Tablets IX & X

So, the grief of Gilgamesh because of Enkidu's death goes on. Gilgamesh keeps on wondering whether he should die just because his companion died. He thinks that it's unfair that Enkidu was forced to die while he had the chance to live. He seems to be very sad and lonely now that Enkidu died. He show signs of sadness and lack of courage after the death of his life companion. His first lonely journey through the mountains shows an example: "At night in the mountain passes there were lions, and Gilgamesh was afraid, and entered afraid into the moonlit mountain passes, praying to Sin the moon god... Terror in the body of Gilgamesh seized hold of him from within and held him there in terror. (p. 48)"

Gilgamesh also seems to have actually loved Enkidu, not just as a friend, but something more. He keeps on repeating long descriptions of how great Enkidu was, and besides that, he even says this: "Enkidu, the companion, whom I loved... (p. 54)" So technically, Gilgamesh is going on a journey to help save his loved one.

I also think that the author might be trying to suggest something through the situation of the story. Since Gilgamesh kind of represents civilization, his act of living like Enkidu (wearing animal skin, living in the wilderness, not being very clean, etc.) and his grief for him gives us a small indirect message. It represents how at the end, civilization is "grieving" for nature, after it's destroyed. It represents how civilization wants to go back to the way it was in the beginning: the way it was meant to originally be.