...The women of Gilgamesh are used as harlots to men. In the story, the Priestess Shamhat is the first woman who is sent to humanize the wild-man, Enkidu to help him achieve life outside the forest. She does this by going out into the wilderness where she “stripped off her robe and lay there naked…. For seven days / Enkidu stayed erect and made love with her” (79). This sex act leads Enkidu into virile maturity and makes him civilized from his animal characteristics that he had inhabited. This shows that sexual relations represents a sense of civilization and creates balance. Shamhat finds success in her achievement to tame Enkidu by carrying out her sexuality to strengthen him. According to the article, “Initiation and Primal Women in Gilgamesh...
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...Dan Stasson Mosaic 1 Professor Sigman 5 December 2012 The Roles and Influence of Women in Gilgamesh and Joseph’s Story In many societies, women play various functions like mothers, sisters, and leaders. Historical literatures like the Bible, Gilgamesh or even the Koran has had many women play diverse functions in the society or in the religious sector. By comparing the different roles that women played in both literatures like the Bible and Gilgamesh, we can be able to comprehend the role of women in both societies (Mitchell 80). Furthermore, these roles will be an eye opener to the type of society that these women lived in. These women managed to expand themselves to fit into the various circumstances that they found themselves in as well as become important in their society. Through Potiphar’s wife in Joseph’s story and the women of Gilgamesh, this essay seeks to understand how literature represents women in the society. Women in Gilgamesh are represented by employing various characters. For instance, the character Ishtar has been depicted to take the role of a lover. In the novel, she is the goddess who desires to win the heart of Gilgamesh at all cost. When her mission fails, she endeavors to murder him. This destroyer-goddess known as Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to marry her when he returned victorious over Humbaba. Ishtar descends to Uruk talks to the king Gilgamesh saying “Marry me, give me your luscious fruits, be my husband, be my sweet man. I will give you abundance...
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...Aylin Sipahi CMLT C110 Final Essay for Epic of Gilgamesh February 19, 2013 The Epic of Gilgamesh serves as a great looking glass into a long lost culture in which most artifacts are lost. The story centers on Gilgamesh, a ruthless king who is two thirds god and one third man. As king, he does not meet his potentials of leadership as he is often self-centered and sometimes depicted as inhumane. When his dear friend Enkidu dies, he sets off to find immortality. He eventually fails, but during his journey, he came to terms with his mortality and became a more compassionate person. Even though the main characters are men, the women play small but vital roles along his journey. The women in this epic reveal that they are solely responsible for the civilization of Gilgamesh and Enkidu by means of dream interpretation, sex, and motherly instincts, because the men of this epic do not have the ability to do them on their own. As king, Gilgamesh does things of his own accord and with his own judgment. He terrifies his city with his ruthless behavior, and even upsets the gods. He takes away sons from families, and has his way with newly wedded brides on their honeymoon before the grooms. As Gilgamesh sees women as merely sex objects, it’s difficult to imagine that when he needs direction he goes to his mother, Ninsun “who is well-beloved and wise (page 66).” It is interesting to see that Gilgamesh sees every other woman as a sex object, except his mother. Some theories to support...
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...Irene Wanja Dr Lancaster Eng 230.06 24 February 2014 Role of women in “the epic of Gilgamesh” The epic of Gilgamesh (King of Uruk) is a story his personality and his beliefs. Gilgamesh is a tyrant, a “powerful warrior who shows his mettle in battle” (Abusch 2001). This Mesopotamian hero is a tyrant, big and prominent. He goes through some things in his life that have him making a three hundred and sixty degree turn around in all aspects of his life. It is not written by just one author but has been an evolving story over a millennium. Women in ancient Mesopotamia were considered property of the husband. The man was the head of the house, and the woman’s duty was to cook, bare children for the men and raise them. The main value of women in ancient Mesopotamia was child bearing. The stages of life for the women of Mesopotamia went from being a daughter to being a bride, then a spouse and finally a housekeeper. Though they are not prominently features, the epic of Gilgamesh shows the importance of women and their role in everyday life. They are valuable in the story because without them, the men would not have gotten as far as they did. They are highly influential because they have power, which they each use differently. Shamhat is the temple prostitute, very morally loose woman who will lay with any man. She is sent by Gilgamesh to give herself to Enkidu and have sex with him so that the animals will see and not want to be associated with him anymore. The king’s thinking is that...
