Epic of Gilgamesh Summary

The epic begins at a general introduction to Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, who was two-
thirds god and one-third man. He was the son of the Priest-King Lugalbanda and his mother the
goddess Ninsun (also known as Ninsumun, the Holy Mother and Great Queen). He was blessed
by the gods with a beautiful physique, strength and courage, and was known as the strongest and
greatest king who ever existed. Gilgamesh built the magnificent city of Uruk and surrounded it
with layers of high walls. Inside the city were spectacular ziggurats, and fertile fields and
orchards were built. However, the people of Uruk were not happy. Gilgamesh was a tyrannical
king who works his people to death and takes what he wants from them. He abuses his power by
killing anyone he did not like and sleeping with women as he pleases. The people of Uruk cry
out to the gods for help so that they can have peace. The gods heard their pleas, Aruru, the
goddess of creation created a man named Enkidu, who was as magnificent as Gilgamesh.
Enkidu lives a natural life with the wild animals. A trapper is the first person to come
across Enkidu, he saw him drink with the wild animals at their watering holes. The frightened
trapper reports this to Gilgamesh, the king then sent the temple prostitute, Shamhat, to seduce
and tame Enkidu. He soon learned the ways of men, and the harlot eventually persuaded him to
come to live in the city. There Enkidu hears the evil deeds of Gilgamesh and goes to Uruk to
challenge him. The two men fiercely fought for a long time, Gilgamesh prevails, but his
encounter with Enkidu changed him. After that, they became companions and set about looking
for an adventure to share.
Gilgamesh proposes to travel to the sacred Cedar Forest to cut some great trees and kill
the guardian, the demon Humbaba. The elders of the city were horrified at his plans. Enkidu
objects to the plan as the Cedar Forest is the sacred realm of the gods and not meant for mortals,
but neither Enkidu nor the council of elders of Uruk can convince Gilgamesh not to go. Ninsun,
mother of Gilgamesh, prays to the sun god Shamash to protect her son and takes Enkidu as an
adopted son who will protect his new brother. On the way to the Cedar Forest, Gilgamesh has
some bad dreams, but each time Enkidu manages to explain away the dreams as good omens,
and he encourages and urges Gilgamesh on when he becomes afraid again on reaching the forest.
Finally, the two heroes confront Humbaba, they defeated the demon-ogre with the help of
Shamash, the sun god. Then they cut down the forbidden trees, fashion the tallest into an
enormous gate, make the rest into a raft, and float on it back to Uruk. Upon their return, the
goddess Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to be her lover, but he rejects her proposal, because of her
mistreatment to her previous lovers.
The goddess Ishtar was outraged and convinced her father, Anu, to release the Bull of
Heaven to punish Gilgamesh. She brought the Bull of Heaven to Uruk to destroy the city. The
beast killed hundreds of men, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, slayed the beast and offer its heart to
Shamash, throwing the bull’s hindquarters in the face of the outraged Ishtar. The city of Uruk
celebrates the great victory, but Enkidu had a bad dream in which the gods decide to punish him
for the killing of the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba. The dream proves true. The gods decide that
one of the heroes must die for their behaviour. Enkidu falls ill and suffers for twelve days before
finally dying. Gilgamesh was devasted by Enkidu’s death and offers gifts to the gods, in the hope
that he might be allowed to walk beside Enkidu in the Underworld. He was so full of grief and
sorrow over the death of his friend that he refuses to leave Enkidu‘s side, or allow his corpse to
be buried.
Gilgamesh decided to seek out Utnapishtim, the one being granted immortality by the
gods. He travels to Mount Mashu, a twin-peaked mountain that marks an entrance to a world in
which mortals cannot venture. He tried to attain immortality yet he failed, but at the end he
realized that his legacy as a king, and that if he rules well with his experience and wisdom, it
would be his greatest accomplishment.