The Epic of Gilgamesh: A Study in Heroism Part 2

Gilgamesh was presiding over his kingdom as usual, when a servant came to inform him that a couple had just been married in the city. Gilgamesh sighed, knowing that he had to do his kingly duty, for he had enacted prima nocta in Uruk. Prima nocta was a law that presides through much of human history, where a ruler was required to sleep with a newlywed woman first to truly consummate a marriage. This was one of the grievances the people of Uruk had against Gilgamesh and one of the key reasons they begged the gods to kill him.

           Gilgamesh found the home of the couple, the streets empty as the people knew what was to happen. He walked toward the house, his every step like a thunderous boom because of the horror of what was to happen. As Gilgamesh neared the house, not paying attention as his mind drifted in the moment, ran into what felt like a brick wall. Stunned, Gilgamesh blinked and looked at the obstacle in his way. Before him was the biggest and hairiest man he had ever seen (besides himself, of course). Without saying anything, the man reared his fist back and smashed it into Gilgamesh’s head, sending him flying back into the street. The two then wrestled each other, these two hulking beasts smashing into each other. After several minutes of fighting, the two slowed down and let the dust settle. Gilgamesh is deeply impressed with Enkidu and his fighting ability. Without hesitation, he befriends Enkidu.

           Gilgamesh and Enkidu quickly become great friends. They play sports together, eat grand feasts together, drink together, and search for all type of adventure together. Some experts even theorize it they may have been in a homosexual relationship together. One day, while they were sitting at the top of a ziggurat, possibly drinking, Enkidu and Gilgamesh discussed going onto an adventure. They looked at the city of Uruk and Enkidu remarked on the poor state walls around the city. Gilgamesh, taking the chance at adventure, suggests they head west to the land of tall cedar trees and take some of the sacred cedar trees. The trees would be great for building large walls around Uruk again, Gilgamesh insists. Enkidu, wary of the idea, remarks how the land Gilgamesh speaks of is guarded by an evil demon named Humbaba, a devoted servant of the god of earth, wind, and air; Enlil and who’s name literally translates to “Hugeness”. After some discussion, Gilgamesh finally convinces Enkidu and the two prepare for the journey. Gilgamesh and Enkidu meet with Gilgamesh’s mother to receive blessings and also weapons, which are quite possibly the best blessings. They receive swords, bows, quivers of arrows, and Gilgamesh receives a large ax. Now armed and blessed, the heroes step off for the land of Humbaba.

These trees would have been extremely important to people in the region at the time. Mesopotamia is a relatively tree-less place and a trading mission to this “Land of Cedars” could have been taken by historical Sumerian kings in those days. It is even suggested that this is the same Land of Cedars that King Solomon from the Bible established a trading agreement with. This would place this land in modern day Lebanon.

           For two days, the heroes walked west toward the Land of Humbaba. Once arriving among the Cedars, they tried to search for the demon but Gilgamesh, overcome with fatigue, did what any sensible warrior stuck in hostile territory would do, and took a nap. Enkidu, naturally, tried to wake up Gilgamesh, though to no avail. He pushed, poked, and prodded his friend but Gilgamesh did not wake up. Suddenly, Enkidu began to hear a low thump in the distance. His eyes widened and he realized he needed to get Gilgamesh up, now! He shook his friend begging him to wake up. The thumping got closer; thump, thump, thump. Suddenly, out of the tree line, a monster burst through. His face is that of a lion. "When he looks at someone, it is the look of death." "Humbaba's roar is a flood, his mouth is death and his breath is fire! He can hear a hundred leagues away any [rustling?] in his forest! Who would go down into his forest!" In various examples, his face is scribed in a single coiling line like that of the coiled entrails of men and beasts, from which omens might be read. Humbaba the Hugeness was a horrifying beast.

