Gilgamesh's change of character

By Tablet IX, Gilgamesh has become a new person. Before, he acts rashly as if he is invincible. He decides to battle Humbaba despite the elders’ warnings. When the godess Ishtar proposes to him, he mocks her and fights her Bull of Heaven instead of simply declining. Gilgamesh thinks so highly of himself that he thinks nothing of going up against divine beings. Then, he proclaims himself the “finest among men” (54) and holds a celebration for himself when Enkidu was clearly the one who made possible the victories over Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. But after Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh becomes afraid and desperate. He goes to great lengths to try to discover the secret to immortality. Whenever he meets someone new on his journey, he no longer speaks of his own greatness but instead about how he is mourning for Enkidu and his fear of death. Gilgamesh finally comes to have a realistic view of himself.

At this point, the focus of the story has shifted away from Enkidu back to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is no longer mourning the loss of Enkidu, but his newly discovered mortality. When Shiduru the tavern-keeper asks him what is wrong, he replies, “My friend, whom I loved, has turned to clay. / Shall I not be like him, and also lie down, / never to rise again, through all eternity?” (78). Although Gilgamesh expresses his sorrow about Enkidu’s death, he soon switches over to despairing about his own fate. This happens every time he speaks of Enkidu’s death.