The Gods In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

The gods in the Epic of Gilgamesh are shown with many human qualities. They were regarded as the all-knowing beings in the universe because of their powers, both physical and magical. Though they had everything they could ever want and need, they would quarrel with one another, think of ways to hurt each other, and hold grudges over trivial arguments. It is because of these arguments that humans were caught in the middle of the turmoil.

When the gods or goddesses liked a particular human, they would often respond to their prayers. The deity of the city of Uruk, Anu, responds to the people’s prayers by asking another deity to send a powerful being to kill the tyrant, Gilgamesh. Listening to their cries, “Let her create the equal of Gilgamesh,

one might in strength, and let him vie with him, so Uruk may be rest!” (Tablet I, pg. 4) Aruru, the goddess of creation, breathed life into Enkidu in order to end Gilgamesh’s tyrant ways.
Another example of gods listening to the prayers of humans is when Shamash speaks from the heavens cheering Gilgamesh on, “Hurry Stand against him, Humbaba must [not enter his forest]” (Tablet IV, pg. 37) which is the first of the several times that Shamash intervenes to help the two men on their impossible quest. This showed that Mesopotamian society believed that gods would help only in times where a human was favored or if the gods just felt generous, in which then the human’s sacrifices were deemed acceptable.
Another defining characteristic of the gods is immortality, which becomes the objective of Gilgamesh's vain strivings later in the Epic.

Mesopotamian religion offers a glimpse into the afterlife, but it gives very little comfort—the dead spend their time being dead. Shamash, the sun god, gives solace to Enkidu in death by reminding him how magnificent his life has been, and even though Enkidu finally accepts his fate, Gilgamesh is terrified by the thought of his own fate. Gilgamesh is resentful that only the gods can live in immortality and admits his fears when Enkidu attempts to dissuade him from their fight with Humbaba. Uta-napishti attempts to show Gilgamesh that death is inevitable for him, being that immortality is ordained by and for the gods. “Man is snapped off like a reed……but the day of Death they do not disclose.” (Table X, pg. 86-87). Mesopotamian culture was focused on the longevity of their city and to ensure entrance into the after-life, though it was not a sure thing, because no one who had died could tell them if their efforts to please the gods paid off. They only hoped that their valiant efforts to live a long prosperous life, pleasing the gods was enough to gain a pathway to heaven.

Uta-napishti’s rendition of the flood reveals how absurd searching for immortality is for Gilgamesh, since death is intertwined within the fabric of creation. However, even though humans die, humanity continues to live on. The lesson that Gilgamesh brings back from his quest is that death is an inevitable and inescapable fact of human

life.
In the Epic, Enkidu says the bull is Humbaba, and their quest of wrestling the bull is Shamash’s blessing, which shows that in Mesopotamian society, a god’s blessing what helps humanity overcome obstacles that they face. Bulls in Mesopotamian society represent an explosive, destructive raw power, and the ability to wrestle a bull suggests their ability to harness the energy of that power. The sixth tablet clearly shows how the humans in the Mesopotamian era weren’t just religious. “After they had slain the Bull of Heaven…..I’d have draped your arms in its guts!” (Table VI pg. 52) These actions taken by Gilgamesh and Enkidu show their devotion to the Sun God, who favors them, while also insulting Ishtar and even rejecting her wishes, effectively earning an enemy in the heavens.
Religious rituals in Mesopotamia involved sacrifices, dream interpretations, magic and many other aspects believed to help the people communicate with the gods. Enkidu’s being and birth symbolized the natural, uncivilized, barbaric state. The gigantic walls of Uruk symbolized the many great feats which humans were able to achieve. Gilgamesh himself represented the strength of humanity along with a will as strong as the gods; “Gilgamesh was his name from the day he was born, two thirds of him god and one third human” (Tablet I, pg. 2).
The world in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Mesopotamian society differs greatly from that of Christian religion. The Christian belief states that that people will receive a judgement in hopes of earning a place in heaven on the premise of good behavior while the people of Mesopotamian society attempt to please the gods with no guarantee in their fate. The Christian God represents what is most powerful and also what is morally best—humans were supposed to imitate him and his ideals especially since they were created in his image, whereas the Gods in Mesopotamia each had their own rules that the people were to follow. “You have assigned to everyone his place….You create the life.” (McKay, pg. 16). The Bible comes from the same region as Gilgamesh, and shares some of the same concepts and events, such as the snake as the enemy who deprived humans of eternal life and in Mesopotamian society, the flood. In both the Bible and Gilgamesh, disobedience to a god, or gods in Mesopotamian society, brings dire consequences; “The gods of the city turned away… The population breathed in fear.” (McKay, pg 17-19).