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brundungerelle · 5 days ago

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Gilgamesh Exegesis

Will transcribe to a computer near you

My phone did an auto reading of a random page and this is what it said

Bala minis, Dude Depressive Bing Pong Prom Doppler of leave the espy so that but (Insert ChatGPT essay here] One in also look of this story as biggish but the giveaway like to betray why the only effect be put into prolonging death I still happens in the then in that of conditions The Relationship Between bismarck and Entered us As we know the sods created Enkidu for bigrash but what were the promise of Their relationships Book I "when Arora heard this, she closed her eyes, and what And had commanded she formed in her mind She mastered her heads, she pinched off some clay, she throw it into the wilderness, breaded it shaped it to her idea, and fashioned a man, a warrior, a hero Enkidu The brave as powerful and force as he was set Ninette their covered his body has grew thicke on his head and have four to his west, like a man's hope. He roamed all over the wilderness, noted, for from the cities of men."

Prologue

He had seen everything, had experienced all emotions, from exaltation to despair, had been granted a vision into the great mystery, the secret places, the primeval days before the Flood. He had journeyed to the edge of the world and made his way back, exhausted but whole. He had carved his trials on stone tablets, had restored the holy Eanna Temple and the massive wall of Uruk, which no city on earth can equal. See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun. Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine, approach the Eanna Temple, sacred to Ishtar, a temple that not king had equaled in size or beauty, walk on the wall of Uruk, follow its course around the city, inspect its mighty foundations, examine its brickwork, how masterfully it is built, observe the land it encloses: the palm trees, the gardens, the orchards, the glorious palaces and temples, the shops and marketplaces, the house, the public spaces. Find the cornerstone and under it the copper box that is marked with his name. Unlock it. Open the lid. Take out the tablet of lapis lazuli. Read how Gilgamesh suffered all and accomplished all.

Bipolar Gilgamesh Exegesis

Gilgamesh takes place around 2750 BC in the Mesopotamian city of Uruk. The protagonist Gilgamesh rules Uruk with an iron fist. The story starts with a meta device describing Uruk, finding a tablet, and reading it. Considering Gilgamesh was found through tablets like the story’s opener and the ending of Gilgamesh my description doesn’t do it justice. Gilgamesh’s name has a twin created by Aruru (who created humans) to match Gilgamesh named Enkidu

Book I

“Surpassing all kings, powerful and tall, beyond all others... two-thirds divine and one-third human.”

The most supreme king who is majority divine and minority human just like the grandiosity of mania

“Who is like Gilgamesh? What other king has inspired such awe? Who else can say ‘I alone rule, supreme among mankind’?”

More in theme with mania; the center of the universe

Enkidu is made and can be seen as a symbol for protohumans before society. Enkidu hears of Gilgamesh through a temple concubine and she says

“I will show you Gilgamesh the mighty king, the hero destined for both joy and grief.”

Some would argue a natural joy and grief but that would be boring. Who says it can’t be both anyway

“So full of life-force that he needs no sleep.”

See what I mean

Book II

Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight and become friends. Nothing to do with mood happens in this book

Book III

“I will make a lasting name for myself, I will stamp my face on men’s minds forever.”

Gilgamesh is focused on legacy

“I will cut down the tree, I will kill Humbaba, the whole world will know how mighty I am. I will make a lasting name for myself, I will stamp my fame on men’s minds forever.”

Although he does make a legacy it’s through a seemingly psychotic rampage of killing

“I will journey to meet the monster Humbaba, I will walk a road that no man has traveled, I will face a combat that no man has known.”

Typical deluded self-righteous mania

Enkidu tries to dissuade Gilgamesh by turning to the elders Gilgamesh is asking a blessing from

“You are young, sire your heart beats high and runs away with you. Why do you wish to embark on this folly? We have heard of Humbaba... Who among men or gods could defeat him?”

“After he had listened to the elders’ words, Gilgamesh laughed.”

Insanely overconfident and laughs in the face of danger/ignores advice from elders

Book IV

“At four hundred miles they stopped to eat, at a thousand miles they pitched their camp. They had traveled for just three days and nights, a six weeks journey for ordinary men.”

I realized 4/5 of the way through writing that that this isn’t necessarily mania because Gilgamesh and Enkidu are allegedly around 9 ft tall and put her in the word heroic (this is the first heroic story).

