Epic of Gilgamesh
What is Epic?
 Along poem that tells the deeds and adventures of a
heroic or legendary figure/s or the history nation(n)
 Heroic, meaningful, timeless, and greatly
impressive (adj).
Characteristics of an Epic
1. Epics are written as long, narrative poems or use
lofty, poetic language.
2. Heroes in the story have qualities that the culture as
a whole values.
3. Heroes in the story are important people of high
standing in society.
4. The setting is vast: heroes go on a journey.
5. There are gods or supernatural forces involved in
the story.
6. The epic is based on stories that were told as part of
a culture's oral tradition.
7. The Hero is often a god or son of a god.
8. The story is often about the founding of a nation.
9. The story often involves a war or battles against
monsters.
Examples of Epic
 The Iliad and Odyssey (Ancient Greek)
 The Aeneid (Ancient Roman)
 Gilgamesh (Ancient Mesopotamian)
 The Ramayana (Ancient Indian)
 Beowulf (Medieval English)
 The Edda (Medieval Icelandic)
 Jewang Ungi (Medieval Korean)
 Journey to the West (Medieval Chinese)
 The Tale of the Heike (Medieval Japanese
Background of Gilgamesh
 The oldest surviving literary work is The Epic of
Gilgamesh. It was composed nearly 4,000 years ago
in ancient Mesopotamia (roughly equivalent to
where Iraq and eastern Syria are now). No one
knows who wrote it, or why, or what readership or
audience it was intended for. It is preserved on clay
tablets in the earliest known alphabet, which is
called cuneiform script because the scribes who
wrote it formed the letters by making wedge-
shaped (cuneiform) dents in wet clay with bits of
reed.
Epic of Gilgamesh 2500 BC (earliest known literary
text)
 11 Cay Tablets (story)
 12th tells of Gilgamesh ruling the netherworld
 Most important epic poem in human history
 Various adventures of hero- (Gilgamesh) searching
for immortality An account of the flood
Characters
 Gilgamesh (2/3 god & 1/3 human)
 Enkidu (wild man)
Mesopotamian Societies
Sumerians
 first major civilization (4000-5000 BCE)
 non-Semitic people/language Uruk (and other cities)
 cuneiform writing
 elaborate mythology and cult-based mythic poems
Babylonians/Akkadians
 later (c.1200-600 BCE)
 Semitic people, language
 myth based on Sumerian myth
Both societies share:
 social/political hierarchy with kings as head of state
 priestly class who also teach/write/preserve
literature
 tradition of sacred writings associated with actual
rituals
 high level of "civilization" (le. social structure &
material wealth)
 irrigation-based agriculture, water resources
organized by government
Gods and Goddesses
 Sin (the moon), had a higher place in the pantheon
than his children
 Shamash (the sun), who becomes important as a
deity of all-seeing justice
 Ishtar (the morning star), whose multifaceted
nature includes goddess of sexual love, of justice
and warfare, of communal prosperity
 Tammuz (Dumuzi) was Ishtar's husband a god
who died and was reborn every year.
 Ereshkigal was the goddess of the Underworld
(Kurnugi).
 Ea was the god of fresh water, thus a fertility god,
he is often a protective figure (as in the flood myth
in Gilgamesh).
 Belili Dumuzi's sister who takes her brother's place
in the underworld.
Key Themes
 Companionship
 Death
 Immortality
 Gods-Humans Relationship
 "Meaning of Life" or "Growing Up"
Gilgamesh
 Gilgamesh is on the Sumerian king-list as one of
Uruk's earliest kings- in the realm of myth.
 He is featured in several Sumerian myths and in one
long poem, the "Epic of Gilgamesh."
 This poem was the most popular piece of literature
in Mesopotamia, found in many different languages
and versions across 2500 years. We discovered it in
about 1920.
 Epic of Gilgamesh
 There are two major versions: re reading the
Nineveh version, compiled by a priest in about 800-
700 BCE
Gilgamesh
I shall tell the land of the one who learned all things, of the
one who experienced everything, I shall teach the whole. He
searched lands everywhere. He found out what was secret and
uncovered what was hidden, he brought back a tale of times
before the flood. He had journeyed far and wide, weary and at
last resigned.
He built the wall of Uruk.. One square mile is the city, one
square mile is its orchards, one square mile is its claypits, as
well as the open ground of Ishtar's temple.
Gilgamesh is the son of Lugulbanda and the goddess Ninsun -
and he is 2/3 god. 1/3 human. But like all humans he is
destined to die. As the poem begins he is king of Uruk, busy
building his city ever greater. When the epic opens,
Gilgamesh, though perfect in splendor, perect in strength is
causing problems at home. His excess energy (in building,
exploration, and sex - everything in fact) is causing tension
among his people, who pray to the gods for relief.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu
The gods create Enkidu, a hairy wild mars, and place him in
