Gilgamesh vs Huwawa

p. 17 (5 verses): “If I should fall, my fame will be secure. ... My fame will be secure to all my sons.”

In this passage Gilgamesh is speaking about fighting Huwawa, guardian of the forest. In the very beginning Gilgamesh mentions how just an attempt at beating Huwawa, not even a victory, will be sufficient to secure his fame. Even at this early stage of the story Gilgamesh is trying to obtain some sort of magnificent goal. But he has not yet arrived at his ultimate goal of achieving immortality. At this point he is still content with achieving fame. His fame has not yet become a tool to achieve immortality because he has not yet experienced the horrific nature of death. Furthermore, Gilgamesh’s desire to defeat Huwawa is reminiscent of the theme, Man vs Nature. But this case is slightly different. Normally in the Man vs Nature theme, Man is trying to protect himself from the elements of nature by using his technology and tools. Man is usually the victim and in response he creates walls and other technology to defend himself from Nature. In this case, though, Gilgamesh (Man) is going out of his way to attack Huwawa (nature) with no reason to do so. The roles are reversed in this situation of Man vs Nature. Nature is the victim and Man is the aggressor. This might have much to do for why the gods punished Enkidu and Gilgamesh. The actions of Gilgamesh might have been potentially dangerous because they were creating a reversal of roles in the Man vs Nature conflict. And in order to maintain the status quo the gods killed Enkidu. Another interesting part of the passage is when it says “It is Gilgamesh who will […] cut the Cedar down”. In this part it seems as if Gilgamesh will be the one who cuts down the largest tree, but in reality it is Enkidu who performs the action. This discrepancy is essential because if Gilgamesh had been the one to cut down the tree he might have been the one to be killed by the gods.