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...The Epic Tale Of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh is presented as the heroic, yet cruel, figure responsible for creating the city of Uruk. Seemingly invincible to mortals, Gilgamesh is presented as a powerful leader who is known to rape women at will and rule his kingdom with violent, cruel power. He is unchallenged until the creation of Enkidu, a being almost as powerful in strength as Gilgamesh. After engaging in violent combat with one another, Gilgamesh and Enkidu form a friendship that sets them apart from ordinary mortals. I suppose that this relationship is typical of their strength, showing them both as equals, and is used to praise and escalate their characters in the poem to show them as heroic figures in the tale that are capable of doing more than just the regular mortal has power to do. In this tale, Gilgamesh feels the need to be the first to have sex with a bride after she is married and take their virginity before the groom even gets a chance to do anything of the sort, which further shows Gilgamesh’s lust for not only women, but also power; however, it is important to note that Gilgamesh is not picky with the women that he sleeps with, but rather, is open to sleeping with everyone out there, showing that he doesn’t really care for the women. Enkidu Comes into the story and at first is disgusted with Gilgamesh’s actions with these women. Enkidu eventually ends up challenging Gilgamesh after hearing about his unpleasant activities, but just hardly loses the battle. They...
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...Introduction The epic poem dubbed the Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the earliest surviving literature on the face of the planet. The poem came from Mesopotamia in its original cuneiform script comprising 12 tablets. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a chronicle detailing the classic adventures of Gilgamesh, a historic king of Uruk. Over the years, historians have eliminated the 12th tablet for alleged inconsistencies. The poem depicts a wide range of themes such as the inevitability of death, which is portrayed when Gilgamesh’s struggle to be young backfires. Other themes include the struggle between humanity and divine power, necessity of friendship, oppression, and the enduring struggle for power along with the conflict between the rulers and the ruled. Relationship between the Ruler and the Ruled The conflict between rulers and their subjects is perhaps the most enduring historical trend known to humanity. As Machiavelli, Hobbes, Karl Marx and other realist theorist of power politics concur, this longstanding conflict manifests itself in terms of oppression and suppression where the ruling class seeks to dominate the masses financially, socially and politically. This trend is no more today as it was then. It is a reflection of survival for the fittest as envisioned in Darwin’s evolution theory (Foster 45). Looking at the epic of Gilgamesh, which was created at around 2500 BC, oppression emerges as one of the mainstream themes. This is portrayed in the eminence of the king...
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...Antiquity through Literature The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Sumarian text, along with two ancient Chinese poems: To be A Woman, written by Fu Xuan and Substance, Shadow, and Spirit written by T’ao Ch’ien, are all pieces of literature from the period of antiquity (the time prior to the Middle Ages). Reading each of them not simply for pleasure, but rather for the message injected into all parts of these works, allows a reader to learn a great many things other than the plot of the story they have written. The Epic of Gilgamesh takes us through the life of the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh, as he quests for the meaning of living life and for the comfort needed to accept his mortality. To Be a Woman presents to the reader the perspective of a young woman about the way that her society relates to women with an attitude even less than one of indifference. T’ao Ch’ien, author of “Substance, Shadow, and Spirit,” introduces us to the reality of the commoners of another society during that period who were without the power to control their circumstances. All of these pieces of literature delve into the painful realities of life and the embracing of death; however, they are from the perspectives of those who occupy very different stations in life, and thus have very different problems and experiences which gives the reader vastly different understandings of life during this period of time. The attributes of the characters in The Epic of Gilgamesh and those of the speakers in To Be a Woman...
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...Lord of the Rings and Modern Day Epic? Epic adventures are one of the oldest and most celebrated works of literature. These adventures paint pictures of larger-than-life heroes, terrifying battle scenes, and heroic triumphs. Most epics served the purpose of transmitting culture and history, as well as entertaining readers. Among classical epics are the well-known Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and The Odyssey. However, is the epic adventure a dying breed of literature? Is it possible that epic stories have sustained the test of time and evolved over the centuries? The Lord of the Rings trilogy, including The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, is one of the greatest examples of a modern day epic. What do The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Lord of the Rings all have in common? They all share typical characteristics of epic adventures in some form or another. Though the motives and reasons may differ, the theme of journeying is common to all epic adventures. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, King Gilgamesh sets out on a perilous adventure with his closest friend Enkidu in order to find enduring fame and glory. In The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus embarks on a 10 year-long journey through trials and tests to find his way back home to his wife and son. Epic hero Achilles, of The Iliad, sets out to fight in the legendary Trojan War. Similarly, Frodo Baggins, unassuming hero of The Lord of the Rings, sets out from his home and...
