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Analysis essay on the epic of gilgamesh
Similarities and differences between gilgamesh and enkidu
The role of women in the epic of Gilgamesh
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The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that revolves around the companionship between the two heroes, Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Gilgamesh is a semi-god who is also the king of Uruk. As he has no equal, his power leads him to become corrupt. He becomes a greedy and cruel king who takes what he pleases without care. The gods set out to create an equally impressive man that could balance and counter Gilgamesh’s power. They created Enkidu, a wild man made of clay. At first they fought, but then they became inseparable friends. Gilgamesh and Enkidu would go onto to have adventures in which they would test their limits and brave the terrors of Ancient Mesopotamia. Throughout the Epic of Gilgamesh, the influence of women on Gilgamesh and Enkidu was visible,
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a historic story of the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh. The story depicts the short lived friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The story begins as Shamat the harlot seduces Enkidu and convinces him to go to the city of Uruk and meet Gilgamesh. From that moment on, the two were very close. They planned a trip to the forest of cedars to defeat the monster known as Humbaba so that Gilgamesh could show his power to the citizens of Uruk. However, Enkidu tried “vainly to dissuade” (18) Gilgamesh in going to the forest. Despite Enkidu’s plead, the two continued on their voyage to the forest where Humbaba lives. Once they arrived, they found the monster and killed him.
The epic begins with the men of Uruk describing Gilgamesh as an overly aggressive ruler. "'Gilgamesh leaves no son to his father; day and night his outrageousness continues unrestrained; And he is the shepherd of Uruk, the enclosure; He is their shepherd, and yet he oppresses them. Strong, handsome, and wise. . . Gilgamesh leaves no virgin to her lover.'"(p.18, Line 23-27) The citizens respect him, but they resent his sexual and physical aggression, so they plead to the gods to alleviate some of their burden. The gods resolve to create an equal for Gilgamesh to tame him and keep him in line. This equal, Enkidu, has an immediate impact on Gilgamesh. When they first meet, both having never before met a man equal in stature, they brawl. "They grappled with each other, Snorting like bulls; They shattered the doorpost, that the wall shook."(p.32, lines 15-18) In giving Gilgamesh a real battle, Enkidu instantly changes him; having this equal gives Gilgamesh a sense of respect for another man. These two men fighting each other creates a serious mess, but they both end up without animosity toward the other.
About 2700 years ago there lived a king by the name of Gilgamesh who ruled the city of Uruk in Mesopotamia now known to us as modern day Iraq. Parts of his life are written on clay tablets believed to be the oldest existing written story of a man’s life. (XI). “The epic of Gilgamesh”, is the story of his quest for eternal life. In this paper I will be writing about the influence that the women in his life have played in his quest.
Before the coming of Enkidu, Gilgamesh was a man of great power. A being for which there was no equal match, Gilgamesh boasted about his overwhelming glory and power. However, his arrogance was accompanied with an extensive abuse of power, which pushed the city of Uruk into a state of rage. Still Gilgamesh felt no despair; he lived to display to others his majestic power. The first sign of a sincere change in Gilgamesh arises as a result of the birth of Enkidu. From the beginning, a powerful link developed between man and woman. The wise Ninsun said to Gilgamesh,"You will love him as a woman and he will never forsake you". Gilgamesh had finally met his match, a friend that would serve as his life-long companion. Upon the seal of this great friendship, Gilgamesh began to change his selfish ways. Nevertheless, he shared with Enkidu the luxuries of kindness. Setting aside his great pride and power, Gilgamesh had opened a place in his heart, and in his sumptuous life, for his beloved brother.
In past decades there was a huge gap between men and women. Women were considered as a limited role such as; under sexual habits. After many years, obviously, many things have changed. Society respects women, give her rights and more independent. Recently, she has an significant role in many ways such as; in positive and negative ways. Every women can make and change the whole society because she can do what she wants to with no difficulties and inequalities. To be more specific, in our text “ The Epic of Gilgamesh” plays an important role of gender roles and shows how they are so different from each other. When we read the text it was like only focusing on Gilgamesh and Enkidu and they were males.
Adultery and other sexual acts are often in greek mythology. The Gods sometimes sleep with many women, have many wives, have illegitimate children or all of the above. However, the women are often subordinate to their husbands or the males in their life. Greek mythology is very patriarchal in the sense that the men can do what they please while the women do not have that same freedom. The representation of women in greek mythology suggests that an ancient greek view on female sexuality was that women should not be promiscuous or express/act on their sexual desires, but simply fulfill the desires of men.
