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Character traits of enkidu and gilgamesh
How are gender roles expressed in the epic of gilgamesh
How are gender roles expressed in the epic of gilgamesh
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Gender Roles in the Epic of Gilgamesh
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role. While women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of humans, they still had tremendous influence. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not play a necessarily minor role. With all the women that play a role in the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender is a topic worthy of discussion.
The obvious role of men in the Epic of Gilgamesh is that of the position of power. Anu, a male, is the most powerful God. Furthermore, not only is Gilgamesh the king of Uruk, but he is also two-thirds divine, which gives him unparalleled power, at least in the human world. This is evident in the way he rules. "By day and by night his tyranny grows harsher... lets no daughter go free to her mother... lets no girl go free to her bridegroom." (George, I, 69-75).
Women, on the other hand, play many more roles than men in this classic. Take Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh, for example. She plays the role of the loving, caring mother and also that of the wise counselor that provides guidance. From the very beginning of the book, Gilgamesh seeks guidance from his mother. When he has two dreams about an axe and a meteor, full of concern, he seeks the advice of his mother. At this point, she plays the role of the guiding, comforting mother by analyzing his dreams and relating the two objects to something good, Enkidu, that will soon come into Gilgamesh's life. "My son, the axe you saw is a friend...and I, Ninsun, I shall make him your equal. A mighty comrade will come to you, and be his friend's saviour..." (George, I, 288-291).
After Enkidu and Gilgamesh become the best of fr...
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... friend and brother, must die for this act. Clearly, Ishtar's role in the Epic of Gilgamesh was a very powerful one in which she manipulated both men and gods to get what she wanted, in one way or another.
It can easily be seen that while men were considered to be the most powerful and wisest humans and gods, women had the power to significantly influence these men. From Uta-napishti's wife who convinced Uta-napishti to tell Gilgamesh about the plant that would make him young again to the examples mentioned above, several women were put in roles that had important effects on the men they encountered. Of course, this is not much different from the society we live in today. While many may believe that women have still not reached the point of true equality, it is hard to say that they are inferior and the significance of their roles in society is undeniable.
First in Gilgamesh women are really only talked about when Gilgamesh or Enkidu are using them for sexual interactions. In the beginning Gilgamesh would go around and just do whatever he wanted to the women in his city. He was disrespecting them and not caring about them in anyway what so ever. Another thing that added to the disrespect of women was when Enkidu was introduced to Shamhat (12). In the story she was
Both genders in The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh have a specific role to play. Women support and guide the men in the epic poems which also portrays them as wise beings. However, men are seen as superior to women and must show their strength and authority over others, even using women to accomplish their
A woman was not seen as being equal to a man. This is clear in the laws dealing with marriage. Women were contractually obligated to remain with their husbands only, while their husbands were permitted to have a mistress or second wife. If a woman was caught with another man, she would be drowned (“The Code of Hammurabi”). Another thing that shows that women were not equal to men is the fact that they could be sold into slavery by their husbands at any time. Women did, however, have some rights such as the right to own property and the right to inherit and pass down that property. They also played very important roles in society. Some of these roles included shop owners, bakers, or scribes (Judge and Langdon,
That being said, women were extremely limited in their role in society. First of all, women were expected to be homemakers. By homemaker, I mean the women w... ... middle of paper ... ...ay."
Homer's great epic, "The Odyssey" was written several thousands of years ago, a time in human history when men played the dominant role in society. The entire structure of civilization was organized and controlled by men; It was an accepted fact that women held an inferior position in society. Society was constructed as if women were around only to serve the men. The involvement of women in any circumstance was almost completely dominated by what the men allowed. The women were valued in society, only they were not given important roles or any decision making power. It is as if they held no power in the ancient Greek society. This is why Homer's Odyssey is very unique, Homer put women into roles that were previously unheard of for women to possess. Unlike in The Iliad, where women served merely as an object to men; female characters of Odyssey are distinctive because they possess personality, and have intricate relationships with the male characters of the Odyssey. By characterizing the women in "The Odyssey", a reader may come to some conclusions about the role of women in this epic. Along with the belief that women played a secondary role to men in society, the female characters displayed certain traits that could not be exhibited by the men. Athena demonstrated the most intelligence and valor out of all the characters in "The Odyssey." The male characters play the most significant roles in this epic, but without the support of the females in "The Odyssey", Odysseus would not have made it through his journey.
