Friendship: How the death of a soulmate affect Gilgamesh Alexis Dang 9th Grade

The famous Italian priest Thomas Aquinas once said: “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” How does the loss of a friend affect a human being? In Herbert Mason’s retelling book Gilgamesh: A verse narrative, the concept of friendship and death in Sumerian society is an important theme. The main character - Gilgamesh - is a tyrant king and the only one who befriends him is Enkidu. However, Enkidu passes away and his death brings sorrow and loss to Gilgamesh, but also becomes the motivation for Gilgamesh to become a better person and teaches the king life lessons about the importance of friendship and death.

When Enkidu takes his last breath, Gilgamesh is drowned in pain and depression. Memories of their friendship takes over him. Enkidu, struggling in his final moments of life, witnesses his bitter tears: “You are crying. You never cried before./ It’s not like you./ Why am I to die,/ You to wander on alone?/ Is that the way it is with friends?” (Mason, 50). Perhaps too late, but Gilgamesh realizes how the loss of a soulmate will leave him in loneliness forever. This sudden acknowledgement makes him cry, which Enkidu says: “It’s not like you”. As Gilgamesh struggles with melancholy, he : “...wept...