Ishtar and the Death of Enkidu Rejection of the goddess- the confrontation of Gilgamesh and Ishtar dramatizes the dialogue of power between the mother goddess and the mortal king. Enkidu's impiety and vision of the underworld. The attempt to conquer cosmic forces leads to death. Humans are potentially in opposition to the cosmic forces, whose will they can seek to thwart. A model of the human-cosmic interaction that is at least partially oppositional has been established.
Tragedy results from the failure to dominate and assert power.
Contrast the statuettes of worshippers of the gods with the hubris of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Enkidu's curses the trapper and the harlot, but then accepts death and affirms the gifts of civilization. Failure to obtain desire- the serpent steals the plant of immortality as Gilgamesh sleeps. Contrast the Mesopotamian view of Gilgamesh's pride in building the ziggurats with the Tower of Babel in Genesis, the icon of human pride and willfulness in corporate effort, which deity thwarts.