What about Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s rivalry/friendship? What archetypal elements do we see here? And what other archetypal elements do you see in the epic? You might think about this as you think about our next readings, too.

1. Some of you may want to discuss other literary works of which Gilgamesh reminds you. There’s a literary term you should know: “archetype.” An archetype is a figure or a theme that recurs in literature throughout the ages. And there’s the thought that an archetype is universal, the product of “the collective unconscious.” So you might speak, for instance, of the archetype of “the good whore” or “the sidekick.” Or you might look at a theme, and call it an archetype: “the pursuit of vengeance,” “the descent into the underworld, and the “state of pre-Fall innocence” are examples of archetypal themes.

There’s the thought that archetypes are products of the collective unconscious, inherited from our ancestors. Of course, as Cuddon puts it in The Dictionary of Literary Terms, “The fundamental facts of human existence are archetypal: birth, growing up, love, family and tribal life, dying, death, not to mention the struggle between children and parents, and fraternal rivalry.”

What about Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s rivalry/friendship? What archetypal elements do we see here? And what other archetypal elements do you see in the epic? You might think about this as you think about our next readings, too.