Jawnomicon

Enkidu

Also called Ea-bani.

Enkidu is the wild man of the Epic of Gilgamesh, created by the gods to be Gilgamesh's match, who becomes the king's closest companion before his death sets the epic's second half in motion.

At a glance

Tradition
Mesopotamian mythology
Region
Mesopotamia (place of origin)
Trait family
The Track-Leavers

Near this figure

and 4 more

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Form

  • Sculpted from clay or mud
    why

    Enkidu is created in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh at the request of the god Anu, formed by the goddess Aruru out of clay to be a rival strong enough to check the king Gilgamesh, whose demands on the people of Uruk have grown intolerable.

  • Hairy giant wildman
    why

    He begins life outside human society entirely: covered in hair, running with the gazelles, eating grass, and freeing animals from hunters' traps, a wild man in the fullest sense rather than a beast or a monster.

Offensive powers

  • Superhuman strength
    why

    In Uruk, Enkidu confronts Gilgamesh directly, blocking his way to a wedding-night custom the epic frames as an abuse of royal privilege, and the two wrestle to a standstill before becoming inseparable companions rather than enemies.

  • Combat prowess
    why

    Together they travel to the distant Cedar Forest and kill its guardian Humbaba despite the guardian's pleas for mercy, an act the poem treats as morally costly rather than simply heroic.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.