Did Gilgamesh Become Selfish

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When we first met Gilgamesh he is terrorizing his people, his people cried to the Gods for help. He had no equal, as 2/3 god he was superior in every way to his human counterparts. This shows how he is selfish and unfit to be ruler early on in the epic as he is exercising primae noctis which is what leads to the outcry to the Gods. Then Enkidu is created to be Gilgamesh’s equal and help level out. Enkidu is a major driver in Gilgamesh’s growth as a character as he influences his decisions even after death. It is with the birth of Enkidu that we see Gilgamesh’s transformation of a selfish unfit king to a King his people can be proud of. Since he was 2/3 god and unrivaled he was too far of the spectrum between God and Human someone needed to balance him out, Enkidu did that. Originally a beast he help bring Gilgamesh closer to humanity, Gilgamesh was no longer a God amongst men. At this point Gilgamesh grew as a leader in the aspect that he was no longer neglecting his people. He even …show more content…
He doesn’t really have a fear of death at the beginning he discards his own wellbeing in order to accomplish his quest. However, he gets to look death in the face when his dearest friend Enkidu passes before his eyes. It strikes fear into Gilgamesh as he realizes he doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want to live in lore to ensure his immortality, he actually wants to find it now so he won’t face the same fate as Enkidu. Once again he has lost his humanity and is rejecting. Without Enkidu he has no balance. This leads to him making a journey to find the immortality he seeks. Once again we see him abandon his people, still too immature to be a true king. As he makes his journey we see him stray from human to more beast like. He looks ragged and torn, not the attire that is expected of a king. Again, this is a metaphor how at this point of time he isn’t fit to rule the people of Uruk. Then he meets
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