the forest near Uruk. He lives like an animal, startling the
locals. They send Enkidu to Gilgamesh, who suggests that
they tame him by sending him a woman to sleep with.
The woman (called Shamhat, a cult name of Ishtar) sleeps
with Enkidu- converting him to humantty. Enkidu decides to
go to Utuk
Gilgamesh dreams about Enkidu, and his mother Ninsun
interprets the dreams. When the two men meet at a celebration
of Ishtar-they fight to a standstill, then become fast friends
They decide to go on a quest to free the Cedar Forest from
Humbaba.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu
Ellil destined Humbaba to keep the pine forest safe, to be the
terror of people…
So the heroes represent culture in a battle against nature.
Everyone advises against fighting Humbaba. Ninsun prays to
Shamash
Why did you single out my son Gilgamesh and impose a
restless spirit on him? He faces an unknown struggle, he will
ride along an unknown road…
She adopts Enkidu as her son, and entreats him to watch after
Gilgamesh. The heroes depart…
Gilgamesh
 What does Gilgamesh have in common with such
heroes as Odysseus, Achilles, Hercules, and others
modern day heroes
 Is his story (so far) essentially different from theirs
in some ways!
 You're reading the poem in fragmentary form so this
may be hard to tell but...are there essential
differences in how this story is told. compared to,
say, Homer!
Characteristics of heroic myths
1. The hero is usually a demi-god, or has a god in his family
2. The hero has some kind of super-natural power or bas the
strong support of a god.
3. The hero is usually on a quest. He has a task or a challenge
(or more than one) that an ordinary mortal could not carry out
4. The hero is always seeking tame, glory and most important,
honor. These are more important than life itself.
5. The hero is braver, stronger, bolder and some times more
clever than most men. He is close to the gods.
6. The hero usually has a weakness, usually too much pride or
a 6. The h terrible temper . This can lead to problems for him,
and usually to his downfall.
The Cedar Forest
When Enkidu touches the gates of the Cedar forest, he feels a
supernatural cold and debility, and at first can barely continue.
Then Gilgamesh has terrible dreams of destruction, which
Enkidu interprets in a favorable light
The heroes battle Humbaba, who asks for mercy. But Enkidu
urges Gilgamesh to kill the monster, despite the gods possible
displeasure. Humbaba cries out.
Neither one of them shall outlive his friend! Gilgamesh and
Enkidu shall never become old men!
The heroes defeat Humbaba, and return to Uruk in triumph.
In Uruk, the goddess Ishtar approaches Gilgamesh to become
her lover.
Gilgamesh & Ishtar
Come to me, Gilgamesh, and be my lover! Bestow on me the
gift of your fruit! You can be my husband, I can be your wife.
I shall have a chariot of lapis lazuli and gold harnessed for
you kings, nobles and princes shall bow down beneath you...
But Gilgamesh scornfully rejects her
You are a door that can't keep out winds and gusts, a palace
that rejects its own warriors, a waterskin which soaks its
carmer... which of your lovers lasted forever! Which of your
paramours went to heaven?
The Bull of Heaven
Enraged, Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to ravage Uruk
Gilgamesh and Enkidu kall it, and when Ishtar reviles them,
Enkidu also insults her, even throwing the "thigh" of the bull
in her face
Inanna calls together the women to moum the bull - a scene
related to fertility ritual. (The Bull of Heaven is the husband
of Ereshkigal.)
 Epic of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh & Ishtar
What reasons does Gilgamesh give for rejecting the love of
Ishtar? Have we seen anything like this in Greek myth?
Why is Gilgamesh so hostile to Ishtar, given that he does
reject her!
How is Ishtar characterized in this exchange - benevolent,
cruel, as bad as Gilgamesh says, etc.....
What do you expect at the conclusion of this episode, when
Enkidu and Gilgamesh have both disrespected the goddess!
Enkidu's death
Enkidu has a terrible nightmare
The gods were in council last night. And Anu said to Ellil,
"As they have slain the Bull of Heaven, so too have they slain
Humbaba: One of them must die Enlil replied, "Let Enkidu
die, but let Gilgamesh not die." Then heavenly Sharmash said,
"Was it not according to your plans!" But Enlil turned in
anger to Shamash: "You accompanied them daily, like on of
their comrades."
Enkidu gets sick and over 12 days, he dies. He curses the
hunter and the prostitute who found him and made him
human, but Shamash persuades him not to curse the prostitute.
Gilgamesh mourned bitterly for Enkidu his friend, and roved
the open country. "Shall I die too? Am I not like Enkidu?
Grief has entered my innermost being....
Gilgamesh travels to the ends of the earth, through the dark
