LECTURE NOTES EPIC OF GILGAMESH I we THINK that Gilgamesh started out as an Gilgamesh culture Mesopotamian a actual historical figure 1 Sumerian king c 2800 2500 BCE pioneer culture of Mesopotamia 2 Unug Akkadians renamed Unug to Uruk 3 Bilgames Akkadians renamed Bilgames to Gilgamesh b legendary mythical figure hero Gilgamesh over time grew to become a legend 1 2 3 divine 1 3 human 2 son of a goddess Ninsun wild cow Ninsun Mesopotamians were very impressed by these wild animals aurochs huge cows b King Lugalbanda king of Uruk mortal when he died he was deified which means when he died people believed he BECAME a god II Epic of Gilgamesh a Standard Version c 1200 650 BCE Babylonian Babylonian sub culture of Akkadian b 12 tablet version c Flood myth Utnapishtim part of tablet 11 what we already read for Exam 1 III Epic of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh the Arrogant King a Gilgamesh son of Ninsun Lugulbanda b also Belit ili Mami Nintu Aruru another name for Mesopo creation goddess 1 forms Gilgamesh s body 2 stature beauty this beauty distinguishes heros from normal humans Gilgamesh is viewed as so much bigger and stronger than every other person c when epic opens 1 Gilgamesh is a grown man 2 don t see his childhood at all only get a glimpse of how he was created d when we meet Gilgamesh 1 already king of Uruk succeeded Lugalbanda 2 built walls with his own hands e Gilgamesh arrogant out of control abuses his people out of control beats up on the men rapes all the women people of Uruk extremely oppressed by Gilgamesh f so in response people of Uruk pray for relief Anu Anu sky god hugely important Mesopotamian god IV Epic of Gilgamesh Enkidu a Aruru Belit ili creates Enkidu 1 equal of Gilgamesh hero s second self Enkidu created to balance and calm Gilgamesh compare to a hero s best friend in a movie generally best friend dies 2 lump of clay wilderness this is how Aruru makes Enkidu 3 Enkidu hairy wild uncivilized reflecting the fact that he was formed IN the wilderness animalistic compare to Atrahasis b Enkidu 1 loves animals runs with them identifies the animals animals accept him 2 hunters traps Enkidu disables the traps because he wants to save the animals one hunter becomes ANGRY with this he seeks advice from his dad c advice the father gives to hunter 1 Go to Gilgamesh 2 get prostitute d Shamhat prostitute important figure possibly attached to the temple of Ishtar goddess of sexual desire e Shamhat wait for Enkidu at watering place when she sees Enkidu coming lets loose her garments and opens her legs 1 they sleep together for 6 days 7 nights 2 hunter s trap successful f Enkidu changed after sleeping with Shamhat 1 rejected by animals used to be able to run and keep up with them can t anymore 2 wise civilized having sex made him more human like and less animalistic Shamhat tells Enkidu where she s from Uruk and tells him that there is a powerful king named Gilgamesh who needs a companion best friend Enkidu hears that Gilgamesh plans to defile a virgin bride before her husband gets to becomes appalled and decides to go to Uruk to stop this g Enkidu goes to Uruk 1 Gilgamesh virgin wedding 2 Gilgamesh and Enkidu wrestle Enkidu stops Gilgamesh from having sex with the virgin 3 become friends V Epic of Gilgamesh Humbaba a Gilgamesh proposes quest to conquer the demon monster Humbaba b Humbaba giant protector of Pine Forest Ellil apotropaic face wards of evil because he s so ugly c Ninsun help from Shamash Gilg s mom extremely scared for her son to take on this task seeks the sun goddess d Humbaba taunts Gilgamesh e Gilgamesh prays to Shamash asks for help against Humbaba f Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight Humbaba 1 Shamash 4 winds 3 Humbaba mercy 3 Enkidu No mercy Hum tells Gilg take all the trees you want just don t kill me encourages Gilg to kill Hum before Elil finds out intervenes Elil placed Hum in the forest and therefore would be pissed if someone killed him 4 Gilgamesh kills Humbaba Humbaba announces curse on them as he s dying Neither one of them shall outlive his friend Gilgamesh and Enkidu shall never become old men VI Epic of Gilgamesh Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven a Gilgamesh cleans up robe crown after he defeats the bull cleans his hair weapons etc b Ishtar wants him wants to sleep with him c Gilgamesh 1 rejects her 2 her lovers unlucky cf Aphrodite d Ishtar is upset about rejection complains to father Anu 1 asks her dad to borrow the Bull of Heaven Anu lets her borrow it sends bull down 2 begins destorying the city raise dead eat living 3 bull vs Uruk 4 Enkidu conquers bull grabs bull by tail swings it kills it 5 Gilgamesh bull sword VI Epic of Gilgamesh Death of Enkidu a killed both Humbaba Bull of Heaven too far overstepped their limits they have limits as humans and they crossed them b Enkidu s prophetic dream 1 assembly of gods Anu Ellil Shamash they all agree that one of them must die and that ONE Enkidu Shamash agrees even tho she sent winds to help them kill Humbaba 2 one must die Enkidu c Enkidu gets very ill 1 curses Shamhat for taking him from the wilderness 2 Shamash my Shamhat Shamash comes down to Enkidu and tells him do not curse my Shamhat reminds Enkidu of the positive things that Shamhat enabled him to do become civilized meet his best friend Gilgamesh shows the importance of this prostitute 3 Enkidu removes curse d shortly after this Enkidu dies e Gilgamesh distraught over the death of his best friend 1 asks all the people of Uruk to mourn Enkidu create statue for him have funeral 2 Gilgamesh animal skins wilderness still not mourned enough goes into wild and roams wilderness VII Epic of Gilgamesh Utnapishtim a Gilgamesh wants immortality doesn t want to have to die like Enkidu has heard that ONE person has achieved immortality Utnapishtim c comes across alewife beer seller Siduri Find Urshanabi b goes to find Utnapishtim Siduri woman selling the beer asks her to help him find Utnapishtim she tells him to first find Urshanabi d Gilgamesh travels through mountains darkness 1 at earth s edge 2 underworld place west was associated with death because the culture hadn t explored that far and because the sun sets in the west e Urshanabi ferryman across sea 1 cf Charon River Styx 2 cf river Ocean Okeanos f Gilgamesh asks Utnaphistim immortality finally gets to Utnapishtim and asks how to be immortal g Utnapishtim tells of Flood tells him how he only got that way because of the huge flood tells him he probably can t become immortal but might have a chance if stays awake 6
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