Week 2 Readings: "The Epic of Gilgamesh" & "The Iliad"
Paragraph. Click here to ed Notes: Epics and “The Epic of Gilgamesh”
-Earliest writing was found on Cuneiform (wedge shaped signs baked by the sun onto clay tablets)—first found in Mesopotamia and written by the Sumerians. Egyptians were also writing Hieroglyphics (carvings on temple walls) at this time. “Gilgamesh” was written in cuneiform. The story is older than “Aesop’s fables”, “Psalms”, and even the “Torah”. Sumerians were polytheistic (believed in many gods).
Characteristics of an Epic:
1- an extraordinary hero is charged with a quest 2- the quest has obstacles 3- supernatural element 4- at the hero’s low point, he resurrects himself
Epic Poem: a long narrative poem detailing the adventure or journey of a hero.
Epic Hero: larger than life, but human… more than an “everyday man”. MALE. He is rewarded spiritually upon death.
Epic Conventions: 1- invocation 2- epic question 3- Homeric simile 4- epithet 5- confrontation b/w 2 adversaries 6- “in media res”—begins in the middle of action 7- Combat
The journey is the key element in the Epic Cycle.
Gilgamesh:
- King of Uruk—2700BC
- Written in its current form by a Sumerian Priest named Unninni, 1500 BC.
- “Story of the Flood” was found in 1872—source for Noah’s story.
- Many translations exist… Herbert Mason summarizes, “It is an old story, but one that can still be told, about a man who loved and lost a friend to death, and learned he lacked the power to bring him back to life. It is the story of Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu”.
-While sex does not satisfy Gilgamesh, he has "enormous sexual vigor". Enkidu is created in order to try to "equalize" Gilgamesh and his desires.
- Gilgamesh & Enkidu are “incomplete” creatures. A modern description might be “hedonistic leader and PETA activist”. Enkidu is undone by sex; he loses his innocence and the wholeness of childhood. It is said that after meeting the prostitute "Shamhat", he has sexual intercourse with her for a week. Gilg. Is unfulfilled by sex as well… he feels empty. He uses his status to attempt to fulfill his desires by having sex with the "young brides" of Uruk, as the text says, he "demands to be first with the bride... the husband to follow" (16). One scholar, Jacobsen, interprets the text to say that Gilgamresh has sex with the "sons" as well as the "daughters". That is debated. But what is clear is that the text makes clear his sexual vigor, which is a characteristic expected from an epic hero. During the Greek and Roman era, for example, it was the sexual vigor that was important, not whom the hero was having intercourse with; gender was NOT important. The narrator calls this behavior (sleeping with the brides) "strange".
"Sex played a much different role in the Mesopotamian worldview. The notion of sublimation was entirely foreign to the ancient Mesopotamians, who believed that this world is the only one and that the act of sex mystically and physically connects people to the life force, the goddess. Sacred prostitutes did not embody moral frailty—they were avatars and conduits of divinity." (From SparkNotes)
For More: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gilgamesh/themes.html
- The dream of Ninsun (Gilg’s mom) is symbolic; it is of a falling star that comes to her son and becomes “a companion who is [his] equal”. When they meet, she sees that, “like a wife you hugged him”. In the story, Enkidu is continually compared with "a bridegroom". He has "long hair like a woman's" (13). Ninsun tells Gilgamesh about Enkidu, "you will love him as a woman and he will never foresake you" (15).
- A prominent theme emerges here that is continued throughout all literary traditions: the compulsion in people to feel incomplete until joined, both emotionally and soulfully, with another. The message here is that “sex alone is not satisfying; the best love is between equals. (Instructor’s analysis)
- This could be the first reading in the Gay Canon of literature. (Textual Evidence)
I have included some of the textual evidence in the previous passages of these notes. I don't believe it is important whether or not Enkidu and Gilgamesh actually have intercourse (there are critics who mount "evidence" for this, but in most translations, it isn't explicit). What I do know is that the story presents a deep, binding "meeting of two souls". What Enkidu and Gilgamesh share is a relationship so deep and so profound that it could only be described as "soulmates".
The focus in the text before Gilgamesh and Enkidu meet is "sex", but afterward, it is their "bond", their friendship. They are fulfilled when they are together, and when Gilgamesh loses Enkidu, he is rendered "incomplete" and left to wander alone.
Since women and men were NOT equal at this time in history, and throughout much of history, it is easy to understand why male-female relationships could be unfulfilling and why men would seek a deeper, more meaningful relationship with another man who was "an equal".
Another topic of importance is immortality. On page 18, Gilgamesh, when speaking about leaving to kill Humbaba, he says, "Then if I fall I leave behind me a name that endures..." Through the Greek and Roman eras, "immortality" is perceived as your name living on. If you are a great warrior or leader, the people will remember you throughout history. Later in the story, he goes in search fo real everlasting life; he is in great pain mourning Enkidu's tragic fate, and he admits to "fearing death".
There are also many similarities between "Gilgamesh" and some of the popular Old Testament stories that we are familiar with today. Perhaps "Gilgamesh" was an inspiration behind some of these tales.
