Earlier, he had slain Humbaba in the Cedar Forest and defeated the Bull of Heaven that had been sent by Ishtar, both with the help of his friend, a one-time wild man named Enkidu.  
Because of his subjects' religious tendencies, this figure instituted a rule that let him sleep with all new brides during the first night of their marriage; it was in opposition to that rule that he is forced to fight with the husband of Shamhat, though after he defeats that man he becomes his close friend.  Later on, after that friend's death, he undertakes a journey past Mount Mashu where he meets (*) Siduri and the ferryman Urshanabi, who offers him passage across a sea to see a flood survivor who supposedly possessed the secret of immortality, Utnapishtim.  Earlier, he had slain Humbaba in the Cedar Forest and defeated the Bull of Heaven that had been sent by Ishtar, both with the help of his friend, a one-time wild man named Enkidu.  For 10 points, name this Mesopotamian hero, the namesake of an epic.
Because of his subjects' religious tendencies, this figure instituted a rule that let him sleep with all new brides during the first night of their marriage; it was in opposition to that rule that he is forced to fight with the husband of Shamhat, though after he defeats that man he becomes his close friend.  
{Gilgamesh}