Professional Documents
Culture Documents
23
November 2009
IV – BSITE LITT 2 – Prof. Connie
Raymundo
GILGAMESH
IN MEDIAS REX
PRAYER/BENEDICTION TO GODS/GODDESSES
EPITHETS
• Gilgamesh, the hero, was called a goring wild bull, a strong net (the
protection of his men), and the raging flood wave (which can destroy
even a stone wall).
• Enkidu the warrior was described as an offspring of silence and sky-
bolt of Ninurta, and epitomizes the wisdom of nature and skillful
hunter.
• Ninsun, goddess and mother of Gilgamesh, was called wise and wild
cow.
CATALOGUING
The story of that man, Gilgamesh, who went through all kinds of sufferings.
He was superior to other kings, a warrior lord of great stature,
A hero born of Uruk, a goring wild bull.
He marches at the front as leader,
He goes behind, the support of his brothers,
A strong net, the protection of his men,
The raging flood wave, which can destroy even a stone wall.
Son of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh, perfect in strength,
Son of the lofty cow, the wild cow Ninsun.
He is Gilgamesh, perfect in splendour,
Who opened up passes in the mountains,
Who could dig pits even in the mountainside,
Who crossed the ocean, the broad seas, as far as the sunrise.
Who inspected the edges of the world, kept searching for eternal life,
Who reached Ut-napishtim the far-distant, by force.
Who restored to their rightful place cult centers which the Flood had ruined.
There is nobody among the kings of teeming humanity
THEMES
Love As a Motivating Force
Love, both erotic and platonic, motivates change in Gilgamesh. Enkidu
changes from a wild man into a noble one because of Gilgamesh, and their
friendship changes Gilgamesh from a bully and a tyrant into an exemplary
king and hero. Because they are evenly matched, Enkidu puts a check on
Gilgamesh’s restless, powerful energies, and Gilgamesh pulls Enkidu out of
his self-centeredness. Gilgamesh’s connection to Enkidu makes it possible
for Gilgamesh to identify with his people’s interests. The love the friends
have for each other makes Gilgamesh a better man in the first half of the
epic, and when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s grief and terror impel him onto a
futile quest for immortality.
The epic may lack a female love interest, but erotic love still plays an
important role. Enkidu’s education as a man begins with his sexual initiation
by the temple harlot, and the two heroes’ troubles begin with their
repudiation of Ishtar, the goddess of love. Humanity renews itself through
the female life force, which includes sex, fertility, domesticity, and
nurturance, not through an arbitrary gift of the gods. When Gilgamesh finally
sees that his place is here on Earth and returns to Uruk to resume his
kingship, Ishtar returns to her place of honor.
EPIC HERO
Gilgamesh is two-thirds god and one-third human – making him more
beautiful, more courageous and more terrifying than the rest of mankind.
EPIC SIMILE
Example:
She created a primitive man, Enkidu the warrior:
offspring of silence, sky-bolt of Ninurta.
His whole body was shaggy with hair, he was
furnished with tresses like a woman,
His locks of hair grew luxuriant like grain.
He knew neither people nor country; he was dressed as cattle are.
DEUX EX MACHINA
• Aruru hears the cry of Uruk’s people and creates Enkidu to contend
with Gilgamesh.
• Gilgamesh and Enkidu manages to defeat Humbaba with Shamash’s,
the sun god, intervention.
• When the gods decided to destroy the world, Ea helps mankind by
telling Unapishtim of the coming flood and to build a boat through the
walls of the house of the latter.
• Anu, the god of the sky, sends the Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh
for insulting Ishtar. The bull comes down from the sky, bringing with
him seven years of famine.
• The gods meet in council and agree that one of the two friends must
be punished for their transgression, and they decide Enkidu is going to
die. The warrior dies eventually.
IN MEDIAS REX
PRAYER/BENEDICTION TO GODS/GODDESSES
EPITHETS
• Suhrab is called a maddened elephant and warrior-leopard.
• Rustam is called by Suhrab a lion-man.
CATALOGUING
Suhrab asks Rustam’s identity:
“Art though the famous Rustam of Zabul,
The son of valiant Zal, the son of Sam?”
THEME
The Struggle between Good and Evil
The father kills his own son in battle as a result or consequence of war.
EPIC HERO
• Rustam – finest Persian warrior and father to Suhrab. In his youth, he
possessed an exceptional strength.
• Suhrab – son of Rustam and Princess Tahmina of Samangan. When he
was one month old, he looked like a one-year-old. At 3, he could play
polo and by the time he was five, he had become skilled in archery and
the javelin.
EPIC SIMILE
Example:
While, like a maddened elephant, Suhrab,
With lasso on his arm and bow in hand,
Came in his pride and roaring like a lion,
His plunging charger flinging up the soil.
DEUX EX MACHINA
• God heeds Rustam’s prayer and grants him the return of his former
strength.