Epic of Gilgamesh

These posts may often times represent my thinking out loud, noting interests, and there may be thoughts incomplete that I may yet return to.

It may have occurred earlier in the reading, but it wasn’t until page 38 that I noticed dialogue was initiated by “so-and-so opened their mouths to speak.”  It threw me off at first, but it was nice to know who was talking to who, because there were plenty of times where I had to back-track to figure out who was actually speaking at the time.

I like how Enkidu started off thinking that Gilgamesh was crazy for wanting to hunt down and slay Humbaba and it was Gilgamesh doing the reassuring, but then when it came time to battle, Enkidu was ordering Humbaba’s death (page 41).

Pg 49 basically gives tall tale sources for certain things that seem to happen naturally, all of which are a result of the failed exploits of Ishtar, such as the shepherd being cursed and turned to a wolf.  She seems to take to cursing things when events don’t transpire as she wishes them to.  This reminds me of certain stories in metamorphoses, definitely of Picus and Circe, the witch who turned people into beasts for rejecting her.

Ishtar is a brat.  She threatens her dad to muddy the waters between the world of the living and the dead.  Gilgamesh must stand to be a threat if she has to resort to use a heavenly weapon against him, but perhaps this is just to lay waste.  I have noticed that godly power seems to be underplayed if you aren’t the protagonist.  They aren’t even wholly deified, and yet, they are formidable.

The gods are much like any other deity portrayed in polytheistic societies that I know of.  They always exhibit human characteristics and behaviors, and it almost always leads to trouble.  This, I’m sure, was one of the ways for people (storytellers and their like) to make sense of nature, and why things behave as they do, often giving these gods their own personality quirks based off their respective domains.

On page 57, we see that Enkidu was holding in his anger towards those (Shamhat and the hunter) that took him from purity and nature, and started cursing them as he was dying. "You weakened me” (58).

Shamhat was originally entrusted and seemed to be someone of standing and proper, and he cursed her to shambles and a life of depravity, around scoundrels and brigands and drunks.  I found it both humorous and sad that he tried to make up for his scorn by blessing her in his curse.  I’ve heard that prostitution is the oldest profession, and it makes some sense that many things Enkidu spoke over her seem to pass.  Though I don’t personally know the lives of harlots, it seems to be the impoverished life. Interestingly enough, he seems to say that men won’t be able to control themselves around her, what with officials of state and such leaving wives…

Gilgamesh changes after Enkidu’s death.  He knows he can die, and there are some episodes (page 70) in which he is afraid of lions and other things he would scoff at toward the beginning of the story.  He is aware of his mortality, and it hampers his resolve.

My favorite part of the story is the final stretch.  For fear of death Gilgamesh seeks out Uta-napishti and the secret to immortality.  The first time I read this, I wasn’t expecting the story would go in this direction, and I thoroughly enjoyed comparing it to the all-too –familiar story of my childhood: Noah’s Ark.  As a history major, and one who constantly looks to ancient mythology for clues, I enjoy when different civilizations have some overlap.  Granted, the Hebrews and Babylonians were practically neighbors, I know that this was common throughout the world.  Even the last age in Mayan history ended with a great flood.

I noticed more commonalities this time around than last.  I’m not exactly sure of the significance of the number seven, but it comes up plenty of times in the Bible, and it’s recurring in the Epic of Gilgamesh.  This may warrant more attention.

The ending seems to mirror that of the beginning, with Gilgamesh placing emphasis on his works.  Perhaps a message that could be gleaned from this is that even though he lost his chance at gaining immortality, the legacy and stories he leaves behind will immortalize him in legend.  In a way, this comes to pass.  Certainly these stories didn't transpire the way the Epic says, but the fact that these stories have been preserved means something.