Gilgamesh's Tragic Flaw is revealed

    After reading some epics, I've found out that all heroes have something in common: The hero participates in a quest, faces obstacles that try to defeat him in his journey, gathers allies along the way and returns home, but most significantly, they have a strength and a tragic flaw. Throughout tablets nine and ten, I noticed that Gilgamesh's flaw is fear. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh grieves deeply and is horrified by the prospect of his own death. "Enkidu has died. Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh be like that?" "Gilgamesh felt the fear of it in his belly."(page 48) These lines show how fearful and grievous Gilgamesh is. His tragic flaw reminded me of Achilles, the valiant hero from the Iliad. Although Achilles possesses superhuman strength, his tragic flaw was his heel, which decided his fate and his death.
    One inference I've made is that Gilgamesh is no longer the same powerful, arrogant king of Urik who everybody worshipped. He is a coward, a man full of sorrow who fears that the same fate of Enkidu awaits him, and is desperate to avoid it if possible. "If you are Gilgamesh who killed the demon, and if it is you who wrestled the Bull and killed him why do you look like one who grieves, why is it that you roam the wilderness?" (page 55) These lines prove that when Enkidu was alive, Gilgamesh was undefeatable, but after Enkidu's death, he loses that "undefeatable" strength. In other words, Gilgamesh is only strong because of Enkidu's faithfulness, and he would have never succeeded his quest on destroying Huwawa or the Bull of Heaven without the help of Enkidu.
    If I were to be Gilgamesh, I wouldn't seek immortality and fear my own fate. Instead, I would continue the journey as if Enkidu was alive and accomplish things I know we could have done together. Personally, I disagree with Gilgamesh's decision of being immortal because I believe that we all die at some point, and we all have to face that part of life's cycle, even if he's half god.

The Adventurous quest of Gilgamesh and Enkidu

      "Then the two of them together seized the demon and by the tongue pulled all his insides out, and so he died." (page 28) Although I have never killed Huwawa, I have a similar experience regarding these lines. My badminton team was playing against an unbeatable team. They were very fast and accurate, and it seemed impossible to beat them. To our surprise, we beat them and became champions. Both teams were astonished at the results.
       When Gilgamesh and Enkidu begin their journey to kill Huwawa, each night Gilgamesh was sent dreams from the gods and Enkidu would interpret them, and tell him these are fortunate and special dreams. As they entered the Cedar Forest, they defeated the demon with the help of the god, Shamash.
    Based on the reading, I could infer that Gilgamesh believes in Enkidu who was his companion , and their relationship had become stronger and more stable from their adventure. When Huwawa convinced Gilgamesh that he could be his servant, Enkidu strongly disagreed and tells Gilgamesh that keeping the demon would be dangerous so Gilgamesh followed his advice.
     Another inference is that Gilgamesh is very special to the Gods because he always had fortunate dreams and could defeat Huwawa with Shamash's help. "There were other dreams that disturbed the sleep of the kind, night after night as they journeyed to the Forest, and Enkidu always said they were fortunate." (page 24) Although Gilgamesh has human blood in his body, he must be loved by the Gods.
    I found the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu  exemplory because they have equal forces so it would be easy to join in a battle, and they come from different backgrounds. Despite these reasons, Gilgamesh and Enkidu were able to accept their differences and become great friends. Enkidu seems like a great companion to Gilgamesh because he is very faithful towards Gilgamesh, and they are both able to rely on each other when there are obstacles.