Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk. He is two-thirds god and one-third man but is still mortal. In the beginning, he is egotistical, strong, a bad king, and has no morals when it comes to the treatment of his people. He rapes women and beats men. The gods create Enkido to answer his people's prayers. Gilgamesh's number one goal is to make a name for himself and become a part of history; therefore, he is living forever by word of mouth. In this way Gilgamesh represents the social importance of fame and honor in a name. He convinces Enkido to go on a journey to fight Humbaba. They succeed and Gilgamesh now has someone to share the glory with. But after defeating the Bull of Heaven, Enkido is picked to die as punishment for killing it. Before he dies, Enkido has a dream about the afterlife. In his dream, this place is very dark, boring, and dusty. Mesopotamian culture feared the afterlife because no matter what you did on earth or who you were, everyone ended up in the same, terrible place. They believed there was nothing after death. Perhaps they had this pessimistic view because they had traumatic lives on earth. They were always subject to getting attacked by people from the mountains and lived in a harsh climate.
             Gilgamesh's transition starts to take place as his goals and values shift. Through Enkido, Gilgamesh realizes many things about himself. He loves Enkido and values companionship and friendship instead of just guts and glory. Then Enkido dies and Gilgamesh now has to deal with being alone again. His death provokes the fear of death in Gilgamesh. He weeps for Enkido and believes if Enkido cannot return through his weeping Gilgamesh's life is nothing without him. Gilgamesh realizes that there is more to life than fame. His grief transforms him into an animal similar to what Enkido was before. He tries to regain his lost companion through himself by wondering the wilderness alone and beha...