In N.K. Sanders interpretation of The Epic of Gilgamesh, it seems that Gilgamesh feels deep distress for the loss of his good friend, Enkidu. He states that, “[Enkidu was] the axe at my side, my hand’s strength, the sword in my belt, the shield before me…” (94) He further continues to express his emotions, which emphasizes his mental and emotional state. As he mourns the death of Enkidu for several days, he too, began to question what will happen to him once death approaches his side. The all mighty Gilgamesh is indeed a mortal and develops a fear of death; he ventures out to find a possibility of escaping the afterlife and joining the gods. Throughout this reading, I came to the realization that even the greatest heroes have their own weaknesses;…show more content… Gilgamesh would refer to Enkidu as his “brother” or “young brother” consistently throughout his monologue. This is relevant because it perfectly describes how Gilgamesh perceived his relationship with Enkidu; Gilgamesh refers to him as a brother proves how close of friends they were. Throughout, he repeats the word “weep” nine times and more specifically “weeps for you” six times. As he says the phrase “weeps for you,” (94-95) he would state a variety of people, places, and things that Enkidu has come across prior to stating it. For example, “the mountain we climbed where we slew the matchman, weeps for you” (94) and “all long-tailed creatures that nourished you, weeps for you.” (94) Similarly, Gilgamesh would do the same with the phrase “mourns for you” three times and “lament for you now” two times. More specifically, he mentions females grieving his death when he states the phrase “women mourning” (94) and “mother mourning.” (94) In doing this, he further indicates his feelings because women stereotypically show more weak emotions versus men, especially a mother mourning for their deceased child. The repetition of these binary words and phrases truly signifies the grief Gilgamesh feels internally. Gilgamesh’s monologue is very important for us readers because it gives us an insight of his inner thoughts and feelings that we would not have…show more content… He dragged off his splendid robes… as though they were abominations.” (95) This specific quote foreshadows an event that takes place during his journey to escape his mortal death. Gilgamesh dreams about lions “glorifying in life; then he took his axe in his hand, he drew his sword from his belt… and struck and destroyed and scattered them.” (97) The words from the first quote: “tore,” “strewed,” and “dragged,” are binaries for “struck,” “destroyed,” and “scattered” from the second quote. The correlation between these two quotes is that Gilgamesh’s emotions are being expressed, but in different ways. For example, in the first quote he takes out his anger and rage onto his own body. Although, in the second quote he does the same for the lion, but there is a deeper meaning of his dream. The lion in his dream who was “glorifying in the light” (97) was once Gilgamesh himself. The phrases “he took his axe in his hand” (97) and “sword from his belt” (97) are repeated once again from his monologue. Previously, he stated that Enkidu was “[was] the axe at my side… the sword in my belt.” (94) In translation to his dream, the underlying meaning is that Enkidu, his closest friend, is the reason Gilgamesh lost his “glorifying light” (97) in himself. It is sometimes the ones closest to us that ends up harming us the most in the end. If I were to continue on and explore the rest of the text, I
