Tablet 2
Enkidu is gradually introduced tocivilization by living for a time with a group of shepherds, who teach him howto tend flocks, how to eat, how to speak properly, and how to wear clothes.Enkidu then enters the city of Urukduring a great celebration. Gilgamesh, as the king, claims the right to havesexual intercourse first with every new bride on the day of her wedding; asEnkidu enters the city, Gilgamesh is about to claim that right. Infuriated atthis abuse, Enkidu stands in front of the door of the marital chamber andblocks Gilgamesh's way. They fight furiously until Gilgamesh wins the upperhand; Enkidu concedes Gilgamesh's superiority and the two embrace and becomedevoted friends. Both Enkidu and Gilgamesh gradually weaken and grow lazyliving in the city, so Gilgamesh proposes a great adventure: they are tojourney to the great CedarForest in southern Iran and cut down all the cedartrees. To do this, they will need to kill the Guardian of the CedarForest,the great demon, Humbaba the Terrible. Enkidu knows about Humbaba from his daysrunning wild in the forest; he tries in vain to convince Gilgamesh not toundertake this folly.
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Epic of Gilgamesh (summary)
Historical FictionGilgamesh was an historical king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the River Euphrates in modern Iraq; he lived about 2700 B.C. Although historians (and your textbook) tend to emphasize Hammurabi and his code of law, the civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates...
