Tablet I

So I read Tablet I of Gilgamesh. It doesn't seem too bad, although I don't usually like books that are written in poetry form.

So far what has happened is that everyone disliked (or worshiped? I couldn't figure it out) a king called Gilgamesh, who is "two thirds god and one third man," and so asked a god to create someone with his same "stormy heart." The god listened, and created Enkidu. He lived in the wild, then a whore came to him, showed him "what a woman can do," and explained to him a dream that Gilgamesh had once had. They leave together, Enkidu having miraculously acquired the power of speech, and Enkidu decided that he really doesn't like Gilgamesh and decides to challenge him. I personally think that Gilgamesh will win, or else the book would have been called "Enkidu."

I don't understand why the animals refused to hang out with Enkidu once he had sex with the temple prostitute. I mean, they mate too, don't they? Why would they find it weird that Enkidu had found someone of his kind to reproduce with? Were they mad 'cause he showed his human nature?

My favorite quote so far is when Gilgamesh is explaining to his mother his dream about Enkidu, and how he was "drawn to it as if it was a woman." I found that very amusing.