The hero of our tale: a cocky, selfish young king who befriends a half man/half beast, goes on fantastic adventures with him. When his new, beloved friend dies, Gilgamesh realizes there's no room i...

Half-man/half-beast bestie of Gilgamesh. He basically symbolizes the natural, non-civilized world. He faces an early death as punishment from the gods for all the trouble that he and Gilgamesh got...

A human given immortality who lives on the other side of earth—literally. Gilgamesh visits him to discover the secret of immortality, but ends up empty-handed.The Gods Told You What?Utanapishtim...

Even though she only appears in Tablets 1 and 2 (plus getting cursed and blessed in Tablet 7), Shamhat is a major female character who plays a pivotal role in the story. She uses her wily woman's w...

Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, has a small, devastating role in the epic. She basically lets all fire and brimstone loose, which leads to a clash with Enkidu and Gilgamesh, which in turn lead...

She runs the bar in hell, so to speak. And, depending on what version you read, she may or may not give Gilgamesh some advice on what matters most in life.Bar Wench ExtraordinaireSiduri is the tave...

Humbaba is the monster who guards the Cedar Forest. Being a monster and all, he isn't the most complicated character, although he can do a neat trick where he changes his faces, and apparently it i...

The Sun-god and Gilgamesh's main go-to-god.It must be nice to have a personal god. Shamash, the sun-god, basically seems to hang around to help out Gilgamesh and Enkidu. We first get important sign...