Gender Roles In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Written by Sumerians on clay tablets thousands of years ago, The Epic of Gilgamesh has been a window for the modern world to see the thoughts and beliefs of these ancient people. The epic’s main characters include Gilgamesh, the arrogant, half-man, half-god king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild beast of a man created by the gods to be Gilgamesh’s opposite and eventual friend. Because the gods control all of the things that happen to humans in the epic, they often revere the gods out of fear alone. However, Enkidu displays several acts of disobedience and trickery toward the gods, which mark him as the least religious character. Through these acts of rebellion toward the gods, tricking of the gods, and the throwing of the Bull of Heaven’s leg at

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale read throughout time about the ancient King of Uruk, Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is a selfish king who is stronger than any man because he is two parts God and one part human. With his strength, Gilgamesh abuses his power causing the people of Uruk to lament. Hearing these laments, the Gods created Enkidu for Gilgamesh, to be his equal in all aspects. Throughout Gilgamesh’s interactions with Enkidu, Enkidu changes Gilgamesh to become a better person and to be a better king.

In essence, many of Mesopotamia’s tales focus on Gilgamesh’s epic. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem that portrays Gilgamesh’s journey, and ultimate aspiration for immortality despite the inevitability of death. The poem reveals his quest for a purpose and identity, which in turn can be perceived from many different aspects, ultimately molding his character in the epic. He perceives himself as two-thirds divine and one third man at the start of the tale, and progressively gains wisdom on his quest to conquer his aspirations of immortality, until he comes face to face with reality. His state of mind at the beginning of the epic, along with how it changes and matures, reveals the true heroes and villains of the story.

Cole and Ortega’s The Thinking Past is a book that covers the history of humans and civilization. The authors cover the transition of humans from a hunter-gatherer life into a sedentary life, forming the civilizations we know today. This transition can be witnessed through the character, Enkidu, in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Enkidu—a glorified forager—is created by the gods to keep the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh, in check. Enkidu is forced into civilization after being disowned by nature for sleeping with Shamhat. We see him transformed from a wild beast into a civilized person. As we follow Enkidu’s transformation, we see how he changes for the better, but also experiences some downfalls. The transition was not smooth, it took time to fully adjust, and although there are many disadvantages of leaving the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, the benefits made it worthwhile. Through Enkidu’s exposure to Gilgamesh, he changes from a human that lives among nature, to this great warrior that is willing to kill beasts for no other reason, but glory.

“Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the wild animals of the earth…I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.” Nature plays a pivotal role in our world, it is an obstacle to many of us but we can still benefit from it. Linking back to the epic of Gilgamesh, if nature weren’t there would have Gilgamesh still faced the same obstacles? In this essay I will discuss the interactions of nature relating to Enkidu, dreams and gods. As in the epic they are portrayed as obstacles for Gilgamesh.

Enkidu, raised by animals, rivals Gilgamesh in the measure of his great strength; however, he was a man of the wild and had never known civilization. As stated in The Epic of Gilgamesh "He knew neither people nor inhabited land, / He dressed as animals do. / He fed on grass with the gazelles" (Unknown 100-102). This changes when a hunter stumbles upon him at a watering hole. The hunter, in a sense of awe and frustration with him sought the consultation

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu, the companion and friend of Gilgamesh, obtains an amount of power that is different from Gilgamesh’s power. Although Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk and controls power in the city, Enkidu was created as

Gender roles, specifically of women, were a little different back in 700 B.C. They played more of a typical role, expected to get married and have kids at a young age. They were expected to take care of the house and children, while their husbands were out fighting wars. However, while women in The Odyssey were greatly valued for their beauty, Homer reveals that they also had to be intelligent to be successful in their lives.

