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.