The famous Italian priest Thomas Aquinas once said: “There is nothing on this earth that is more precious than true friendship. » How does the loss of a friend affect a human being? In Herbert Mason's book Gilgamesh: A Tale in Verse, the concept of friendship and death in Sumerian society is an important theme. The main character – Gilgamesh – is a tyrant king and the only one who befriends him is Enkidu. However, Enkidu dies and his death brings sorrow and loss to Gilgamesh, but also becomes Gilgamesh's motivation to become a better person and teaches the king life lessons about the importance of friendship and death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When Enkidu takes his last breath, Gilgamesh is drowned in pain and depression. Memories of their friendship invade him. Enkidu, grappling with the last moments of his life, witnesses her bitter tears: “You are crying. You've never cried before./ It's not like you./ Why must I die,/ You wander alone?/ Is that like that with friends? (Mason, 50 years old). Perhaps too late, but Gilgamesh realizes how losing his soulmate will leave him alone forever. This sudden recognition makes him cry, to which Enkidu says, "It's not like you." As Gilgamesh struggles with melancholy, he: “…cried bitterly for his friend./He now felt isolated from the loss/Apart from all others…” (53). The vicious and careless king, whose only joy in life is sleeping with someone else's wife, sheds tears. This major change indicates how Enkidu influences Gilgamesh's personality and emotions. A feeling of emptiness and insignificance begins to sink into his soul: “Gilgamesh wandered in the desert/ Alone as he had never been alone/.../ He was no longer a king/ But just a man who had now lost his way. » (54). What would life be like without Enkidu? What is life without a soul mate? That's what Gilgamesh asks himself as he reflects on the death of his best friend. His loss quickly becomes so painful that it gives him illusions: “He could almost touch his friend,/ Could speak to him as if he were there:/ Enkidu. Enkidu” (60, 61). The hallucinations soon disappear: “But suddenly the silence/ Was deeper than before/ In a place they had never been/ Together” (60.61). The phrase "Deeper Than Ever" perfectly describes how Gilgamesh's mood flourishes for a moment, but then slows down when he realizes that what he has seen are mere illusions. If not because the image of Enkidu in his memory is so vivid, how can Gilgamesh have such vivid hallucinations? The loss of his only friend twisted his mind, turning him into a depressed man and no longer a lackadaisical and ruthless king. Not only does Enkidu's death bring agony and sorrow to Gilgamesh, but it also becomes his motivation. Thanks to Enkidu, he is motivated to find the key to immortality and bring it to his soulmate, while recognizing that it is almost impossible: "Perhaps mad, he tried / to bring Enkidu back to the life” (55). Grief and loneliness have tormented Gilgamesh for so long that he must do something to stop: “To end his bitterness/His fear of death” (55). He made his life: “…a quest/To find the secret of eternal life” (55). Before Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh's purpose in life made no sense. But now his life becomes a mission for something else, much more than he ever thought of. Gilgamesh also becomes more mature and less selfish: he cares about someone other than himself. Her,.