           Apparently, all Gilgamesh needed was a quick power nap because he immediately woke up after these few minutes of sleeping and felt completely refreshed. He jumped up, grabbed his mighty ax, and charged Humbaba. The two fought for hours, Humbaba putting up a hell of a fight. The tablets read:

“Humbaba’s mouth is fire; his roar the floodwater;

 his breath is death. Enlil made him guardian

of the Cedar Forest, to frighten off the mortal

 who would venture there. But who would venture

there?”

Gilgamesh and Enkidu were a perfect and fluid team, one always supporting the other while he attacked. After fighting for a time, Humbaba was beating down on the pair. In desperation, Gilgamesh prayed to his god, the sun god Shamash, who heard his prayer and sent several storms against Humbaba. The monster staggered and Gilgamesh took his moment to attack. Humbaba became wounded and the hero pair prepared to finish him off. However, Humbaba suddenly begged for mercy, telling the two that together they could be so much more powerful than opposing each other. Enkidu, seeing through the ruse, instantly denied it saying they should kill the beast now. Gilgamesh, showing a bit of a lapse in judgement, thought about Humbaba’s offer for a moment. However, with discouragement from Enkidu, Gilgamesh came to his senses and violently killed the demon on the spot. The two beheaded him and took the head as a trophy. Then they moved to the forest and chopped down several cedars. They found several large cedars and felled them all, chopping down much of the forest. They took many of the trees and tied them together into a raft, loading the rest of them. Gilgamesh personally cut down the biggest tree in the forest and fashioned a new gate for Uruk out of it. With their cargo now secured, they headed down the Euphrates river toward Uruk.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu returned to the city as heroes. The people celebrated their accomplishments, amazed at the new gate, cut cedars, and, of course, the monstrous head of Humbaba. After celebrating, Gilgamesh returns to his palace and washes himself. He oils his body and washes the grime from his hair, donning a new robe and his crown. Apparently, he looked so good that the goddess of love and war, Ishtar, looked down from heaven and was amazed by his beauty. Ishtar became overcome with lust, wanting nothing more than that beautiful, hair hunk of muscle called Gilgamesh. She comes down to Gilgamesh, begging him to be her husband. She offers him a chariot made of Lapus Lazali, she says they can live in a house made of Cedar, she even says she can make the various lords and princes of the world offer all their wealth to him. Gilgamesh refuses though, telling the goddess:

“What could I offer

 the queen of love in return, who lacks nothing at all?

Balm for the body? The food and drink of the gods?

 I have nothing to give to her who lacks nothing at all.”

Ishtar is taken aback. Gilgamesh could have just stopped there and been nice about it, but he pressed on further, which is a wise decision when talking to a powerful goddess with apparent emotional impulsion issues. Gilgamesh pointed out how all of Ishtar’s previous lovers had faced horrible pain when she got bored with them and discarded them. He points out Tammuz, who Ishtar made a captive of the underworld and who is mourned every year in festivals, and one of her lovers who she turned into a bird with a broken wing, as well as others.

Ishtar, now furious, went to her father Anu, god of the firmament, and her mother Antum and demanded that she be allowed to release the Bull of Heaven to gore and slay Gilgamesh for what he said to her. Anu, confused by all that she says, points out that Gilgamesh is correct in what he said about her history with men. Ishtar now exploded into a full-blown tantrum. She tells Anu that, if he does not let her have the bull, she will release all the dead from the Underworld to feast upon the living. Anu, who is still amazingly hesitant, reminds Ishtar that the Bull will cause seven years of famine when released. Ishtar assures him that she has made provisions for the people of Uruk to help them survive the famine. That was all Anu had to here and thus he let her have the Bull.

And thus, Ishtar let loose the Bull of Heaven.

The Epic of Gilgamesh: A Study of Heroism Part 1

               There are many wonderous stories of Heroic deeds from ancient times. They tell of great deeds by larger than life figures of mythology. One of the oldest stories known to us in the modern day is the Epic of Gilgamesh.

