The Epic of Gilgamesh: Underlying MeaningLast time we featured the ancient mythical tale, The Epic of Gilgamesh. You have read a brief retelling of the tale and learned a little more about its origins and discovery. We will now go into the tale itself and examine it more closely in an attempt to decode some of its hidden or underlying meaning. We will explore the notion of “The Double” and the quest for immortality in our search for the meaning of life. We remember the epic tale that Enkidu, the wild man, was the beloved friend of Gilgamesh. So what can Enkidu's injection into the story tell us? Let's take a closer look at this figure. Enkidu is an innocent savage, a wild man, content to live among the beasts. After an encounter with a trapper, he experiences a sort of culture shock and is tamed by a prostitute or holy prostitute. Here, sex is sacred; it is a civilizing force that separates humans from nature because the animals now reject Enkidu. Associated with Gilgamesh, the two characters represent the Double. Enkidu embodies the instincts while Gilgamesh represents the intellect. These two aspects constitute humanity. Through his friendship with Enkidu, Gilgamesh learns a lot about what it means to be human. He learns about love and compassion, as well as death and loss as Enkidu dies. But Enkidu rages against his death! It is the human instinct to fight death, to fight to live! Enkidu is soon soothed by the sun god Shamash who gives meaning to death in remembrance of those who have passed away, of Enkidu who will die. We therefore find in this story a meaning of death – the meaning of remembrance. Gilgamesh, however, is not so easily appeased by Enkidu's death. He is deeply grieved by the loss of his dear friend and vows to find the key to eternal life. So he sets off on his journey, his journey to the underworld, through the afterlife. Is Gilgamesh now a simple intellectual without instinct, without Enkidu? Death, loss, mortality are too much for Gilgamesh to bear. Why toil on earth only to end up in a terrible afterlife? Gilgamesh won't want it. He seeks to become immortal like the gods, after all, he himself is 2/3 god. He finds answers to the questions of life and death during his journey..