True friendship is egalitarian. Everything is shared, loyalty to the friendship is equal, and the basis of the camaraderie is unselfish. The friendship between the king Gilgamesh and the man of the grasslands, Enkidu, was not a true and equal friendship. Loyalties and sacrifices to that friendship were inconsistent.
             Both men had been informed of the future friendship from the prostitute and Ninsun, respectively. Gilgamesh had a dream to inform him of what was to come. In his dream, as his mother explained, "...That you were drawn to if drawn to a woman means that this companion will not forsake you. He will protect and guard you with his life. This is the fortunate meaning of your dream." (p. 10,11), displayed that fact that the two characters would join together in terms that were not conflicting.
             Enkidu's encounter with the prostitute was his understanding of the friendship between Gilgamesh and he. His encounter as described was Enkidu's metaphorical journey from beast to man. The symbolism that Shamhat, "showed him the things a woman knows how to do," (p. 8) completed Enkidu's journey as well as him realizing that something was different about him, [the creatures]"But seeing him, they fled. The creatures were gone, and everything was changed." This encounter was pertinent to the entire epic due to the fact that without this meeting the entire poem would have never happened.
             Neither Gilgamesh nor Enkidu had ever had a friend that was a man before. Enkidu knew only of the grassland animals, and Gilgamesh, a tyrannical king, had never treated anyone as his equal.
             Ninsun was right, and the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu was one of great loyalty and trust. The formation of the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu was very abrupt. Upon meeting, they fought fiercely, stopped, and embraced. This briefness gives an air of resourcefulness t...