Marianna Shannon (3) - Gilgamesh and Enkidu: The Second Self

In class we discussed Gilgamesh and Enkidu frequently. Enkidu is considered to be Gilgamesh’s “second self,” his opposite and complement who balances him out and makes him whole. Dr. Redick also shared how he had a best friend who served and his own second self in a similar way.

    I found myself thinking about my childhood best friend. Where I was passive and kind, she had an anger that took years to work through. I thrived in the IB program and creative thinking, while she wanted nothing to do with it and always insisted she wasn’t a creative person. I went to college, she went into the Air Force. On paper we couldn’t be more different, yet that difference is exactly what made us work. Just like how Enkidu brought something out of Gilgamesh that he couldn’t find on his own, she brought something out in me too.

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