Inanna And Gilgamesh Essay

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Nature is a prominent motif in both the tale of Inanna and Dumuzi and The Epic of Gilgamesh. It is used to represent both life and death in both pieces. However, whereas both texts also associate life with sexual intercourse, the former also associates death with change and the latter with immortality. It can be said that the two chose nature and sex for life as both are creators of life, nature vis-à-vis plants and sex vis-à-vis humans. Change and immortality are somewhat opposing, the former suggesting irregularity and the latter an unchanging state. The ways in which the themes of life and death are evoked demonstrates the different focusses of the pieces.
The tale of Inanna and Dumuzi associates life with nature and the act of sex. In the beginning of the text, Inanna plants a tree and watches it grow, demonstrating the life of nature. This link between nature and life is emphasized by later having a snake settle in “the roots of the tree” (p.40). The roots are the lifeline of the tree, demonstrating the life of nature. While having sex, Inanna and Dumuzi use words linked to agriculture, such as when Dumuzi “watered her womb” (p.49), as one would water plants, or when Inanna asks her husband to “plow [her] vulva” (p.47), as one would plow a field. There is a clear link established between sex and nature, and as …show more content…

In the beginning of the text, it is sais the “seeking life” (Tablet I) is associated with the “ocean”, “seas”, and “sun” (Tablet I), all elements of nature. From the start, life is connected to nature. Enkidu’s “six days and seven nights … [of] intercourse” (tablet I) represent life in collaboration with change; he is finding a new life by becoming a new being, a civilized human rather than a wild animal. Thus, change is associated with life through the act of sexual intercourse. Similarly to the story of Inanna, this text uses nature and sex, both creators of life, to evoke life as a

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