Enkidu's History
The only friend of Gilgamesh. Born from a clod of earth, Enkidu was clay shaped by hands of the Gods, their father the king of gods, Anu, and their mother the goddess of creation, Aruru. They were neither male nor female, but merely a monster made of mud that descended onto the earth and awoke in the wilderness. They opened their eyelids in response to a voice calling to them from afar, taking in the sight of the expanses of land and sky and the towering city in the distance. The voice was unknown to Enkidu, but it was neither the maternal hand nor the paternal rebuke.
Though Enkidu was given superb power, their parents were unable to give Enkidu a Soul. They had no intellect after awakening, so their existence for years afterward consisted of rushing through the wilderness with the animals. Though Enkidu had a purpose, given the task of being the chains to return the keystone, Gilgamesh, back under control of the Gods, without a soul they could only live like a feral animal. Lacking the will of a human, Enkidu's happiness came from being free in the wild, neither perfect nor flawed. They would still stop to look at the city occasionally, hearing the voice that was neither their father's nor mother's calling to them from beyond the wilds.
Anu brought Enkidu a woman, the divine harlot, after despairing over their lack of rational thought. The asexual lump of clay fell for the beauty of the woman, which transcended the bound between man and woman, and they spent six days and seven nights together. The mud puppet, ignorant of mankind, slowly allowed their form to approximate that of a human, which seemed to become that of the beautiful harlot sharing their food and bed with them, as if attempting to assume her beauty. Enkidu made her paradoxical beauty their own, losing much of their strength and divinity, though still retaining levels of both far above that of humanity, in exchange for wisdom and reason.They had never looked in a mirror, so the humanoid form became a good instructor for Enkidu to learn about themself. They acquired knowledge and rational thought, all the truths of heaven and earth. Filled with the soul needed to fulfill their task, Enkidu spoke their name for the first time and the world became something extremely simple in that instant.
Finally recognizing their role and task, imposing the wrath of the gods and divine judgement upon a fellow puppet of the gods, Enkidu decided to seek out the arrogant Gilgamesh. The one they found was still a child, so Enkidu had to wait until Gilgamesh reached adulthood in order to fight and reprimand him as an equal. They watched the city while waiting, hearing the familiar voice from within. While watching Gilgamesh grow by the day, Enkidu found that the king's fair nature confused them and made them question the gods' judgement. Soon, and though they understood the reason behind it, Enkidu came to realize the gods were correct, however, as Gilgamesh grew and became a tyrant.
Understanding that Gilgamesh's arrogance stemmed from his solitude, Enkidu sought to reprimand him, but did not state the real reason to avoid hurting his pride. They met Gilgamesh in front of the temple of Uruk, and both clashed in a fierce battle that lasted for several days. Gilgamesh was angered by a "clod of mud" being equal to him, humiliated that he had to use his treasures.He soon came to enjoy the battle, however, and brought his weapons out without regret. After fierce fighting that left them both spent, each warrior collapsed to the ground without consideration for the location. Gilgamesh did so laughing, noting that there could be no winner without two corpses, and Enkidu fell in imitation of him, like a mirror.
Praising each other's valor, they became peerless friends who went on to have many adventures. One of Enkidu's few achievements of the time was to have Gilgamesh make use of his treasures in battle. They combined their strength to defeat the guardian of the forest and beast of the gods, Humbaba, for the reason of protecting Uruk rather than anything to do with the gods. Enkidu commented that the people were suffering under them, so they questioned the point of such an action. Enkidu came to understand Gilgamesh's path at that point, that the king would observe humanity's future from his solidarity.
Enkidu attempted to declare that they were a tool for Gilgamesh's use, claiming that they would stand by his side until the end of the world. Gilgamesh instead called them a fool, telling Enkidu that those who live together, talk together, and fight together are neither people nor tools, but what is called a friend. Obtaining that word was precious to Enkidu, and it was in that moment that it acquired a "self" in the true sense of the word. Afterward, Ishtar proposed to Gilgamesh, but he rejected her. Angered by his insults, she begged Anu to release the Bull of Heaven to punish them.
After working together to destroy it, Ishtar requested they be put to death for slaying a beast of the gods. Her request was granted, and Enkidu, created by the gods, was unable to defy the decree. Over time, they slowly weakened and returned to clay, as Gilgamesh desperately held on to the crumbling clod in his arms. Gilgamesh was angered, exclaiming that he should have been punished instead, but Enkidu reiterated that they were only one of the numerous weapons in the king's collection. There would be no need to grieve, because he would find countless greater treasures, so there was no worth left in Enkidu to deserve any tears from the king.[3][4]
Enkidu believed that Gilgamesh was a hero who had a soul and free will since the beginning, who had true life and worth unlike their own expendable self. They always yearned for that and hated that they were such different beings despite being created by the same father. Gilgamesh exclaimed that Enkidu did have worth, declaring "In all this world, only one shall be my friend. Thus---not for all eternity shall his worth ever change." As the rain gradually let up, Enkidu returned to their original state, naught but a clod of earth in the wilderness, leaving behind nothing but the thunderous cry of the king. The rest of Gilgamesh's lifetime afterward showed the large shadow cast over him from losing the sole person who understood him.
