Gilgamesh rules Uruk as a tyrant, taking young men from their fathers and young women for himself.

The gods create Enkidu, a wild man equal in strength to Gilgamesh, to serve as his counterbalance.

Gilgamesh sends the priestess Shamhat to seduce Enkidu, permanently transforming him from wild man to human.

Enkidu wrestles Gilgamesh in Uruk; Gilgamesh wins, and the two embrace and become true friends.

Gilgamesh proposes a journey to the Cedar Forest to slay the monster Humbaba and win lasting glory.

Gilgamesh's mother Ninsun prays for the pair's safety and formally adopts Enkidu as her own son.

Enkidu and Gilgamesh attack Humbaba in the Cedar Forest with the aid of the sky god Shamash.

Gilgamesh cuts off Humbaba's head after Enkidu persuades him not to spare the monster's life.

After returning to Uruk, Gilgamesh rejects the goddess Ishtar's attempt to seduce him.

Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to destroy Uruk, but Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeat it together.

The gods assemble and decree that Enkidu must die as punishment for the heroes' actions.

Enkidu dies after twelve days of suffering, despite Gilgamesh desperately pleading with him to live.

Gilgamesh, consumed by grief and terror of his own death, abandons Uruk and wanders into the wilderness.

Gilgamesh crosses the deadly Waters of Death with the boatman Urshanabi and reaches the immortal Utnapishtim.

A snake steals the immortality plant from Gilgamesh while he bathes, and he returns to Uruk empty-handed.

Pool 1 covers the central arc of the epic, from Gilgamesh's tyrannical rule in Uruk to his return home empty-handed. The gods create Enkidu to counterbalance Gilgamesh, and the two become devoted friends after wrestling, before embarking together to slay the monster Humbaba. Their triumphant return leads to a confrontation with the goddess Ishtar and the slaying of the Bull of Heaven, but divine punishment follows swiftly. Enkidu's death shatters Gilgamesh and drives him into the wilderness on a desperate quest for immortality. His journey takes him across the Waters of Death to the immortal Utnapishtim, but a snake steals the plant that could have saved him. Gilgamesh returns to Uruk having gained hard-won wisdom but no immortality.

The headline events that define Gilgamesh's epic journey.

The people of Uruk cry out to the gods for relief from Gilgamesh's overwhelming tyranny.

A trapper discovers Enkidu living and running with animals in the open wilderness.

Enkidu, now civilized, blocks Gilgamesh from claiming his right to take a new bride's virginity.

Each night during the journey to the Cedar Forest, Gilgamesh has terrifying prophetic dreams.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu arrive at the Cedar Forest and freeze in terror upon hearing Humbaba's roar.

Enkidu quotes 'Two boats lashed together will never sink' to rally Gilgamesh at Humbaba's den.

Humbaba surrenders and offers the Cedar Forest to Gilgamesh and Enkidu in exchange for his life.

Enkidu gloats and laughs at the goddess Ishtar after Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the Bull of Heaven.

Gilgamesh installs the Bull of Heaven's horns in his father's chapel as a victory trophy.

As Enkidu lies dying, he curses the trapper who found him and Shamhat who civilized him.

Gilgamesh has a statue of Enkidu made and presents lavish offerings to the gods of the underworld.

Gilgamesh encounters scorpion people guarding a dark mountain tunnel and is permitted to pass through.

Gilgamesh runs through the pitch-dark tunnel for twelve hours and barely escapes before the sun returns.

The tavern keeper Shiduri urges Gilgamesh to abandon his quest for immortality and enjoy his mortal life.

Utnapishtim's wife persuades her husband to give Gilgamesh a parting gift, prompting the revelation of the immortality plant.

Pool 2 traces the secondary beats that enrich the epic's major turning points. It begins with the people's desperate cries to the gods and the discovery of Enkidu in the wild, then follows the heroes through their terrifying approach to and confrontation with Humbaba. After the Bull of Heaven is slain and Enkidu dies, his dying curses and Gilgamesh's elaborate funeral rites expose the profound depth of their bond. Gilgamesh's harrowing passage through the scorpion people's tunnel and across the underworld landscape pushes him ever closer to Utnapishtim. The pool ends with a small but pivotal act of generosity from Utnapishtim's wife, which sets Gilgamesh on the path toward the plant of immortality.

The supporting moments that give the epic its texture and detail.

After sleeping with Shamhat, Enkidu feels his mind has grown larger and is seized by a longing for friendship.

The elders of Uruk give their formal blessing to Gilgamesh and Enkidu before their departure for the Cedar Forest.

A divine voice from heaven urges Gilgamesh and Enkidu to attack Humbaba quickly without hesitation.

Before dying, Humbaba curses Enkidu so that Gilgamesh will be left inconsolable and crushed with grief.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu return to Uruk by river, carrying cedar trees from the defeated monster's forest.

The night of Uruk's victory celebration, Enkidu has a nightmare that the gods have gathered in anger.

Enkidu dreams of a winged creature dragging him to a dark underworld populated by fallen kings.

The god Shamash calms Enkidu's rage, and Enkidu retracts his curses against the trapper and Shamhat.

Gilgamesh makes individual offerings to specific underworld gods, hoping they will walk beside Enkidu in death.

Gilgamesh emerges from the twelve-hour underground tunnel into a luminous garden of the gods.

Utnapishtim reveals how the god Ea secretly warned him of the coming flood by whispering to a reed fence.

Utnapishtim releases a dove, a swallow, and finally a raven to determine whether the floodwaters have receded.

The god Enlil, after the floodwaters recede, grants immortality to Utnapishtim and his wife.

Utnapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for seven days; Gilgamesh falls asleep almost immediately.

Gilgamesh dives to the ocean floor and retrieves the youth-restoring plant before setting out for home.

Pool 3 focuses on the internal turning points and fateful discoveries that shape Gilgamesh and Enkidu's destinies. It begins with Enkidu's awakening after his encounter with Shamhat and the elders' blessing before the Cedar Forest quest, then traces the consequences of Humbaba's dying curse and Enkidu's visions of the underworld. These revelations mark the moment death enters the story irrevocably and drive Gilgamesh's inward transformation from triumphant king to grief-stricken wanderer. His journey through the dark tunnel and into the realm of Utnapishtim brings him face to face with the story of the great flood and the arbitrary nature of divine immortality. The pool closes with Gilgamesh grasping the precious immortality plant—a fleeting triumph that sets up his final, crushing loss.