           One must first understand the world this story takes place in. At this time, the civilized world was still new; few cities existed and the ones that did were relatively small and far between. Uruk, a city central in the story, has been estimated to have had a population of around 80,000 people, a massive number for 4000 years ago yet nothing more than a large town in the modern day. The Epic of Gilgamesh dates to around the year 2100 BCE, at the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur. It contains with it everything needed in the famous Heroes Journey. A quest, a hero, a supernatural aid, and of course, moralistic lessons.

           Gilgamesh was a demigod, his father was half god, a man named Lugalbanda, who is said to have been the second king of Uruk and who ruled for 1200 years, and his mother was a daughter of the great sky god Anu which made her a full time goddess. Also, her name meant “Lady of the wind cows”. Gilgamesh was not only the strongest man on earth but was also the best looking, lucky him. When he first came to humanity, however, he had a rough start. Gilgamesh ruled the city of Uruk with an iron fist, slaying all who spoke against him, forcing the men of the city to constantly compete with him in athletic competitions and build massive work projects, and preforming prima nocta – when a ruler decrees that they must be the ones to consummate a marriage. With this tyranny in their lives, the people of Uruk pleaded for the gods to help them. The god Anu received their pleas and commanded the goddess Aruru to create a being equal in nature to Gilgamesh. She flew down to the Earth and, using a mixture of clay and her own spit, created a being that could rival the great demigod king.

           Fast forward a few weeks, on the outskirts of Uruk, a young trapper boy and his father lived in the forest, hunting to make their living in the world. The young trapper would go out Into the woods every day to check his traps, yet one day he began to notice that many of his traps were broken, as if some being came and freed the animal that had been caught. Not only this, but the boy saw flashes of some great hairy beast in the woods everywhere he went. He would spot the large thing eating grass, suckling from animal teats, and running with the herds. One day, as the boy was at his local watering hole, he looked up from his task and spotted him; an extremely large, hairy naked man. The boy ran in terror, having no idea what the intentions of this wild man were. The boy ran to his father and told him of the situation. The father thought on it and told the boy to go to Uruk and ask the king there what he would do in this situation. The boy went to the city and stood before Gilgamesh. He told the king of the wild man, the immense size and madness of the man, and Gilgamesh thought on the subject. Finally, he gave the boy an answer. He told him to go to the temple and meet one of the temple prostitutes and take her to the wild man. Back then, people believed that women and sex were calming things to a man, thus was Gilgamesh’s idea on how to civilize the wild man. The boy took off to grab the temple prostitute.

           When the boy found the prostitute, a woman named Shamhat, he told her of the plan and brought her back to the watering hole with him. They found the wild man still there, drinking from the waters. When the wild man looked up he saw the beautiful woman and immediately is seduced by her. He takes her and they have sex for seven days straight. That by itself is impressive. Once done, Shamhat takes her leave and goes back to the home of the trapper while the man goes back to the wilderness. When he returns, he quickly realizes something is different. When he runs with the animals, they run away from him. When he tries to eat the grass, it tastes bitter and awful to him. And along with that, he starts to think like a human. He names himself Enkidu and understands now that he is a human. When he goes back to Shamhat and the trapper, they realize that he has changed. Enkidu tells them that he must go back to Uruk with Shamhat, to which she agrees. I like to think the trapper was pretty happy with this idea. And so, the pair take off down the road. After a bit of travel, they run into a couple of shepherds. While giving greetings to the shepherds, Enkidu takes one of their sheep and lifts it above his head, squeezing milk from it. The Shepherds stared in horror at the sight of this giant man with their sheep until Shamhat came and stopped him, showing him how to drink from a cup like a civilized person. This further expresses the ancient Sumerian view that women were peaceful and would civilize men. Once Enkidu finishes his drink, the two talk further to the Shepherds. The Shepherds explain that they are fleeing the land of Gilgamesh, for the king is a tyrant and they describe the hardships he has given to the people. Enkidu hears this and feels a stirring in his soul. He recognizes that name, Gilgamesh. At once, he remembers that he had a purpose, he was created to do one thing:

Enkidu had to kill Gilgamesh.