Enkidu And The Creation Of Gilgamesh

Enkidu And The Creation Of Gilgamesh

Enkidu is created for the sole purpose of distracting Gilgamesh. The Akkadian creation myth sets mankind as a servant to the gods. Servant might not be the right term, though. Man was created less to serve the gods, more to serve their will. This is not to demean man, but to bring man to an almost godlike level without the belittling the gods. If man is more than just a servant to the gods, if he is a necessary part of their primary goal, then man becomes a critical part in the system. Someone who is part man and part god, however, would be occupy a much different role in the Summarian world view. More than a simple servant, yet less than master, a partial god would be self–serving. Acting as the masters of their own fate, they would have ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...Why then have the gods deemed it necessary to make Enkidu a guardian of nature? Returning tothe idea that man is meant to serve the gods, what service does this do? This seems to hint that Enkidu is self serving. He does what is right by his own terms: defending his family and habitat. A sense of purpose, beyond what the gods prescribe, is a decidedly non–human attribute.



Once Enkidu is corrupted by the outside world, he is unable to return, not because nature rejects him, but because he rejects nature. This behaviour is patently non–godlike, as it is a fundamental separation from origin. The gods are defined by their creation and background. Enkidu is also mortal, which is another attribute that excludes him from being a god. Enkidu was created in response to a request for an equal of Gilgamesh. The gods seem to think this is a perfectly reasonable request because it is granted without any further complications. Aruru, goddess of creation, then shapes a being out of clay, granting it life, and qualities comparable to the gods.



This is not to say that Enkidu is a god, simply that the gods are reference points in his creation. The more interesting part of Enkidu's creation is the material he is made of. In the original Akkadian creation myth mankind was made from the blood of Kingu, god of unskilled labour and toil, and clay from the earth. The gods are made of the mixing of fresh and salt water. This is an exceptionally important difference, because it means that the

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