mountain, the pathways of Shamash:
When he had gone one double-hour, thick is the darkness,
there is no light, he can see neither behind him nor ahead of
him... When he had gone seven double hours, thick is the
darkness, there is no light... At the nearing of eleven double-
hours, light breaks out. At the nearing of twelve double-hours,
the light is steady.
He meets Siduri, the (female) Innkeeper (another cult name
of Ishtar), to whom he pours out his troubles. She directs him
to Utrapishtim, and adds:
As for you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full, Make merry day
and night. Of each day make a feast of rejoicing. Day and
night dance and play!
Utnapishtim
With the help of the boatman Urshanabi. Gilgamesh travels
across the water to Dilmun, the land at the edge of time...
He cuts 60 saplings for poles, and as each enters the waters, it
is eaten away. He finally uses his tattered clothing for a sail
and arrives exhausted to Utnapishtim:
I crossed uncrossable mountains. I travelled all the seas. No
real sleep has calmed my face. I have wom myself out in
sleeplessness; my flesh is filled with grief.
Utnapishtim tells Gilgameshi:
 how Ea told him to build a huge are because a flood
was coming:
 how built the amazing thing. how he and his family
alone. of all mortals were saved from the Flood
 how Ishtar moumed the dead:
 and how he and his wife came to Dilmun, living as
immortals.
READ PP.25-32
Utrapishtim offers Gilgamesh a way to become immortal:
Test yourself! Don't sleep for six days and severn, nights."
But as soon as Gilgamesh sits down, he falls asleep. He sleeps
for seven days and nights, and cach day. Utnapishtim's wife
puts a loaf of bread beside him. The old loaf is rotting when
the last one is fresh: a metaphor for the seven decades of
human life.
Gilgamesh says to him, to Utnapishtim the remote, "as soon as
I was ready to fall asleep, right away you touched me and
roused me.”
But Utnapishtim shows him the loaves, and Gilgamesh
realizes that he has failed his quest
Utnapishtim gives Gilgamesh a "consolation prize" a
rejuvenating plant. But on the way home, a snake takes it from
him.
Homecoming
Urshanabi accompanies Gilgamesh home, and when they
reach the city, Gilgamesh proudly points it out to him:
Go up onto the wall of Uruk, and walk around! Inspect it...
One square mile is the city, one square mile is its orchards,
one square mile is its claypits, as well as the open ground of
Ishtar's temple
The story's quiet close belies the significance of Gilgamesh's
return. He is back where he started but a changed man, his
description of Uruk here suggesting in the context a new
acceptance of the meaning of the city in his life, an embracing
rather than a defiance of the limits it represents... the king has
evolved from a hubristic, dominating male into a wiser man,
accepting the limitations that his mortal side imposes... landl
his essential kinship with all creatures who must die
Thomas van Nortwick
Gilgamesh Summary per tablet
Tablet 1: Gilgamesh's reign, prowers and tyranny
Creation of his rival Enkidu.
The story begins when Gilgamesh is a young king. He had all
knowledge and wisdom,built the walls of the great city of
Uruk and the temple Eanna. He is the son of King Lugalbanda
and Ninsun. He is a man of great beauty and physical
prowess. He dug wells and w restored the cult worship centers
destroyed by the Flood.
However, he is young and oppresses his people harshly with
tyranny
 Epic of Gilgamesh
Tour disu of nur por people call out to to the the sky-go The
tells the nem. In response, Anu tells people to summon Aruru
(the Mother Goddess) to create a wild man, Enkidu, out in the
harsh and wild forests surrounding Gilgamesh's lands. This
brute Enkidu is equal in strength to Gilgamesh and is to serve
as his rival to give Uruk some rest.
Tablet 2: The taming of Enkidu; his fight and
friendship with Gilgamesh; the proposed journey
to the Forest of Cedar
Enkidu enters the city of Uruk and the people recognize his
similarity to Gilgamesh. Enkidu stands in front of the door
and blocks Gilgamesh's way. They fight furiously until
Gilgamesh wins out; then the two embrace and become
devoted friends. Gilgamesh proposes to journey to the great
Forest of Cedar and down all the the cedar trees. To do this,
they will need to kill its guardian, the great demon Humbaba,
created by Enlil (ruler of earth and men) to terrify men away.
Enkidu knows about Humbaba from his days running wild in
the forest, and fears him. He tries in vain to convince
Gilgamesh not to undertake this folly. But he refuses. Enkidu
agrees, and they go to fight. Gilgamesh announces to the
crowd and the elders of of Uruk his plans to cut down the
cedar and win an eternal name for himself. They will all
celebrate on his return. Enkidu asks the elders to stop
Gilgamesh, who also fail to sway him.