“Gilgamesh sat there with his chin on his knees, and sleep overcame him, as it does all men.”

This is the first mention of Gilgamesh sleeping

“At midnight he awoke.”

Apparently not for long

This sequence repeats 5 times and Enkidu gives a positive interpretation of the dream. For the first 4 readings Gilgamesh’s response is

“Gilgamesh, happy with his good dream, smiled, and his face lit up with pleasure.”

The last travel repetition + sleep + dream + awakening + Enkidu’s positive reading of Gilgamesh’s dream ends with

“We will achieve a triumph greater than any man has achieve.”

“They had reached the edge of the Cedar Forest. They could hear Humbaba’s terrifying roar. Gilgamesh stopped. He was trembling. Tears flowed down his cheeks. ‘O Shamash’ he cried, ‘protect me on this dangerous journey. Remember me, help me, hear my prayer.’ They stood and listened. A moment passed. Then from heaven, the voice of the god called to Gilgamesh: ‘Hurry, attack, attack Humbaba while the time is right... They stood at the edge of the Cedar Forest, gazing, silent. There was nothing to say.”

Gilgamesh’s mania brought him this far but faced with certain death he trembles. [Author’s note: I have broken down crying while manic] But, after praying, the literal voice of the god spoke to Gilgamesh (but not Enkidu?) and gave him resolve.

Book V

They see the trail of Humbaba and Enkidu, countenance and all, is seized by terror. Gilgamesh comforts Enkidu including

“What harm can come to use?”

“Let your heart inspire you to be joyous in battle, to forget about death. If we help each other and fight side by side, we will make a lasting name for ourselves, we will stamp our fame on men’s minds forever.”

This book is not really indicative of any major mood polarization and basically cements the Gilgamesh-Enkidu duo where they feed into eachother to eventually, mercilessly kill Humbaba

Book VI

Gilgamesh rejects a black widow Goddess Ishtar and in doing so enrages her so much so that she gains control of the Bull of Heaven and sends it to kill Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh (and Enkidu) kill said bull but Enkidu taunts Ishtar and throws the bull’s thigh at her. Now that really does it.

“Gilgamesh said to his singing girls, ‘Tell me: who is the handsomest of men? Tell me: Who is the bravest of heroes? Gilgamesh – he is the handsomest of men, Enkidu – he is the bravest of heroes. We are the victors who in our fury flung the Bull’s thigh in Ishtar’s face.”

Book VII

Enkidu falls ill due to a certain thigh

“When Gilgamesh heard his friend’s words, he wept, swiftly the tears flowed down his cheeks.”

Although a natural response the stress from such an event can trigger a mood shift [as I know far too well]

Enkidu is told by Gilgamesh that the dreams Enkidu is having are in fact positive

“The gods send dreams just to the healthy, never to the weak, so it is a health man who has dreamed this.”

An example of Gilgamesh’s sanguine supplications where he goes on to plead to the gods which in turn causes Enkidu to curse them

Enkidu has his death throes (yes he dies)

“When he heard the death rattle, Gilgamesh moaned like a dove. His face grew dark.”

Book VIII

“All through the long night, Gilgamesh wept for his dear friend.”

Gilgamesh is struck with insurmountable grief and recounts the adventures they had mixing in lamentations

“My beloved friend is dead, he is dead, my beloved brother is dead, I will mourn as long as I breathe, I will sob for him like a woman who has lost her only child.”

Gilgamesh is clearly broken by his soul mate’s death (they didn’t have, at least, a word for this concept but it is present here) and continues to eulogize him

“’O Enkidu, what is this sleep that has seized you, that has darkened your face and stopped your breath?’ But Enkidu did not answer. Gilgamesh touched his heart but it did not beat.”

Gilgamesh references sleep (consider how little they got in their manic adventures) as the final state of being

“Like an eagle Gilgamesh circled around him, back and forth, like a lioness whose cubs are trapped in a pit, he tore out clumps of his hair, tore off his magnificent robes as though they were cursed.”

Gilgamesh is seemingly going through a transformation induced by the stress of losing a loved one

Gilgamesh proclaims a stature to be made of Enkidu and recalls exactly what the god Shamash tells Enkidu as he curses people at the end of his life

“The people of Uruk will mourn him, and when he is gone, I will roam the wilderness with matted hair, in a lion skin.”