Gilgamesh is also an epic hero because he survived a 6-day 6-night flood. Gilgamesh tore his house down. Gilgamesh then built a boat out of his house. He then gathered his family and gathered animals. Then when the flood comes Gilgamesh gets on his boat and he waits out the storm. When the storm is over he still alive. Gilgamesh shows great heroic action yet again.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first epic poem to be written in ancient West Asia. It was written around the third millennium BCE in Mesopotamia by Sumerian people (Spodek, 127). The epic is based on actual an historical figure, a Sumerian king who reigned the city-state of Uruk around third millennium BCE. Ashurbanipal, the last Neo-Assyrian king who was literate, built a great library in his capital and preserved 20,000 tablets including the earliest complete version of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Spodek, 128). Sumerian attitudes towards gods, friendship, and the story of the great flood are revealed throughout the epic.

The Sumer region was in Mesopotamia, which is now the current Iraq. This area is very famous due to writing which was the cuneiform script on the clay tablets. The systematic record keeping, the plow, which was the agricultural development. Social and economic organization was also a well known factor, followed by, units of time which was the division of a day into 24 hours as well as one hour into 60 minutes. Also, mainly because of the settlement that took place there. This means that the area is closely studied and used as evidence of early culture and in particular, writing and art.

The depiction individuals have of women has changed drastically over time. From being seen as a lower class gender, to having women politicians today, they have come a long way. Back in the 10th century when An Ancient Tale: When the Sun Was God took place, the role of women differed immensely compared to the way women are portrayed today. Throughout the film, women are depicted as a weaker gender within society, although they can be rulers within their own families.

But still there are certain differences that can be drawn between them. The epic of Gilgamesh depicts the Sumerian culture and on the other hand iliad poem is set in ancient Greek culture. Even though they both grieve for the loss of their best friends, the main contrast is in how they react with this loss. Both Achilles and Gilgamesh were worried about the mortality and did not wanted to die at once in their life. However, later in life Achilles accepts his fat and realized the fact that death is inevitable. Gilgamesh, on the other hand, fears death. Also, Achilles believed that it death is not worthy as dying with glory in a battle, while Gilgamesh always fears death as he thought it will not let him find the glory in battle. Another difference is the way in which they both depict the women in the stories. In Gilgamesh, Shamash, a temple prostitute is introduced and sent to sleep with Enkidu. Later then he was no longer accepted by the wild animals and he joined civilization in the city of Uruk. But Shamash, who is singled out and protected by a god is blessed by Enkidu. “Woman I promise you another destiny.The mouth which curse shall bless you”.Even a prostitute woman is given much praise and position in the story of Gilgamesh. In the Iliad, the common women are rarely mentioned and are not given a positive credit. The only common women mentioned in the book is about the prize

In Homer’s The Odyssey, particular characters have some sort of disguise that allows them to deceive others. In the epic, there is also a demonstration of inequality between men and women. The idea of guile in The Odyssey was raised multiple times throughout the epic and it was often considered to be wisdom. From the beginning of the epic, we see characters praising men for their “wisdom” and women are oppressed for the majority of their actions, including lying. This patriarchal system that oppresses women for their actions, including shunning them for being deceptive, reveals the double standard in society, but also reveals the social statuses in this time period that oppressed women and bound them from being able to change the overall epic.

Great leaders embody a paradox. They develop strength and wisdom through failure and ignorance. The activist Gandhi recognizes this contradiction, noting that both strength and weakness and wisdom and folly are close companions: “it is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” Gilgamesh proves this truth in The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Herbert Mason. In this tale, a godly man, Gilgamesh, develops a friendship with beast-turned-man, Enkidu, who begins to teach Gilgamesh about the world and helps him to grapple with challenges. After one challenge in particular, a battle with the giant Humbaba, Enkidu dies abruptly, leaving Gilgamesh alone again, and forcing him to overcome adversities by himself. Gilgamesh is initially despondent, but these adversities eventually give him the strength to grow in wisdom and appreciation. Gilgamesh flourishes from his failures because he can finally understand the meanings of life and death, accept