Title: Gilgamesh Stephen Hagin Kennesaw State University
1GilgameshStephen HaginKennesaw State
University
2The Real Gilgamesh?
- King Gilgamesh is believed to have reigned in
Sumer around 2700 to 2500 BCE. - Legends state that Gilgamesh ruled for 126
years. - Gilgamesh was the son of the goddess Ninsun and
Priest Kullab.
3The Gilgamesh Cycle
- Gilgamesh and the Halub-tree (or Gilgamesh,
Enkidu, and the Netherworld) - Gilgamesh and Huwawa (or Gilgamesh and the Land
of the Living) - Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven
- The Death of Gilgamesh
- The Flood
- The Descent of Inanna (or Ishtars Journey to
the Netherworld)
4Sumerfarmers ? 4000 BCE Babyloniaherders
? 2500 BCE
5The Fertile Crescent
6Alexander PopeEssay on Man from Epistle II
Of the Nature and State of Man with Respect to
Himself, as an Individual
7KNOW then thyself, presume not God to scan,The
proper study of mankind is man.Placd on this
isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise,
and rudely great
8He hangs between in doubt to act, or restIn
doubt to deem himself a God, or beastIn doubt
his mind or body to preferBorn but to die, and
reasning but to err
9Created half to rise, and half to fallGreat
lord of all things, yet a prey to allSole
judge of truth, in endless error hurldThe
glory, jest, and riddle of the world!
10 ? ? SOCIETY NATURE
God beast mind body act
rest reason ignorance thought
passion lord prey GILGAMESH ENKIDU
11Gilgamesh as 2/3 God
12 ? ? Gilgamesh Enkidu
Society Nature
13What is a marriage? The myth tells you what it
is. Its the reunion of the separated duad.
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (5)
14Who Is Enkidu?
- Enki Enkidu
- EN god of EN god of
- KI the land KI the land
- DU that is good
- Enki god of water Enkidu keeper of the forest
- (Both are ? figures with ? functionality)
15 The Enkidu ExperimentThe gods seek harmony
and balance ? ? Gilgamesh? ?Enkidu
Society Nature
16Enkidu Judged by Society
- The hunter (trapper) calls Enkidu a murderous
youth (55) - Degrading names often used the Gutians were
referred to as dogs and monkeys in The
Cursing of Agade
17Intermediaries
- dæmon The original word daemon is defined as an
intermediary between gods and man. - Typical incarnations serpent, scorpion,
gatekeeper, woman
18Shamhat as Intermediary ? ?
Gilglmesh Shamhat ?Enkidu
Society Nature
19Enkidu Changes Gil RemainsEnkidu has now
become profound Enkidu who has become like a
god (56). ? ? Gilgamesh
? Enkidu
20Enkidu as Tool of SocietyGilgameshs dream of
Enkidu as a copper axe. ?
? Gilgamesh and
Enkidu
21Enkidu Grows Weaker
- Enkidu, however, is considered to have grown
weak, for wisdom was within him (this phrasing
can be found in the N. K. Sandars prose
translation). - Enkidu cries at the thought of Humbaba.
22Humbaba as the New Enemy ? ?
Gilgamesh Humbaba ?
Enkidu Society
Nature Uruk Land of the Living
23Humbaba as EvilHumbaba, the battering ram,
is described by the elders of Uruk as a creature
who is the terror of the people and whose
breath is death and whose actions are evil,
making him an object of hate.
24 25ExtispacyHumbabas face resembles the gnarled
intestines of the sacrificial animal, used for
divination.
26 ? ? Gil. Enkidu Humbaba
Shamash Society
Nature Uruk Land of the Living
27Humbabas Seven Cloaks
- Cloaks Holy me
- ? ?
- Gil. Enkidu Humbaba
- Shamash
- 7 7
28The Power of Seven
- Shamash, the sun god and god of justice, conjures
up the 13 winds that restrain Humbaba because
they blow at him from different directions - Shamash tells the characters that "Humbaba will
not be clothed in seven cloaks" and that he will
be "wearing only one six are taken off" (73)
29Humbaba Weakened
- Cloaks Holy me
- ? ?
- Gil. Enkidu Humbaba
- Shamash
- 76 13 7-6 1
-
30Humbaba Compromised
- Cloaks Holy me
- ? ?
- Gil. Enkidu Humbaba
- Shamash (sun) Ellil (wind)
- 76 13 7-6 1
-
31Sun God as Societal Judge
32 ? ? SOCIETY NATURE Aries
Taurus Gil ( Enkidu) (Enkidu) society
s law Humbaba lumber Land of
Living Shamash Ishtar civilization
Bull of Heaven
33Heroic Journeys
- Campbell defines the stages of the heroic journey
that begins when something has been taken or if
the hero lacks the experiences available or
permitted to the members of his society (POM,
152) - Three stages
- - departure
- - fulfillment
- - return
34Heroic Journeys, cont.
- Two types (both POM, 152)
- physical the hero performs a courageous act in
battle or saves a life - spiritual the hero learns to experience the
supernormal range of human spiritual life and
then comes back with a message
35Heroic Journeys, cont.
- Also, the heros journey
- can be either voluntary or involuntary
- can be proper or false
- is often performed by the male figure (males tend
to venture forth from the home condition
Inanna is an exception)
36The Journey East
37The Scorpion Men
38Scorpion Men as Intermediaries?
? death life/rebirth
Gil ? Scorpion Men Enkidu Society
Nature Uruk Land
of the Far-Away
39Societys Message Ignored
- "You will not find the
- eternal life you seek.
- There is no permanence.
40Scorpion Men solar guardiansSiduri divine
wine makerUrshanabi ferrymanUtnapishtim
immortal man
41? flowerserpentwaterNature
42All things must die, it is but truth to say.It
cannot profit any soul aliveAgainst this
everlasting law to strive.
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knights Tale, Part IV
43GilgameshUrshanabi, this plant is a plant to
cure a crisis.With it a man may win the breath
of life.Its name shall be An old man grows
into a young man. The Epic of
Gilgamesh, Tablet XI
44Gilgamesh old man, young manbilga
elder, ancestormesh young man, hero
45 ? ? knowledge Gilgamesh
experience Society Nature
46The Conference of Birds Farid Ud-din Attar
12th century Persian myth
47There in the Simorghs radiant face they
sawThemselves, the Simorgh of the world with
aweThey gazed, and dared at last to
comprehendThey were the Simorgh at the
journeys end.
48They ask (but inwardly they make no sound)The
meaning of these mysteries that confoundTheir
puzzled ignorance how is it trueThat we is
not distinguished here from you?
49And silently their shining Lord repliesI am
a mirror set before your eyes,And all who come
before my splendor seeThemselves, their own
unique reality
50Though you have struggled, wandered, traveled
far,It is yourselves you see and what you
are. Farid Ud-din Attar, The
Conference of Birds (12th c.)
51The God is within you. You yourself are your
creator. Joseph Campbell, The Power of
Myth (202)
52We always think in terms of opposites. But God,
the ultimate, is beyond the pairs of opposites
. Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
(57)
53Gods are magnified dreams, and dreams are
manifestations in image form of the energies of
the body in conflict with each other.
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (46)
54Enlightenment Harmonize the Masculine and
FeminineThe secret cause of all suffering is
mortality itself, which is the prime condition of
life. It cannot be denied if life is to be
affirmed. Joseph Campbell,
The Power of Myth (xi)