Civilization is a recurring theme in The Epic of Gilgamesh. The two heroes of the poem display civilization differently. Gilgamesh the king is described as physically beautiful, however, for all his beauty he does not fit the definition of civilized exactly, because his personality is one of that of a wild bull. The people of Uruk cry out the God Anu in the poem to help them, and the brilliant solution to the problem of Gilgamesh is to create an equal for him. Anu creates Enkidu out of the earth to be a companion to Gilgamesh. "Shaggy with hair was his whole body... he knew neither people nor inhabited land... he dressed as animals do." (97, 100, 101) Enkidu is the definition of uncivilized, he is a wild man that roams the steppe.
Gilgamesh, hearing of another man whose power was as great as his own sends the harlot Shamhat to 'tame' Enkidu. "As she was speaking to him, her words found favor, he was yearning for one to know his heart... he said to the harlot: Come, Shamhat, escort me to the lustrous hallowed temple." (205-209) Enkidu leaves his steppe for the city of Uruk, for he is no longer as wild as before after having laid with Shamhat. Enkidu's civilization further occurs when he arrives at the city and bathes himself and eats the food of the city. "He treated his hairy body with water, he anointed himself with oil, turned into a man... Enkidu ate the bread until he was sated, he drank seven juglets of the beer." (38-43)
Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight with one another and then become friends, and it is through this friendship that Gilgamesh is civilized. After the death of Enkidu there is a great change in the personality of Gilgamesh, he is no longer the wild bull who "... would leave no son to his father, day and night rampage fiercely," (60, 61) but a man who fears death and will go to great lengths to prevent his own. At the end of the poem Gilgamesh states that he "...will have an old man eat some and so test the [immortality] plant," ( 301) before he himself will taste it. This shows just how much Enkidu's death changed Gilgamesh and how the civilization of one man civilizes another.
Gilgamesh, hearing of another man whose power was as great as his own sends the harlot Shamhat to 'tame' Enkidu. "As she was speaking to him, her words found favor, he was yearning for one to know his heart... he said to the harlot: Come, Shamhat, escort me to the lustrous hallowed temple." (205-209) Enkidu leaves his steppe for the city of Uruk, for he is no longer as wild as before after having laid with Shamhat. Enkidu's civilization further occurs when he arrives at the city and bathes himself and eats the food of the city. "He treated his hairy body with water, he anointed himself with oil, turned into a man... Enkidu ate the bread until he was sated, he drank seven juglets of the beer." (38-43)
Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight with one another and then become friends, and it is through this friendship that Gilgamesh is civilized. After the death of Enkidu there is a great change in the personality of Gilgamesh, he is no longer the wild bull who "... would leave no son to his father, day and night rampage fiercely," (60, 61) but a man who fears death and will go to great lengths to prevent his own. At the end of the poem Gilgamesh states that he "...will have an old man eat some and so test the [immortality] plant," ( 301) before he himself will taste it. This shows just how much Enkidu's death changed Gilgamesh and how the civilization of one man civilizes another.