Tablet 3: Preparations for the journey to the
Forest of Cedar
The elders of the city protest Gilgamesh's decision, but then
agree. They place his life in Enkidu's hands. Gilgamesh goes
to ask his mother's blessing. She laments her son's fate, pr
prayes Shamash asking him for his ashlas protection and to
send winds against Humbaba. She hopes that Gilgamesh will
someday be made a god. Ninsun also adopts Enkidu as her
son, and asks him to guard Gilgamesh's life.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh perform rituals to aid a safe journey.
Gilgamesh instructs the officers in how to run the city in his
absence. They again advise him to keep Enkidu out in front.
In panic, Enkidu again tries to convince Gilgamesh not to
undertake this journey, but Gilgamesh is confident of success.
Tablet 4: Journey the Forest of Cedar
The journey to the cedar forest takes months. On every 3rd
day, they stop, Gilgamesh climbs to a mountain top and prays
to Shamash to bring him a dream, and Enkidu guards the
doorway to the house as Gilgamesh dreams. Shamash sends
Gilgamesh prophetic dreams in the middle of the night
Near the entrance to the Forest of Cedar, Gilgamesh begins to
cry with fear. Shamash calls to him, ordering him to hurry and
enter the forest while Humbaba is not wearing all 7 cloaks of
his armor, but only one. Enkidu loses his courage and wants to
withdraw, but Gilgamesh encourages him onward. Humbaba
yells.they began fight.
Tablet 5: Combat with Humbaba
Gilgamesh is fearful, but Enkidu encourages him to confront
Humbaba head on. The fight begins. Shamash sends violent
winds against Humbaba. Humbaba pleads for his life, offers
Gilgamesh all his trees, but Enkidu insists that Gilgamesh kill
him to establish his fame, even though the gods will be angry.
Humbaba curses Enkidu. Gilgamesh cuts off his head. He also
slays all 7 of Humbaba's auras. Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut
down some of the trees of the cedar forest, to make a great
cedar gate for the city of Uruk. They build a raft out of the
cedar and float down the Euphrates River to their city.
bringing Humbaba's head
Tablet 6: Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven
Back in Uruk, Gilgamesh cleans up and is dressed in his royal
cloaks and crown. He attracts the attention of the goddess of
love Ishtar, who asks him to be her husband, but Gilgamesh
refuses her with insults. Insulted, Ishtar ascends to her parents
in heaven: the sky-god Anu and Antu, She begs her father to
let her have the Bull of Heaven to revenge Gilgamesh and his
city.
Anu gives her the bull, and she leads it down into Uruk. The
bull destroys cities, kills hundreds of people. Ev Enkidu is
almost killed. He seizes the bull by the tail and instructs
Gilgamesh to kill it with his knife directed to a certain spot
behind the horns, which Gilgamesh does. Ishtar laments, and
Enkidu says that he and Gilgamesh mi might ha have killed
her next. He rips off one of the haunches of the bull and hurls
it towar rd her. Ishtar holds rites of mourning over the haunch
while admire Gilgamesh's bull trophy
Tablet 7; Enkidu's vision of the Netherworld and
his own death
Enkidu has a dream about a council of the gods. In it Enlil
declares that one of the two men who have killed the Bull of
Heaven and Humbaba must die. Enkidu tells Gilgamesh he
knows that he is to die. Gilgamesh says he will be left in
sorrow by Enkidu's death.Gilgamesh will honor Enkidu in
death.
Enkidu asks Gilgamesh not to forget him and all they went
through together. Enkidu lays sick for twelve days, expressing
regret he does not die in combat and shall not make his name,
finally dies.
Tablet 8: The funeral of Enkidu
Gilgamesh mourns deeply, and utters a long lament, ordering
all to mourn his dead friend. He covers the face of Enkidu,
pulls out his own hair, and rips off his clothes.
At dawn, he calls for the artisans to construct a statue of
Enkidu. Enkidu will be honored in the underworld. Gilgamesh
will provide jewels, precious stones, gold, ivory, weapons,
oxen and sheep, and other treasures to gain him favor with the
gods and inhabitants of the underworld.
Tablet 9: The wanderings of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh continues to mourn, and wanders in the wild,
thinking that he will also die. He fears death, and seeks eternal
life.
He arrives at the twin mountains of Mashu. Scorpion men
guard its gates. Gilgamesh covers his face. They realize that
Gilgamesh is part god and ask him why he has come,
 Epic of Gilgamesh
observing that no man has reached these mountains before.
Gilgamesh says he is seeking eternal life. Unable to deter him.
they describe an underground route or dark tunnel under the
mountains, the path of the Sun- God. They wish him a safe
passage. In darkness he hurries through the passage and
emerges in advance of the Sun. He enters garden of jewels.

