Due Jan 30
Mesopotamian Epic 1
Reading: Gilgamesh heroic friendship, Tablets I-VI (pp17-47).
Writing: Post 1-2 sentences in response to one of the following prompts:
- A cultural gulf separates us from the world of Gilgamesh. Quote a line or cite a plot event that strikes you as odd, then comment on what’s puzzling. Odd details make good starting points for analysis.
- The story’s two leads are both male, but most of the peripheral characters are female. Quote a line or cite a plot event that strikes you as suggestive for understanding this culture’s conception of women in society, then comment on the implications.
Oddities
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I wouldn’t say this is odd, but I did find the relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu to be oddly progressive given that this was written around 2100 BC. When the tablet said “The axe that you saw is a man, but you loved and embraced it as a wife” I read this as Gilgamesh and Enkidu having a formal relationship, and not a friendship. Their relationship blurs the lines between friendship and romance among all the tablets, and so I found it interesting how progressive this societies perceptions are of relationships between two men.
I agree with you in terms of how this society didn’t draw strict lines between friendship and romance compared to modern society. This itself highlights how flexible (surprisingly) ancient perceptions of male and female relationships may have been. Another example I see of the indulgent society in terms of gender and relationships is when Gilgamesh dreams of the meteor and axe as a “wife”. This expresses how intimacy and devotion are not confined to a traditional gender role or heterosexual marriage in the epic. Instead, they are used to describe emotional bonds between men. Overall, the text suggests a cultural comfort with relationship roles which then reinforces how this society understood connection and loyalty different than now.
One thing I found odd was the fact that Enkidu, in order to become civilized he must have intercourse, which will have him lose his connection to nature. This feels odd to me because Enkidu’s transformation is a loss of innocence that is necessary, implying that to become human you must lose purity, instead of being both human and pure.
I found this interesting as well. It seemed to me as though in order for Enkidu to become civilized and incorporated into human-kind, he needed to be tamed by the harlot. I used the word tamed because though he was wild to begin with, the sight of Shamhat enticed him into having intercourse with her. Soon after this took place multiple times, it was a stark transition where the wild beasts and animals no longer saw him as one of their own. It was almost like the animals saw Enkidu as family, and by him copulating with a human caused them to disown him and regard him as “impure”. To me, this makes sense as from the wild animals’ perspective, Enkidu was tempted by lust into having relations with something outside of their race/family–causing him to be shunned, and ultimately adopted into human society.
One detail I found odd was how Gilgamesh’s dreams were interpreted. In tablet 4, Gilgamesh says that he had deeply disturbing dreams, which included falling mountains, raging bulls, and thunderstorms. However, Enkidu interprets every dream as a good omen, no matter how ominous it sounds. This is very odd to me, as in most literature, having a bad dream is foreshadowing for uncertainty and misfortune in the future.
One thing I found to be rather odd is right at the start of the first tablet when the people of Uruk are crying to the gods against Gilgamesh’s tyranny and Anu responds with, “Aruru, it was she who created mankind so numerous. Let her now create one who is the equal unto Gilgamesh. Let her create one who is great in strength, and let him contend with Gilgamesh, that Uruk may have surcease”. It’s odd to me because the gods could choose to directly intervene instead of creating someone to do the dirty work for them, it just comes off as a rushed and lazy decision and, while it may not be intentional, I find it strange to present the gods in that sort of light rather than a more positive one.
Even from a literary standpoint, using this to introduce Enkidu as a character seems a bit like an odd shortcut.
Women in Gilgamesh
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Although the two main characters in the story are male, females also play an important role. I would say that the females in the story acted as mentors. The major plot could be found at the beginning of Enkidu’s enlightenment. After Shamhat has entered Enkidu’s life, he becomes wise and more civilized. Women in this tablet could serve as a guide, teaching men how to do better. Females act as the side factor that speeds up or enlightens the men, which helps them to grow.
I agree that the women act as teachers for the male leads in this story. Both Shamhat and Ninsun act as spiritual guides for Enkidu and Gilgamesh, with Shamhat imparting her divine knowledge onto Enkidu, taking away his innocence and purity and replacing it with wisdom, and Ninsun interpreting Gilgamesh’s dreams for him. While the men in this story are described as physically strong, the women are all-knowing, specifically in matters of spirituality.
Yes the story does focus on me as the primary agents to drive the plot, but women do play an important role. While the men are constatntly engaging in conflict the women in contrast symbolically are pillars of stability and reliance. Aruru “the great one” for example is a revered figure who was able to create Enkidu with clay. They are inherently necessary for creation, and not dismissed. There is objectification in regards to Shamhat, but she still is portrayed as a figure of guidance. She insists to show Enkidu Gilgamesh, and sets him on his path.