The Epic of Gilgamesh Flashcards
Who is Gilgamesh? Is he a good ruler to begin with?
King of Uruk - he is 2/3 divine
He is arrogant and overbearing as a ruler: kidnapping boys, sleeping with women before their weddings, ringing a funeral bell for his own entertainment, etc.
Who is Enkidu? What happens to him at the beginning of the epic?
Made by the Goddess of the Earth to be a companion to Gilgamesh
He lives among wild animals but is brought into civilization by a hunter and a harlot
He becomes weaker physically, but stronger intellectually (transition from nature to culture)
What do Enkidu and Gilgamesh do once they become friends?
They each become more civilized through their interactions
They slay Humbaba, who rules the dangerous Pine Forest (creator of nature slayed by the forces of civilization)
Who is Ishtar? What does she do?
The Goddess of love, fertility, and war
She makes a proposal offer to Gilgamesh, but he rejects her because of her torment of her previous lovers
In anger, she sends the Bull of Heaven to Uruk, which Enkidu and Gilgamesh slay
Who is Shamash?
The God of the Sun, who is reprimanded by other gods for his favoritism of Gilgamesh and Enkidu and overall mingling with mortals
What does Enkidu see in his dream? What happens to him after this?
The Gods discussing how he is fated to die
He also has a dream of being strangled to death
He then grows very ill and eventually dies
What does Gilgamesh do in his grief? What is his biggest fear?
Abandons culture and pursues nature by wandering the country dressed in lionskin
He searches for immortality because of his fear of his own inevitable death
Where does Gilgamesh go when he searches for immortality? Who does he encounter?
To the edge of the earth, where he encounters scorpion-men
He then goes beyond the mountains and finds a land in front of the son, where he meets Siduri
Who is Siduri? What does she tell Gilgamesh?
Goddess of brewing and wisdom
She is frightened by Gilgamesh’s appearance and locks her doors
He explains himself and she advises him that mortality is part of being human and that he should be content with the joys of life, even if short
Who helps Gilgamesh cross the sea? Who does he find once he crosses?
Ur-shanabi, the boatman
Ut-napishtim, the only mortal to ever gain immortality after the flood that ended all other traces of humanity (basically the story of Noah’s ark)
What does Ut-naphistim help Gilgamesh acquire? What happens to it?
A thorny underwater plant with rejuvenation abilities
Gilgamesh sets it down to bathe and it gets carried away by the snake, which sheds its skin
What does Gilgamesh do at the end of the epic?
He accepts defeat and the inevitability of his own death (tragic because he didn’t accomplish what he set out to do, but he’s a better hero for it)
He returns to the splendid city of Uruk and is a transformed leader (return to culture)
He dies, but is immortalized through fame