In the time of The Epic of Gilgamesh, around 2000 BC, women were not respected, or acknowledged for things other than pleasure, household issues, or things which men were too lazy to accomplish. This issue was presented many times throughout the novel as some men tended to be rash and stubborn, only following their own desires. Gilgamesh, being a young king, was very rash in his decisions and indeed followed what he desired. Had the King ever decided to listen to words of wisdom from a woman, rather than pushing them aside to pursue what he wanted; he would have saved himself from wasted time and a failed journey.
The women in The epic of Gilgamesh play an unavoidable and yet a significant role in Gilgamesh’s process of maturity and the quest his quest for immorality. In The epic of Gilgamesh we are introduced to a few female Characters; Ishtar the goddess of love and war, Ninsun Gilgamesh’s mother , Arura the goddess of birth and fertility, Shamhat the prostitute of Uruk, Sinduri the tavern keeper and the wife of Ut-Napushtim. Everyone of these women played a significant role in Gilgamesh’s life, whether it was in his coming of age process ( maturity) or his quest for immorality. There are not many female characters in The Epic of Gilgamesh compared to the men. It is evident that the role of women was indeed apparent in Gilgamesh’s change of character
The Odyssey and Gilgamesh share a number of interesting pieces to their epics such as heroism, tragedy, and battles. The Odyssey and Gilgamesh fit well into the idea of epics. In both epics, there are numerous battles won that show the true heroism of the protagonists. Unfortunately, in Gilgamesh, we see the suffering and death of one main protagonist showing us tragedy. One similarity they share that is out of the ordinary is the women in these tales. There are numerous women in both of these epics and there is one thing they all have in common which is the power they have over men. Many of the women in these epics either use their bodies to deceive and distract men or they use mind games. When these men fall for the women, their mind plays tricks on them because they are so caught up in what they are seeing and hearing that they do not realize that their decisions may be swayed. The epics portray women as objects that use their sexuality, charm, and wisdom to pursue the men to make a decision with an outcome favorable to them.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic tale of a man who is held above all others. In the text, Gilgamesh if often said to be “two-thirds god and one-third man”. The Gods felt Gilgamesh had too much power, so they created another named Enkidu, who served as a brother, a protector, and an equal force or rival to Gilgamesh. In Tablet X the “one third man” portion of Gilgamesh is seen clawing out from his god-like body trying to escape the coils of death. The death of Enkidu, his beloved friend struck the core of Gilgamesh, leaving him anguish. Gilgamesh meets a few individuals in this tablet and they allow us to see exactly how much the death of his dear friend, Enkidu, effected his view of his morality.
In the epic of Gilgamesh the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is very complex and necessary. Their friendship brings animal, human, and god together. Gilgamesh is changed by his friendship with Enkidu. He becomes a better person and a better ruler because of Enkidu. Enkidu’s life is enriched because of his friendship with Gilgamesh. Enkidu was created to balance out Gilgamesh, and he accomplishes this goal. The two men are very close, and love each other deeply. Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu benefit from their friendship.
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.
Females played a major role in Ancient Sumerian society. From the female characters in The Epic of Gilgamesh, it is possible to glimpse how women were treated in Ancient Sumeria. From the different positions women held in The Epic of Gilgamesh, and how female sexuality was portrayed, it can be inferred that the Ancient Sumerians treated women differently than the world’s historical treatment of women around that time.
The epic begins with Gilgamesh terrorizing the people of Uruk. They call out to the sky god Anu for help. In response Anu tells the goddess of creation, Aruru, to make an equal for Gilgamesh. Thus Aruru created Enkidu, a brute with the strength of dozens of wild animals. After being seduced by a harlot from the temple of love in Uruk, Enkidu loses his strength and wildness yet gains wisdom and understanding. The harlot offers to take him into Uruk where Gilgamesh lives, the only man worthy of Enkidu's friendship. After a brief brawl the two become devoted friends.
We live in the 20th Century-- we have new technology coming out everyday. New trends sparking up, tastier treats, to enjoy and more things to do, we even have a new device that replaces your legs so you don’t have to walk anywhere ever again; why is that women are made out to be inferior to men? In the short readings, Images of Women in the Gilgamesh Epic, by Rivkah Harris, and, The Marginalization of the Goddess, by Tikva Frymer- Kensky the roles that women such as Ninsun, Shamhat and Siduri are discussed, taken into consideration and applied to figure out their significance in the epic.