Tablet 10: Gilgamesh travels to Uta-napishti at

the edge of the world

Shiduri is a wise old tavern keeper who lives by the sea-shore.

She sees him coming and locks the gate. He threatens to
smash down the door, and she allows him in. She asks why he
sorrows so. He tells of his fear of death. He asks for the way
to Upa- napishti the Distant across the ocean. Shiduri says
there is no longer a way for humans to make this journey only
Shamash can cross the ocean and she helps him. They make
the journey in 3 days.

At last, they approach the distant shore. Uta-napishti wonders

who Gilgamesh is. Uta-napishti tells him aks not to chase
sorrow. He speaks words of wisdom. Man is destined to die.
Death is inevitable for all men.

Tablet 11: Uta-napishti denies him immortality;

Gilgamesh returns to Uruk

Gilgamesh asks Uta-napishti how he came to be immortal,

and Uta-napishti tells the story of how he and his wife were
the sole human survivors of the Flood.

He was the king of Shuruppak, on the banks of the Euphrates.

The gods decided to send down the Deluge. Ea slyly warned
Uta- napishti to build a boat, abandon his wealth, and take
aboard the seed of all living things and he obeyed Ea. Then
the Deluge came. The storm, wind, and deluge all lasted 6
days and 7 nights, then came to an end. The boat ran aground
of Mount Nimush. Uta- napishti released a dove, the next day
a swallow, the next day a raven when the latter does not
return; he knew that he was near land. He made sacrifices
which pleased the gods. So gods decided to make Uta-napishti
and his wife immortal.

Uta-napishti now challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for 7

nights, but the exhausted Gilgamesh quickly falls asleep. So
they said that he is not strong enough for being immortal. At
last he returns to Uruk..