2. THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH
.
In our study this week of gods and the “male
divine,” we’ll visit the story of Gilgamesh.
The person of Gilgamesh offers a rich example
a mythic demi-god who remains, in many ways,
down to earth.
If myths play a role in defining the values and
identity of a culture, then the Epic of Gilgamesh
offers a window into the worldview of the
culture of produced it more than three thousand
years ago
3. THE RUINS OF URUK (IRAN)
Gilgamesh, the man, is generally regarded as a historical figure from about 2,700
B.C. Archeologists believe they may have found his tomb among the ruins of
ancient Uruk. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2982891.stm).
4. QUICK TAKE: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH
Gilgamesh & Enkidu
slay the Bull of Heaven
King Gilgamesh is oppressing his
people.
The gods send him a rival, the wild
man Enkidu, who becomes his good
friend.
Together, Gilgamesh and Enkidu defy
the gods by killing the giant Humbaba.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu then kill the
Bull of Heaven, sent to punish
Gilgamesh.
5. QUICK TAKE: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH
Modern representation of Utnapishtim,
Enkidu dies of an illness sent by the gods.
Horrified by Enkidu's death and the prospect of
his own demise, Gilgamesh undertakes a quest
for immortality.
Gilgamesh visits Utnapishtim, a virtuous man
who obeys the gods and was saved by them
from the Great Flood.
Utnapishtim puts Gilgamesh to various tests
which he fails, and assures Gilgamesh that he
cannot escape death.
Gilgamesh returns to Uruk.
6. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
What were the editors of this epic
trying to communicate
when they constructed
the story?
7. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Key themes:
Can humanity become like the gods
themselves?
Can they beat the gods at their own game?
8. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Gilgamesh is admonished by Enkidu as
they battle Humbaba.
Who, my friend, can scale heaven?
Only the Gods dwell forever with the Sun-god.
As for mankind, numbered are its days;
whatever they achieve is but wind.
Even here you are afraid of death.
Gilgamesh & Enkidu slay
Humbaba
9. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Gilgamesh continues to wrestle against the fate that the
gods have reserved for every human being.
At one point, Enkidu is enraged that he had lost his idyllic
life of a wild-man, and was about the curse the existence
of the divine agent who had civilized him.
The Sun-god Shamash reminds Enkidu of the existential perspective he had once given Gilgamesh.
Why, O Enkidu, do you curse the harlot
Who made you fit for divinity,
And gave you to drink wine fit for royalty,
Who clothed you with noble garments,
And made you have fair Gilgamesh for a
comrade?
10. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Siduri, another agent of the gods, offers Gilgamesh similar advice.
You Gilgamesh, let your belly be full
Be happy day and night.
Throw a party every day,
Dance and play day and night!
Let your garment be sparkling fresh.
Your head be washed; bathe in water.
Pay heed to the little one that holds onto your hand
Let your spouse delight in your bosom.
For this is the task of mankind.
-Tablet XIII
Siduri: Wise Goddess of
Fermentation
11. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Finally, Gilgamesh visits Utnapishtim, the immortal survivor of the
Great Flood. Gilgamesh asks the sage what he must do to
achieve immortality.
Utnapishtim offers two exercises that he knows Gilgamesh will fail.
Gilgamesh returns to Uruk, seeing with new eyes the great
achievements embodied in the city.
Gilgamesh retrieves root
of youth from ocean floor
12. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
He has matured, and has a firmer understanding of where he may find true happiness.
When Gilgamesh returns to Uruk, he is still stinging from the hard lessons he has
learned.
In the final scene,
Gilgamesh admires
the fortifications of
his city as he returns
home.
13. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Irony: The epic revels in
the feats of Gilgamesh and
Enkidu. Yet the final lesson
of the story is that
humanity’s function is not
found in struggling against
the gods.
14. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Other messages:
True happiness is not to be found
in mere sensual pleasure but in
acquiring virtue and wisdom.
Family and kin are most important
in life.
Immortality is available to humans
only in an enduring name and
some lasting achievement left
behind.
15. GILGAMESH: MEANING BEHIND THE NARRATIVE
Sources:
George, Andrew R. “The Epic of Gilgamesh: “Thoughts on Genre and Meaning,” Gilgamesh and the World of Assyria.
Proceedings of the Conference Held at the Mandelbaum House, the University of Sydney, 21-23 July 2004. J. Azize, J and N.
Weeks, eds., Leuven: Peeters, pp. 37-66.
Gerig, Bruce. “David & Jonathan and the Epic of Gilgamesh, Part 1” http://epistle.us/hbarticles/gilepic1.html.
Ray, Benjamin Caleb 1996. The Gilgamesh epic: Myth and meaning. Pp. 300-26 in Myth and Method, ed. L. L. Patton and W.
Doniger. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
Sasson, Jack M.“Some Literary Motifs in the Composition of the Gilgamesh Epic,” Studies in Philology VOl. 69, 3 (July 1972),
259-279.
(http://fajardo-acosta.com/worldlit/gilgamesh/#synopsis)
Image of Young Enkidu: http://sandregriffin.blogspot.com/
By Walter Ratliff
