Ancient Mythology Exam 3 Study Guide Epic of Gilgamesh people of Mesopotamia that told mythic stories about a king of Unug named Background Reading 6 Old Babylonian Sumerian Bilgames Time of active scribes and earlier Sumerian texts Standard Version c 2000 1600 EOG in which an author can actually be attached to it Epic of Gilgamesh Bull of Heaven Unug Uruk actual bull that Sumerian for Uruk Akkadian city in which Gilgamesh Gilgamesh defeats once Ishtar releases it on him rules In southern Mesopotamia Second self and Enkidu Typically dies before the hero equal to a hero Gilgamesh Characters Gilgamesh actual historical figure Sumerian king King of Akkadian Uruk Legendary mythical figure hero 2 3 divine 1 3 human Perfect body beautiful Arrogant out of control Named from birth for fame Worshipped Goddess Lofty wild cow Lugalbanda King but was deified so that is why Gilgamesh s mother Gilgameshs s father Ninsun Gilgamesh is 2 3 divine Belit ili creator goddess Forms Gilgamesh s body perfectly C f Mami Nintu Creates Enkidu after people pray to creator goddess him to make someone to compare Aruru Mashu mountain at edges of earth Where Shamash rises west Underworld Ur Sumerian City Great Lyre Ring Composition Cemetery in center walls treasures and riches Uruk s walls to Uruk s with Gilgamesh out of a lump of clay and wilderness Enkidu created to rival and match the Humbaba giant protector of the Pine energies of Gilgamesh Animalistic wild Shamhat Prostitute Shamhat Prostitute Lures in Enkidu Forest Ellil protector the storm god made him the goddess of sexual desire and war Ishtar Tries to sleep with Gilgamesh Shamash Helps Gilgamesh fight Humbaba by sun god sending in winds alewife beer seller who runs a guards Mashu Scorpion man Siduri tavern Tells Gilgamesh to cross sea to Utnapishtim Urshanabi Gilgamesh across the sea ferryman that helps Utnapishtim thinks will help him gain immortality flood hero who Gilgamesh Epic of Gilgamesh Culture Babylonian Type of work poem Date of work c 1200 BCE 12 tablets Language of work Akkadian in cuneiform script Plot Summary Gilgamesh and the Arrogant King Enkidu Aruru created Enkidu out of a lump of clay and wilderness Enkidu is a The story begins with Gilgamesh as a grown man no childhood Gilgamesh builds walls he built the city Gilgamesh is out of control he goes out and beats up his own subjects and rapes women He would hold his head high he had no rival and people would stand when he entered a room He was so out of control that the people of Uruk prayed for relief You Araru you have created mankind Now create someone for him to match the ardour of his energies Let them be regular rivals and let Uruk be allowed peace hairy uncivilized wild being who lives and eats with the animals Enkidu foils the hunters traps to save his animals Father to hunter Father there was a young man who came from the mountain he eats vegetation with cattle he kept pulling out the traps that I laid he will not allow me to work So the father tells the hunter to go to Gilgamesh and get a prostitute She must take off her clothes and reveal her attractions He will see her and go close to her Then his cattle who have grown up in open country with him will become alien to him Shamhat the prostitute goes to the watering place where animals must go and awaits Enkidu They sleep together for 6 days and 7 nights Now that he has slept with a human he is rejected by the animals Enkidu has stripped his body was too clean had become wiser Enkidu is now more wise and civilized and more recognizably human Shamhat tells Enkidu that Gilgamesh dreamt of him of someone that is equal to him Enkidu goes to Uruk because Shamhat said he is a god now and to match his strength with Gilgamesh In Uruk I shall be stronger Gilgamesh was to sleep with a virgin before her wedding night but Enkidu wrestles with him to stop him Gilgamesh just barely beats Enkidu Gilgamesh s match was met They become friends Gilgamesh proposes quest to Enkidu to go fight Humbaba heroic quest myth to achieve fame and gain experiences Ninsun asks Shamash to help her son fight Humbaba Humbaba taunts Gilgamesh by saying that Enkidu is so small and that they have no chance Gilgamesh prays to Shamash and Shamash gave them advice Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight Humbaba Shamash sends in 4 winds to immobilize Humbaba Humbaba tells Gilgamesh that if he spares him Gilgamesh can cut down all the trees from his pine forest But Enkidu says No mercy and to do it before Ellil hears Enkidu knows it is wrong because they re doing it behind Ellil s back Gilgamesh kills Humbaba with a deathbed curse Neither one of them shall outlive his friend Gilgamesh and Enkidu shall never become old men Humbaba Utnapishtim Death of Enkidu Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven Gilgamesh cleans up dirt and Humbaba s blood Humbaba Bull of Heaven Enkidu and Gilgamesh have pushed Gilgamesh wants immortality because he can t handle the death of and puts on a robe and a crown Ishtar wants to sleep with Gilgamesh but Gilgamesh rejects her because her lovers were all unlucky And how about me You will love me and then treat me just like them Ishtar complains to father Anu divine council myth She wants to borrow the Bull of Heaven but her father says no She says she will raise the dead to eat the living if she doesn t get it Enkidu grabs the bull by the tail Gilgamesh takes a sword and kills the bull by stabbing in the back of the neck their moral standings over Enkidu has a prophetic dream of an assembly of gods that say one of them must die Enkidu falls ill and curses Shamhat because it is the prostitute s fault for seducing him and taking him from the animals Shamash yells My Shamhat Enkidu removes the curse Enkidu dies Gilgamesh is distraught and all of Uruk mourns statue funeral which doesn t help Gilgamesh s grief Gilgamesh leaves Uruk and takes off his robe puts on animal skins and goes to the wilderness to get away his friend He goes to Utnapishtim to get immortality by surviving a flood even though that isn t true Utnapishtim lives at the edge of the earth under world type place and Gilgamesh goes to see him katabasis myth 3 Step Process to Utnapishtim 1 Scorpion man Gilgamesh comes to Mashu mountains where sun rises Shamash The scorpion man and his wife greet Gilgamesh and tell him Mashu is impossible to enter because you have to be dead to enter the underworld but Gilgamesh isn t an ordinary mortal man Gilgamesh passes through Mashu darkness gemstones The scorpion
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