Tablets 7 and 8:

In tablet 7 and 8 Enkidu falls ill and seeks Gilgamesh to help cure his pain. This is the first tablet where death is introduced into the story. We notice how both characters battle the unavoidable death, bringing it to life in one of Enkidu´s dreams where it is a Griffin:

“On a dark plain I was alone. But there was one, a man

with a lion head and the paws of a lion too,

but the nails were talons, talons of an eagle.

The face was dark. He took hold of me and seized me. I fought with him, but he

kept moving…”

Pg 41

Here we see how death is personified and turned into an animal that drags Enkidu into the Underworld. It proves that no one can escape the claws of death. In tablet 8 Gilgamesh refers to death as a creature of darkness with a dark face, saying all this while looking at the corpse of Enkidu. Still always after death there is mourning and Gilgamesh succumbs fully to its wrath. He honors his friend like he was of his own blood and feels the pain of death as if he also had died.

“Gilgamesh called together the makers of statues,

lapidaries, forges, workers in copper and gold,

and commanded that there be made a statue of him,

of Enkidu the companion, to honor his deeds.”

Pg 46-47

In the underworld we notice other characters such as “dead kings, princess of old kingdoms, dead high priest and acolytes, “. I believe what shook Enkidu the most about the dream was that death was unavoidable even to a fierce warrior like him. No matter whom you were in life you will die no matter what.

It’s interesting how at the beginning of the chapter the gods are talking about the death of enkidu. They plan the characters destiny and fate, depending on the actions taken by Gilgamesh and not Enkidu. Destiny and fate is also mentioned in the chapter when Enkdu has his dream and sees the scribe of the goddess, Belit-Seri, kneeling by her writing out everyone’s fates.

The video I posted is of the underworld in the Hercules movie because the description given in Gilgamesh shows a world where everything is dirt and people can’t get out. In a way this is how I related Gilgamesh to another example. It’s interesting how in the clip they also mention the Fates, who like the goddesses scribe, choose the path for the mortals. Go to minute 6:13 to see the underworld I relate Gilgamesh’s to: