Different in Death?

In Tablet VII Enkidu's dream about his death is the turning point in the epic and in the development of Gilgamesh's character development. This dream is very different from the dreams Gilgamesh has on his way to slay Humbaba; the seemingly foreboding images in Gilgamesh's dream is shaped by Enkidu's interpretation into something, whereas Gilgamesh can give no real comforting interpretation. However strange this discrepancy may be, the consequence is the glory of Gilgamesh and Enkidu over Humbaba and the death of Enkidu, respectively. These consequences shape Gilgamesh's actions and drive for the rest of the epic because Gilgamesh is faced with his own mortality and then begins his search for immortality.

It is interesting that Enkidu is so concerned about the circumstances of his death. It greatly disturbs him that he will not die in battle but in his sickbed. There is a real difference for Enkidu whether he dies in battle or in his bed, which is regardless of the fact that either way he'll still be dead. This is reflective of a human tendency to live and believe in life after death, which is illustrated by how we view things like one's legacy. We wouldn't care about anything like legacy, which is beyond our reputation, if we believed there was no life after death. Rationally, we would just accept the fact of our death knowing that nothing would matter once the moment had arrived because at that moment we couldn't care anymore. However, since we do tend to live as if there is life after death, Enkidu's response is natural and Gilgamesh feeds off it. He sees how Enkidu's exploits and offerings to the gods have failed to save him. He sees how his counterpart is felled by sickness, maybe even an imagined sickness as a result of the dream's interpretation, in spite of all his strength and prowess. He feels the vulnerability of his own situation and is impressed by the importance of Enkidu's name/reputation. In an effort to escape this destiny, Gilgamesh embarks on a journey to the end of the world to learn the secret of immortality from Úta-napíshti, because of his belief that people are different in death by the legacy they leave behind.