Epic of Gilgamesh and other Mesopotamian Myths

Question 1

EoG: Which empire is this a foundational text for?

Answer 1

Babylon (Written in Akkadian)

Question 2

EoG: When was the text created and in what form?

Answer 2

2100 BC - Written in Cunneiform (British Museum)

Question 3

EoG: What sort of civilisation was it written for?

Answer 3

Urban cities ruled by kings, supported by local agriculture.

Astrology, trade goods.

Question 4

EoG: What’s the significance of it being an oral story?

Answer 4

• Makes it more memorable, entertaining, educating

- Stories can be subtly changed depending on the nature of audience.

Question 5

How can Epic be responded to?

Answer 5

• As Literature
• As anthropology, how a civilisation is run.
• As philosophy, searching for truths

Question 6

What is an Epic?

Answer 6

• Heroic exploit, figure must be historical.

- Interrogates virtues, to determine, and find the standard for what makes man heroic in a given society.

Question 7

Is religion about dirt?

Answer 7

• The concept of purification, both phsyical and spiritual, and of the individual or society.
• Jung determines it as the corssing of a threshold, in order to do so you need to be pure.
• Actions can either purify or taint. Therefore, actions and consequences are highly valued.

Question 8

EoG: What animal appears as a motif?

Answer 8

• The Bull or cattle
• Perhaps representing natural power.
• Agricultural society

Question 9

EoG: What role do the gods play?

Answer 9

-On the sidelines, controlling the plot (ANZU)

Question 10

EoG: Why is there a flood?

Answer 10

-Overpopulation (Community has caused this)

Question 11

EoG: In Babylonia, who was at the top of the hierarchy?

Answer 11

-Priests

Question 12

EoG: Why is the Babylonian flood important in influencing western thought?

Answer 12

-This flood appears to have influenced Genesis, and the story of Noah’s Ark, as one of every animal is saved.

Question 13

EoG: Who is the protagonist?

Answer 13

Gilgamesh, and his near-sidekick Enkidu.

Question 14

EoG: What does the flood say about the gods?

Answer 14

Presents the gods as imperfect or villainous, wholly anthropomorphic.

Question 15

EoG: What is the moral Gilgamesh ultimately finds?

Answer 15

That immortality is a weak pursuit, and he should be fulfilled by the wonders of life as they are, and that his civilisation and humanity will endure long after he is gone.

Question 16

EoG: What did Atrahasis do?

Answer 16

Atrahasis is the wise man who saved mankind from the flood that the gods sent down because of overpopulation.

• Name means “Exceedingly Wise”
• Warned by the god Ea to build an ark, saves 2 of every animal and preserved human and animal life.
• Gained immortality for this deed.

Question 17

EoG: Why is the flood sent?

Answer 17

-Enlil, the king of the gods, sends it as a result of constant disturbance from humanity.