Aivy F.

Ylanan
BEE IV
GED-LIT01
Masterworks in World Literature
1st Trimester A.Y 2017-2018

EPIC CONVENTIONS IN GILGAMESH

IN MEDIAS RES
The account begins: Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third human, is the greatest king
on earth and the strongest super-human that ever existed; however, he is young and oppresses his
people harshly. Thu

PRAYER/BENEDICTION TO GODS/GODDESSES
Gilgamesh prays for help to Shamash, Ninsun and Lugalbanda to assist him in battling
with Humbaba.

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.

SETTING IS VAST IN SCOPE

The story takes place in Mesopotamia. It begins in Uruk, the city where Gilgamesh reigned as its
king. Gilgamesh’s travels take him to the Cedar Forest; then, Mount Mashu (its twin peaks
reached the vault of Heaven, its feet touched the Netherworld below), Land of Night, the Water
of Death and the land across the river.
LONG AND FORMAL SPEECHES OF CHARACTERS
While Enkidu lays dying, he describes hell:
The house where the dead dwell in total darkness,
Where they drink dirt and eat stone,
Where they wear feathers like birds,
Where no light ever invades their everlasting darkness,
Where the door and the lock of Hell is coated with thick dust.
When I entered the House of Dust,
On every side the crowns of kings were heaped,
On every side the voices of the kings who wore those crowns,
Who now only served food to the gods Anu and Enlil,
Candy, meat, and water poured from skins.
I saw sitting in this House of Dust a priest and a servant,
I also saw a priest of purification and a priest of ecstasy,
I saw all the priests of the great gods.
There sat Etana and Sumukan,
There sat Ereshkigal, the queen of Hell,
Beletseri, the scribe of Hell, sitting before her.
Beletseri held a tablet and read it to Ereshkigal.
She slowly raised her head when she noticed me
She pointed at me:
"Who has sent this man?"

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
Who can compare with him,
Who can say 'I am king' beside Gilgamesh.
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.

The Inevitability of Death

Death is an inevitable and inescapable fact of human life, which is the greatest lesson
Gilgamesh learns. Gilgamesh is bitter that only the gods can live forever and says as much when
Enkidu warns him away from their fight with Humbaba. Life is short, the two warriors tell each
other on their way to the deadly confrontation in the Cedar Forest, and the only thing that lasts is
fame. But when Enkidu is cursed with an inglorious, painful death, their bravado rings hollow.
Shamash, the sun god, consoles Enkidu by reminding him how rich his life has been, but though
Enkidu finally resigns himself to his fate, Gilgamesh is terrified by the thought of his own.
Mesopotamian theology offers a vision of an afterlife, but it gives scant comfort—the dead spend
their time being dead. If Gilgamesh’s quest to the Cedar Forest was in spite of death, his second
quest, to Utnapishtim, is for a way to escape it. Utnapishtim’s account of the flood reveals how
ludicrous such a goal is, since death is inextricably woven into the fabric of creation. But life is
woven in as well, and even though humans die, humanity continues to live. The lesson that
Gilgamesh brings back from his quest isn’t ultimately about death—it’s about life.

The Gods Are Dangerous

Gilgamesh and Enkidu learn all too well that the gods are dangerous for mortals. Gods
live by their own laws and frequently behave as emotionally and irrationally as children. Piety is
important to the gods, and they expect obedience and flattery whenever possible. They can often
be helpful, but angering them is sheer madness—and a character’s reverence for the gods is no
guarantee of safety.
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.

ASPIRATIONS ARE COLLECTIVE NOT INDIVIDUAL

Gilgamesh turns his attention away from small personal desires to loftier personal desires
– desires that benefit rather than harm Uruk. We remember from the prologue that the walls of
the city, made from the cedar taken from the forest, still stand in actuality or in imagination to
proclaim Gilgamesh's fame, and the very first sentence of the epic attests to the immortality of
his name.
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.
 GODS AND GODESSES

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.

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.

Shamash - The sun god, brother of Ishtar, patron of Gilgamesh. Shamash is a wise judge and
lawgiver.

Ninhursag – Goddess of creation.