Gilgamesh's and Enkidu's Dreams

In the fourth and seventh tablets of the Epic Gilgamesh there seems to be a similarity in the dreams of Gilgamesh before Enkidu and him go to fight Humbaba and Enkidu’s dream before he falls ill. The similarities are in the images of their dreams but the interpretations are different. The similarities may not be significant or were intentional it is possible that it is just coincidental or a common characteristic that is in dreams of that time.

The first similarity is a man appearing in both of their dreams. In Gilgamesh’s dreams the man appears in his second and fourth dreams. In the second dream, “a man [appeared.] the comeliest in the land, his beauty… [from] beneath the mountain he pulled me out and … he gave me water to drink and my heart grew calm” (32) The “man” in the dream seems to be helpful to Gilgamensh. And when Enkidu gives his interpretation of the dream he says that the man is Shamesh the sun god who is going to help Gilgamesh in his fight. Though in the fourth dream the man is a bit different, “[there was also a] man, he was strange of form, he … stood there in my dream. [He bound] its wings and took hold of my arm”. (35) This man has a darker image than the other man but it is not specified if it is the same man from the earlier dream or not. In Enkidu’s dream the man also appears with a darker image, “a man there was, grim his expression, just like a Thunderbird his features were frightening”. (60) It could be most likely that it is the same man in Gilgamesh’s dreams and in Enkidu’s dream. Assuming the man is Shamash, it is interesting how his roles have changed from dream to dream. In Gilgamesh’s he is more helpful and in Enkidu’s he seems to be hurting him. This is similar to what actually happens to the men. In the fight against Humbaba Shamash assists Gilgamesh in the fight but when it comes to Enkidu’s fight for life, he doesn’t assist him. Enkidu’s illness and eventually death is probably the work of the gods.

Another similarity is the Thunderbird. In the fourth dream of Gilgamesh, there is a thunderbird described as having a “visage distorted” (35) and in Enkidu the thunderbird is said to be “frightening”. The more interesting part is how the man in Gilgamesh’s dream “[bound] its wings and took hold of my arm” (35). It is as if the man is he is Shamash is helping him bring down the bird which could symbolize the Humababa. Though in Enkidu’s dream it seems like the man is doing the same thing but to Enkidu himself, “ [he bound] my arms like the wings of a bird”. (61) Enkidu’s dream is like a message saying that he will die because of what he did to Humbaba. The fact that there are similar images is to show that how related the two dreams are, especially since both are dreams telling the future. Though it seems like Enkidu’s dream plays off of Gilgamesh’s dreams. It is possible that Gilgamesh’s dreams were also giving hints to Enkidu’s future. In the end the question seems to be whether or not these dreams are more connected than they appear to be and if there is an underlying message to the dreams, if there is more to the dreams than what is described by Gilgamesh and Enkidu.