- Humbaba is the giant (like Goliath) that they kill by chopping off his head. Ishatar is the goddess who is angered and offers marriage in exchange for revenge; Gilg. Turns her down, rudely, and she unleashes the “bull of heaven” to attack. Enkidu removes the bull’s genitals and throws them in Ishtar’s face… but he dies from battle wounds. Distraught over impending death, Gilgamesh will have to transition to adulthood… alone. Quote: “Why am I to die, you to wander alone…”
- Search for immortality… reference to Utnapishtim, who survives the flood (like the Noah character in the Biblical version). The thorny plant that “could be a cure” is devoured by a serpant”, and Gilgamesh weeps: “his soul has been converted to a thing that sees how much it costs to lose a friend it loved”.
List
Character List (Compiled from SparkNotes)
Gilgamesh - King of Uruk, the strongest of men, and the personification of all human virtues. A brave warrior, fair judge, and ambitious builder, Gilgamesh surrounds the city of Uruk with magnificent walls and erects its glorious ziggurats, or temple towers. Two-thirds god and one-third mortal, Gilgameshis undone by grief when his beloved companion Enkidu dies, and by despair at the prospect of his own extinction. He travels to the ends of the Earth in search of answers to the mysteries of life and death.
Enkidu - Companion and friend of Gilgamesh. Hairy-bodied and brawny, Enkidu was raised by animals. Even after he joins the civilized world, he retains many of his undomesticated characteristics. Enkidulooks much like Gilgameshand is almost hisphysical equal. He aspires to be Gilgamesh’s rival but instead becomes his soul mate. The gods punish Gilgamesh and Enkidu by giving Enkidu a slow, painful, inglorious death for killing the demon Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.
Shamhat - The temple prostitute who tames Enkidu by seducing him away from his natural state. Though Shamhat’s power comes from her sexuality, it is associated with civilization rather than nature. She represents the sensuous refinements of culture—the sophisticated pleasures of lovemaking, food, alcohol, music, clothing, architecture, agriculture, herding, and ritual.
Utnapishtim - A king and priest of Shurrupak, whose name translates as “He Who Saw Life.” By the god Ea’s connivance, Utnapishtim survived the great deluge that almost destroyed all life on Earth by building a great boat that carried him, his family, and one of every living creature to safety. The gods granted eternal life to him and his wife.
Utnapishtim’s Wife - An unnamed woman who plays an important role in the story. Utnapishtim’s wife softens her husband toward Gilgamesh, persuading him to disclose the secret of the magic plant called How-the-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-a-Young-Man.
Urshanabi - The guardian of the mysterious “stone things.” Urshanabi pilots a small ferryboat across the Waters of Death to the Far Away place where Utnapishtim lives. He loses this privilege when he accepts Gilgamesh as a passenger, so he returns with him to Uruk.
The Hunter - Also called the Stalker. The hunter discovers Enkidu at a watering place in the wilderness and plots to tame him.
Partial List of Important Deities and Demons
Anu - The father of the gods and the god of the firmament.
Aruru - A goddess of creation who fashioned Enkidu from clay and her spittle.
Ea - The god of fresh water, crafts, and wisdom, a patron of humankind. Ea lives in Apsu, the primal waters below the Earth.
Humbaba - The fearsome demon who guards the Cedar Forest forbidden to mortals. Humbaba’s seven garments produce an aura that paralyzes with fear anyone who would withstand him. He is the personification of awesome natural power and menace. His mouth is fire, he roars like a flood, and he breathes death, much like an erupting volcano. In his very last moments he acquires personality and pathos, when he pleads cunningly for his life.
Scorpion-Man - Guardian, with his wife, of the twin-peaked mountain called Mashu, which Shamash the sun god travels through every night. The upper parts of the monsters’ bodies are human, and the lower parts end in a scorpion tail. They are familiar figures in Mesopotamian myth.
Siduri - The goddess of wine-making and brewing. Siduri is the veiled tavern keeper who comforts Gilgamesh and who, though she knows his quest is futile, helps him on his way to Utnapishtim.
Tammuz - The god of vegetation and fertility, also called the Shepherd. Born a mortal, Tammuz is the husband of Ishtar.
Enlil - God of earth, wind, and air. A superior deity, Enlil is not very fond of humankind.
Ereshkigal - Terrifying queen of the underworld.
Ishtar - The goddess of love and fertility, as well as the goddess of war. Ishtar is frequently called the Queen of Heaven. Capricious and mercurial, sometimes she is a nurturing mother figure, and other times she is spiteful and cruel. She is the patroness of Uruk, where she has a temple.
Lugulbanda - Third king of Uruk after the deluge (Gilgamesh is the fifth). Lugulbanda is the hero of a cycle of Sumerian poems and a minor god. He is a protector and is sometimes called the father of Gilgamesh.
Ninsun - The mother of Gilgamesh, also called the Lady Wildcow Ninsun. She is a minor goddess, noted for her wisdom. Her husband is Lugulbanda.
Shamash - The sun god, brother of Ishtar, patron of Gilgamesh. Shamash is a wise judge and lawgiver.