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...and love, can definitely change something for the better. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” is about the king of Uruk, who was extremely wise, highly respected, he knew things other people wouldn't know, as well as being an all-powerful, extremely strong, and very beautiful. However, he was a a cruel tyrant, who happened to rape women he’d find extremely attracted to in spite of the fact that some of these women were wives of his noblemen, or warriors. Many of the people of Uruk lived under the oppression of Gilgamesh, until the gods gathered information about Gilgamesh’s unmerciful ways. They decided to form a man, just as powerfully great as Gilgamesh, and his name was Enkidu. Enkidu was initially placed into the wild, living with wild animals from around the land. He lives peacefully, until a hunter discovers him and send a prostitute into the wild to convert him into a ‘civilized man’. Enkidu wounds up sleeping with the woman, and he no longer considers himself wild, but if not more human. Enkidu learns about the troubles of Gilgamesh and his kingdom and decides to challenge; even though, they started off roughly, to the greatest surprise, Enkidu and Gilgamesh end up being the greatest and bestest friends. Later on in the book, Ekidu dies of punishment, for challenging one of the gods and defeating it along with Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is extremely heart-broken and grieves greatly for his friend’s loss. Gilgamesh then sets off into the Wilderness to find Utnapishtim for everlasting...
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...A Woman’s Role In Mankind Since the beginning of mankind and the early records of literature it has always been man that has been superior over women. Many see women as supporters of man and consider them naturally weaker than men. After reading and analyzing the early literatures of The Hebrew Bible and The Epic Of Gilgamesh I believe there is more to a women’s part in history than it appears. Whether it is for better or for worse it is apparent that women have played a key role in shaping the future of man. In genesis, the story of Eve has given men reasons to suppress women. Eve, although a women she played a vital part in the story. Eve was fist to be tempted by the serpent and the first to sin. It was the woman who was deceived. She could be identified as a temptress to Adam, the one you persuaded him to commit sin. This is why the role that Eve plays is similar to that of the serpent. In any case her part was not for the better of man. It portrays women as sinister and evil. In the story it justified that women are guilty for the misery that mankind had to suffer. In literature women did not always play as evil individuals that held back the potential of man. In The Epic of Gilgamesh it shows that women can be powerful with the ability to influence men with their delicacy and intellect. In the epic women represents not only power but also great wisdom. The Priestess Shamhat, the temple herlot is an example of that. She was able to tame the wild man, Enkidu. She used...
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...at any point during a hero’s journey. The intriguing story of Gilgamesh can be compared in such a manner to real life occurrences of heroism as well as serve, in turn, as a model to follow. The fascinating story of Gilgamesh tells of a hero born of humble beginnings as an underdog leader seen as a tyrant by his own people and through mass paranoia is shunned and put at odds with the gods by means of prayer. Much like the beginnings of all real life heroes and heroines, Gilgamesh shows us that life sometimes, in fact, doesn’t go our way from the beginning. As with any hero and heroine, Gilgamesh cannot undo the hand he is dealt, he must simply prove himself through his actions. The gods responded to the subject’s prayers by means of creating Enkido. Enkido was meant to be Gilgamesh’s arch nemesis; yet through Gilgamesh’s actions over time, Enkido grew to love Gilgamesh as only a brother could. This could only occur if a hero or heroine is worthy of bearing the title given to them by fate. Eventually the kinship developed between Gilgamesh and Enkido would prove itself through the actions of Enkido. Gilgamesh and Enkido fight numerous battles side by side as many real life heroes and heroines do, but the final battle is the one that serves as the best example of sacrifice. Gilgamesh’s spurning of Ishtar’s advances send the goddess into a blind rage releasing the Gugalanna on not only Gilgamesh but Enkido as well. The two...
