The Epic of Gilgamesh and Enkidu and Eve - Essay Example

Enkidu and Eve Throughout history, there have been a number of creation stories among people of various communities. In this essay, an analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the creation story in the Old Testament. The Epic of Gilgamesh is about Gilgamesh, a king who is part God, part Human. In his reign, he built a place of his own which he commanded his subject with fear (Jackson 13). In order to keep Gilgamesh in check, the gods decided to create Enkidu, a man who became a sidekick to Enkidu, but later died after a decision made by the gods to punish Gilgamesh for his wrong doings, making Gilgamesh angrier (Jackson 14). In addition, in also looking at the creation story in the Old Testament, God made Adam, the made a helper, Eve, right from his ribs (Chagall 4). It is after sinning while in the Garden of Eden that the two were expelled from the Garden by God into the wilderness (Chagall 5). In this paper, a comparison between Enkidu and Eve on how they are connected to women will be discussed in detail. A connection between Enkidu and Eve to women can be seen through their appearance, love, nature, and goddesses’ characters. Through the appearances of Enkidu and Eve, a connection to women can be created. In the Old Testament, Eve was built right from the ribs of Adam upon God seeing that Adam was a lonely person and he needed companion (Chagall 4). Therefore Eve was created in an appearance which left Adam attracted to her. Eve was made in a lovely and irresistible manner so that Adam could accept her upon seeing her for the first time (Chagall 5). Moreover, in looking at the Epic of Gilgamesh, the king Gilgamesh had built his own empire and was a lonely person who constantly took advantage of his subjects (Jackson 14). Therefore in a bid to keep him at bay, the gods decided on creating Enkidu, a person who would help calm his aggressive side. The very role of a woman in life is to be a man’s partner. Even though Enkidu was a man, but he played the role of a woman by being a man’s true friend. Gilgamesh cam e to like Enkidu as time passed by and they became connected as friends in a special way (Jackson 15). In both creation stories, an aspect of love and affection exists hence making Enkidu and Eve play womanly characters. In the Old Testament, Eve loved Adam and ensured that they helped each other in ensuring that the Garden of Eden is well managed. Women often play the role of loving people (Chagall 4). God created Eve for the purpose of being Adams affectionate partner after seeing him being lonely. In the epic of Gilgamesh, after the gods saw Gilgamesh’s ravage of his too much to have scaled to an unbearable extent, they decided to create Enkidu so as to regulate his behavior (Jackson 16). Gilgamesh after building his empire had taken upon himself to rape women and cause havoc in his kingdom. His subjects did not like him and that’s why their grumbling reached to the Gods. Creation of Enkidu was supposed to play a more womanly role of regulating a man’s habit. Initially, Gilgamesh used to rape women, but Enkidu did not like that habit (Jackson 17). In examining the means in which the two met, that is when Enkidu blocked Gilgamesh from raping a brides maid, it clearly depicts Enkidu’s role in Gilgamesh life. It is from then that they became lifelong friends and did everything in each other’s company. Gilgamesh did not want to leave Enkidu behind in every escapade which he went. After the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh loss of his love, Enkidu, is what made him to go far in search of eternity (Jackson 20). Based on the nature of both Eve and Enkidu, the two can be portrayed as having connection to women. Women are always protective in nature and always want goodness to come out of their men. Eve for instance ate from the forbidden fruit after being deceived by the devil that it would open her eyes to knowledge (Chagall 4). After tasting the fruit, she went forth to look for Adam and convinced him to eat the forbidden fruit too. She had good intentions of showing Adam a better perspective from what God had shown him, knowledge. In the case of Enkidu, by the gods seeing Gilgamesh life as messed up, making Enkidu was a blessing in disguise for him as it helped him change for the better and appreciate life in the end (Jackson 15). Enkidu always had good intentions for his friend Gilgamesh and made sure that they fought side by side to protect the Kingdom which Gilgamesh built, for instance, fighting the god responsible for starvation and killing it (Jackson 16). Both Eve and Enkidu had connections to women as they portrayed womanly characteristics to their men. Eve was supposed to be a helper for Adam, which is the reason why he was created. Enkidu on the other hand was to keep at check the bad behavior initially portrayed by Gilgamesh (Jackson 12). Both Eve and Enkidu have a connection to women as they are exhibited as goddesses. In the Old Testament, Adam was the person created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden. Eve came later as a helper and a comforter for Adam. By God creating man into his own image, means he had made a god out of himself and gave him powers. Eve hence played a role as a goddess as she too was built in the likeness of God and provided powers over God’s creation. Adam and Eve were given a role to take care of the Garden of Eden with all its contents. In comparison with this story, Enkidu also played the role of a goddess in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was part god and part human. It is the part god side of him that made him powerful among the humans (Jackson 18). By the gods creating him and person whom will be his sidekick, denotes that they created for him a person who had the features of a goddess, Enkidu. Enkidu was not born but was a creation of the gods, denoting that he too had some godly characteristics in him. Enkidu was different in some way from Gilgamesh and that is what attracted Gilgamesh to change for the good when he was in his company (Jackson 20). In conclusion, it is evident that Eve and Enkidu are connected to women as evidenced by their appearance, love, nature and goddess characters. Both Eve and Enkidu were created with an attractive appearance upon coming into contact with any man and getting liked (Jackson 23). In addition, they were connected to women through the love and affection which they got from the men in their lives. Furthermore, through their nature of being kind, humble and helpers, they managed to play womanly roles in the lives of Adam and Gilgamesh. Therefore in summary, Eve and Enkidu in their respective creation narratives were somehow connected to women through their appearance, love, nature and goddess characters. Works Cited Chagall, Marc. The Bible: Genesis, Exodus, The Song of Solomon. New York: Chronicle Books, 2007. Jackson, Danny P. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1997. Read More