Comparing Gilgamesh And Enkidu's Relationship

For my World Literature research project, I was tasked to formulate a research question based on one of the three stories we’ve read in class, investigate from a variety of sources about my topic, and present a digital visual presentation about my research. I decided to focus my project on the ambiguity of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship and whether or not their relationship would be classified as homosocial or homoerotic by Babylonian standards. Throughout my process, I have conducted extensive research on my topic, learned how to distinguish facts from biased analyses, and organized my information in a way the audience can understand.

When I was first assigned this project, I immediately decided on my topic. During my experience reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, I noted that the epic

The first two slides were used for background information of the epic and the controversy that surrounds a certain relationship. Following the background info, I introduced the question whether the two heroes’ relationship could be seen as homosocial or homoerotic. For the actual research portion of my presentation, I discussed the nature and treatment of same sex relations in ancient times, broke down key events in the epic regarding Gilgamesh and Enkidu and examined the significance of the erotic language (from Gilgamesh’s dreams about Enkidu through Enkidu’s death), and the parallels between the stories of David and Jonathan and Achilles and Patroclus, As for my concluding thoughts, I concluded that while erotic language plays a significant role in the epic and should not be discarded, but it does not automatically mean that the two characters were in a homoerotic relationship. The relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu went beyond In addition, I also included a class survey at the end to see how my research influenced the audience’s perspectives on Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s