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...believed in for those who did not follow the religion’s strict code of conduct. The beliefs of the ancient Sumerians were the precedent for developing civilizations to follow. God and goddesses in the Sumerian’s belief system had very diverse personalities. The women were particularly portrayed as deceitful, moody, upset, disturbed, protective, and sometimes even creators of evil. The males, on the other hand, were written as wise, fearless, bold, god of gods, majestic, victorious, perfect, and radiant. In many stories, the male god has to either save the world and humans from something that a woman initiated, or save the women because she herself is helpless. Inanna, the beloved goddess of Sumerian culture, does not help the belief. Throughout the hymns that were written for her and published in a collection by Diane Wolkstein, Inanna must turn to the men of her life for help. In the hymn The Hulupu Tree, Inanna runs to her brother Gilgamesh for help ridding her beloved tree from pests. “I wept! How I wept! Yet they would not leave me tree.” She weeps to both her brothers yet does nothing to try and rid the tree of the pests herself before turning to them. She then requires a throne to rule on and a chair to sit on. Gilgamesh must carve these things for her as well. The roles of gods and goddesses were quite different for the ancient Sumerians. Another example of the vastly different personas of the ancient Sumerian gods and goddesses is the story of Tiamat and Marduk. Tiamat was...
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...Every mythological hero seems to be on a journey in search of the thing he desires most in the world. The two heroes who stood out to me were Gilgamesh, and Achilles. Gilgamesh’s greatest fear was death, while Achilles feared his legacy being lost and forgotten. Technically their desires are different, but their journey share many similarities, and in the end, boils down to the same thing. Each man in his own way, both Gilgamesh and Achilles desired immortality above all else. Though immortality takes on very a different meaning for Gilgamesh, as it does for Achilles, every decision as well as all the sacrifices they make, are based on their fear of death and dying. Gilgamesh’s journey for immortality begins with the death of Enkidu. Gilgamesh’s heart breaks when he had to watch his brother die, which made him consider the prospect of his own mortality and inevitable death.(1) Gilgamesh fears his own death so much that he seems to be willing to risk everything including death, for a chance at an immortal life. Gilgamesh does not know what the future holds for him, or whether his journey for immortality will bear fruit. But Achilles on the other hand, was given all the information he needed to make an informed decision before his journey even began. His mother Thetis told him of his fate. If he chose to go to Troy, he would die in in battle and his name would be forever remembered. If he chose not to go to Troy, he would live a long life and have many children who would honor...
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...opportunity. We subconsciously look for counterparts that create a balance by contributing to what attributes are lacking within ourselves. In “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and Ama Ata Aidoo’s “Anowa” we see two character’s Gilgamesh and Anowa searching for substance in people who are unlike themselves. Their life’s counterparts have what they are lacking within themselves; security. In both Anowa and Gilgamesh’s relationships we are able to see their true characteristics through their choice of mates. Both characters are portrayed to be powerful but when we see who they fall in love with we learn the nature of their true self. We learn that though they may appear strong and confident are in actuality both insecure. Gilgamesh is described in the beginning of the story as “like a bull he makes himself mighty head raised (over others)” (Iglesias, Mays and Pierce 8). He is boastful and constantly ensuring everyone feels his presence when around. He acts as though he is all powerful, filled with courage, without insecurities. Whereas in the story of Anowa, she is not like a bull necessarily but still very strong willed as described by the old woman and man in the story “That Anowa is something else….she listens to her own tales, laughs at her own jokes and follows her own advice” (Iglesias, Mays and Pierce 92). Anowa is very different from the women of...
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...In my opinion, Gilgamesh fulfilled his duties like how a king should in that time period. Although he had to learn the hard way to become the leader the people could identify with, he met all the criteria of what a king should be in the ancient Mesopotamian world. Gilgamesh possessed the three most essential traits a person has to have in order to become a king, “to be superior in military leadership, good looking (healthy and young), and educated”. Gilgamesh was a king no one can compare to and his divine birth was a sign he was chosen by the gods for greatness. “who is there can rival his kingly standing, and say like Gilgamesh, ‘it is I the king’? Gilgamesh was his name from the day he was born, two-thirds of him god and one-third human”. Divinely appointed by the...
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