“Gilgamesh was weeping bitterly for Enkidu, his friend, as he roamed the steppe: ‘Shall I not die too? Am I not like Enkidu?’” (72).
Gilgamesh was a tyrant and horrible King. But here we see a glimpse of what it was like for him to truly grieve over his best friend. No matter how bad of a king he was, he was still the king. Here we see him take off his crown and become “normal” just for a little while. He grieves like a human, walks, and talks like one. It shows us that even his kingly persona was just a mirage for what was truly underneath. Gilgamesh is struggling with simple human emotion, and this makes him relatable in society today. Despite Gilgamesh’s primary concerns regarding Ancient Mesopotamian culture, it is still relevant today because the central theme – coming to terms with mortality – is still an issue today. Everyone still struggles with describing their own emotions. Today we see the result of emotional disconnect when we see conflict and miscommunication, it is often a physical result of a feeling not being properly discussed or handled. Often, people will fight and be afraid to deal with feelings in the moment, and therefore causing difficulties later. Gilgamesh had to sit and recognize that his human emotions were valid for the circumstance, and then decide how to handle them through the process of grief. Gilgamesh teaches wisdom through leading example- becoming a better king by being real and honest with his kingdom. Because he took his pride off and wept as a peasant would, he was able to relate to a feeling he had caused a majority of his kingdom to have. Gilgamesh understood how the family members of those he had killed felt. Gilgamesh is evidence that while yes he was a hero, it was because of his human qualities and the way he carried out his noble actions that made him