As Gilgamesh attempts to establish personal meaning, he finds himself at a loss to understand how his very existence is situated in the psychosocial fabric of humanity. This is, of course, the nature of his disposition: his physical composition is figurative of his own entanglement. Until his contact with Enkidu, Gilgamesh projects the confusing perspective and personal meaning of his compositionally disproportionate deity/man. Gilgamesh is trying to understand himself while dealing with the world around him. He is therefore confused by the inherent discrepancy of his antithetical perspectives (immortal versus mortal) and inability to see the world completely through an external perspective. This new perspective is offered by Gilgamesh's companionship with Enkidu. It is through the investment of feeling towards Enkidu that Gilgamesh gains temporal awareness of the inevitable: heroic failure, death, uncontrollable loss, and the inexorable triumph of mortality over immortality. Before their introduction to each other, Gilgamesh and Enkidu exist distinctly but “. ..contiguous worlds of animals and gods...” (Wolff), and both represent a pure approximation of the idyllic creations of both systems. Gilgamesh's greatness is noted at the beginning of the text. “…Gilgamesh, the mighty, who rides the flock like any great king.” (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I, Column IV, Line 194/5). Enkidu's strength and sophistication, however, are noted by his relationship with Gilgamesh (which, notably, is before they met). “There, with a smile, Enkidu will see his other self, the great Gilgamesh” (Epic of Gilgamesh, Plate I, Column V, line 220/1). It is understood that Gilgamesh and Enkidu are enjoined from the beginning. It's not until... halfway through the paper... that they try to take on the weight of the mortal world around them. If Gilgamesh succeeds in establishing immortality, he can take emotional responsibility for the inevitable death of all mortality. Gilgamesh wants to free humanity and immortals from suffering, and is willing to outlive humanity so that it can continue to be humiliated and conditioned by the predestined loss of all living beings. Works Cited Sandars, NK The Epic of Gilgamesh. London: Penguin, 2006. Textbooks. Network. March 3, 2010. .Wolff, Hope Nash. Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the heroic life. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 89, no. 2 (April-June 1969), pp. 392-398. American Oriental Society. http://www.jstor.org/stable/596520. University of Southern California Library Electronic Resources; JSTOR. Accessed March 3 2010.