Like in Gilgamesh and the Iliad, women help encourage and influence the protagonists to be the heroes and protectors they are meant to be. Adventures and wars
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story of Gilgamesh, a man who was two-thirds god that was saved by companionship. Gilgamesh was a cruel and careless king, who spent his time raping women, exhausting citizens, and conquering foes and foreign lands until he met, fought and was guided by his great friend and soul mate, Enkidu. With the help of Enkidu and his influence, he learned compassion as well as wisdom and integrity, and eventually Gilgamesh became a great and fair king. Though the story focuses mainly on Gilgamesh and his friendship with Enkidu, there are several roles played by women that help to make and move the story along. Without these important women who show great strength and feminine qualities despite being oppressed by the patriarchy, Gilgamesh would not have been the great king he was meant to be.
Mortal and immortal women inspire many of the events that take place in The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh. For example, without the harlot, who “tames” Enkidu, the story of Gilgamesh would not be, as we know it. A chapter entitled, “Women in Ancient Epic” from A Companion to Ancient Epic by Helene Foley compares Ishtar in Gilgamesh to Calypso and Circe in The Odyssey. By comparing the role of immortal and mortal women in both The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh, one will be able to discern how the feminine figures have played a pivotal role in shaping the destiny of the epic heroes, as well as, understanding the interrelation amongst the female figures of both ancient epics.
The struggle for women to play an important role in history can be traced from the ancient Mesopotamians to the 1900’s. There has been a continuous battle for women to gain equal rights and to be treated equally in all aspects of life. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest recorded account of the roles of women and their importance in a functional society. Women have been viewed as anything from goddesses to unwanted servants throughout history, regardless of a variety of changes in rulers, religions, and simply time periods. The Epic of Gilgamesh might lead one to consider the roles of women a small and insignificant part compared to the man's role.
In "The Epic of Gilgamesh" it seem like the women have all the power. The women have great influences on the men. In "Gilgamesh" sex plays an important role, and it also seems that sex has a hold on Gilgamesh and also Enkidu - not just a hold on them, but more of an addiction throughout the story of Gilgamesh. In the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh has a great lust that leaves "no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of noble men. To me, the lust in Gilgamesh's heart makes him a very selfish person. I think what makes Gilgamesh a selfish person is because the gods made him perfect, he was beautiful and strong as a savage bull and everyone feared Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh knew he had power so he abused it, because no men could bear Gilgamesh's arms. Also since Gilgamesh was king of Uruk, of which he had built the great city walls, he took what he wanted.
In the beginning of the story we see Gilgamesh as a womanizer. His submissive behavior is driven by his own self-sufficiency. When Enkidu forces him to see the reality of his own vanity, Gilgamesh withdraws from his obsession and embarks on a new quest with Enkidu; one that will fill his other ego, his masculinity.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, there are many complex characters. Every character involved in the story has their own personality and traits.
In considering the relationship between the meanings of myths and their representation of women, we learned that the major role in shaping the narratives was played by men. Myths reveal to us the experiences of women living in the patriarchal society and we gain the symbol value accorded to women and we come to realize what the term "Woman" meant to the ancient Greek man. Reading through the various stories on Goddesses and queens, monsters and more. Princesses, we learn that there are three major levels of women in Greek mythology. The first level is composed of the divine beings known as the goddesses.
Women's roles in the Iliad and Odyssey the seem to differ from the roles of men. Women were depicted as possessions to the men. Athena seems to stand out the most when it comes to both of these books: Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. Not only was Athena the goddess of wisdom and war, she played the role of the protector. Athena is one of the main female characters that truly show up throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Women in The Epic of Gilgamesh plays a very significant role. Women were not considered as the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of all humans but they still had great influence over others around them, at that time of Mesopotamia. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu were men, women did not necessarily play a minor role. The roles of women in The Epic of Gilgamesh were mixed. Women are represented as harlots (Shamhat), wise (Ninsun) and as gods (Ishtar. In the epic of Gilgamesh, it can be seen that while men were considered to be the most powerful and wisest humans and gods, women had the power to significantly influence these men. Several women mentioned and described in the Epic of Gilgamesh carried roles that had important effects on the men they encountered. One woman I found very interesting is Ishtar, the goddess of love and fertility. I will discuss how women were being portrayed in the story using her character to support my analysis and how the creators of this epic portrayed women in Mesopotamia through this character.