Maybe it was because he was sent there to create a disturbance to the rule of Gilgamesh and not to become his friend. All books need a problem in order for them to be interesting and with ought a problem the author had to create one.