The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh Summary | Tablet 1 Summary

Like Homer's tale of Odysseus, the story of Gilgamesh begins with the narrator introducing the great hero and foreshadowing his many deeds. We are told of Gilgamesh, a great king and hero who built the city of Uruk. The city is described as having an outer wall that shines like copper and an inner wall that was built without equal. There are ancient temples in the great city and inside, a giant lapis stone on which the tale of Gilgamesh is carved.

Gilgamesh is a king of kings, a great hero, and is even said to be two-thirds human and one-third god. Gilgamesh is arrogant, proud and not particularly wise in his early years, however, and uses his power in the wrong way. He is unkind and harsh to his people, constantly challenging them to battle and even assuming he has the first right to any bride on her wedding night. The oppressed people of Uruk pray to Anu, the god of the sky. They ask to god to create someone equal to Gilgamesh, someone to occupy the great king so that he will leave the people of Uruk alone. In response, Anu creates Enkidu.

Enkidu is also made in the vision of the gods, and like Gilgamesh, possesses super-human strength and ability. This strength is where the similarities between the king and Enkidu end. Where Gilgamesh is proud and knowledgeable about the world of man, Enkidu is innocent of the ways of man and walks a more humble path on the earth.

Enkidu is raised in the wild and runs free with the animals. One day, a trapper meets Enkidu in the wilderness and sees that Enkidu is helping the animals escape traps. The trapper carries the tale of a great man, unlike any other, to his father. The trapper is told to go to Uruk and ask Gilgamesh for a woman from the temple to seduce Enkidu. If the woman can seduce Enkidu, it is believed he will loose his wildness and strength.

Enkidu and the woman are together for a week. When Enkidu tries to return to the wilderness, he finds that he has lost his strength and the animals no longer come to him. In place of his wildness, Enkidu now has knowledge of man. The woman tells Enkidu of the city and of Gilgamesh, and Enkidu tells her to take him to Uruk.

In the meantime, Gilgamesh has a dream that a meteorite falls and he cannot move it. He tells his mother of the dream, and she tells him that the meteorite is a companion that will come from the wilderness and that Gilgamesh will love him.

Gilgamesh tells his mother of a second dream that includes an axe that draws him like a woman would draw him. The people of Uruk crowd around the axe and celebrate as if the axe is something great. Gilgamesh's mother tells him that the axe is also the companion that will come and will help Gilgamesh do great things.