Up into Heaven, to the ears of the ever-bright Sun, Enkidu’s curse soared.

The bright protector who holds back the night answered:

“Enkidu, why curse the priestess most voluptuous? It was she who gave you soft bread baked for a god, heady beer brewed for a king. She clothed you splendidly and gave you Gilgamesh, the closest companion a man can have. He will honor you upon a royal bier. On his left will sit your statue in repose, the princes of Men made to kiss its feet. The people of Uruk will mourn you. With your passing he will roam as a Wildman with matted hair, clothed in a lion skin, [1] haunting the wild places as your ghost.”

On hearing these godly words, Enkidu calmed his raging heart. Thinking of his lover, he said “Shamhat, where my mouth has cursed you, I now bless you with my breath. May you be adored by the best men and their princes, your lover growing anxious within a march away from your embrace, biting his lip on the return road, the warrior ever yearning to be naked by your side. May Ishtar grant you generous lovers with treasure chests overflowing with gold and jewels, may the mother of seven[2] children be forsaken for your company.”

Then Enkidu said to Gilgamesh, “You who have fought by my side, who have been true through so much peril, remember me, do not forget that I endured all but this.”

1. Often taken as the literary origin of the Herakles myth by scholars, who assume borrowed religious and literary traditions, the image of the wildman in lion skin forsaking the comforts of settled life, is, in this reader’s estimation, a universal masculine myth, a regret by Man of his separation from his origins, a regret for whom the character of Enkidu serves as the embodiment in this epic. The biblical Samson may also be an expression of this theme. Kings would engage in a mania of lion hunting for ages in a crude attempt to ape this mythic figure. For a comprehensive treatment of the subject see my book Of Lions and Men.

2. Seven is, of course, a sacred number associated with the lunar cycle, goddess mysteries and the ascension of the hero.