It is evident Enkidu’s death shifted something in Gilgamesh and he is no longer the most “supreme among mankind.” and actually seems to be humbled enough to do away with his regalia

After Gilgamesh makes the proclamation he goes to his treasury, surveys his riches, and brings out the finest of his treasures “for Enkidu, his friend, as an offering to the gods of the underworld.” This also includes animal sacrifices. Is this something a totalitarian egotistical ruler would do? The way Gilgamesh was before was killing forest guardians and bulls sent by the golds directly offending them resulting in his best friend’s death. As do all manic highs end in tragedy for something or someone.

Gilgamesh propitiates the gods with his offerings.

“After the funeral, Gilgamesh went out from Uruk, into the wilderness with melted hair, in a lion skin.”

Dropping his kingdom after the humility garnered through his soul mate passing on again reaffirms that Gilgamesh has changed. He doesn’t even want to be recognized as king with all that comes with

Book IX

“Gilgamesh wept over Enkidu his friend, he wept through the wilderness. ‘Must I die too? Must I be as lifeless as Enkidu? How can I bear this sorrow that knaws at my belly, this fear of death that restlessly drives me onward?’”

Gilgamesh is clearly struggling with death and with more than just fixation is looking for a solution. Perhaps one could interpret this as preparation of death encountered during a depressive episode? That seems to be in theme with giving away his treasures and regalia. Gilgamesh is very concerned with dying now whereas with Humbaba he was concerned with making a name for himself.

“So Gilgamesh roamed, his heart full of anguish, wandering always eastward, in search of Utnapishtim whom the gods made immortal.”

“Finally he arrived at the two high mountains called the Twin Peaks. Their summits touch the vault of heaven, their bases reach down to the underworld, they keep watch over the sun’s departure and its return.”

Twin meaning two of and they reach up to the grandiose vault of heaven (mania) and drop down to the depressing netherworld pertaining to thoughts of death and the afterlife. The twin peaks keep watch over the sun just like how bipolar is postulated to be controlled by your diurnal, nocturnal, and sleep rhythm

“’Gilgamesh is my name,’ he answered, ‘I am the king of great walled Uruk and have come here to find my ancestor Utnapishtim.’”

A rather humble introduction to one who killed the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba

The two scorpion people (who were guarding the entrance to the tunnel through which the sun burrows through the earth) tell Gilgamesh how to reach Utnapishtim and Gilgamesh travels through the tunnel

“Before him the garden of the gods appeared, with gem-trees of all colours, dazzling to see.”

-Referencing Genesis or the Qur’an, what is this garden?

“As Gilgamesh came toward her [Shiduri], worn out, his heart full of anguish.”

Shiduri sees Gilgamesh coming towards her and thinks he’s a murderer so she locks the door of her tavern, climbs the roof, and asks who he is. Gilgamesh responds with his name, his throne, his achievements (that caused him quite a lot of grief) of killing Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.

“Shiduri said, ‘Why are your cheeks so hollow and your features so ravaged?... Why is there so much grief in your heart? Why are you worn out and ready to collapse, like someone who has been on a long hard journey?”

Even a stranger like Shiduri can see that Gilgamesh is depressed and time span is unknown between Enkidu’s death and now

Gilgamesh responds “shouldn’t my cheeks be hollow...” mimicking her but with shouldn't and mourns Enkidu

“For six days and seven nights I mourned him, until a maggot fell out of his nose. Then I was frightened, I was terrified by death, and I set out to roam the wilderness. I cannot bear what happened to my friend – I cannot bear what happened to Enkidu – so I roam the wilderness in my grief. How can my mind have any rest?

Reiterating that Gilgamesh is clearly affected and changed by Enkidu’s departure

“And won’t I too lie down in the dirt like him, and never arise again?”

Gilgamesh’s entire existence at this point is occupied with death

Shiduri tries to placate Gilgamesh

“Gilgamesh cried out, ‘What are you saying tavern keeper? My heart is sick for my friend who died. What can your words mean when my heart is sick for Enkidu who died? Show me the road to Utnapishtim. I will cross the vast ocean if I can. If not, I will roam the wilderness in my grief.’”

Shiduri tells Gilgamesh that Urshanabi can get him across the waters of death to find Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh finds Urshanabi the boatman

“‘Gilgamesh is my name,’ he answered ‘I am king of great-walled Uruk. I have traveled here across the high mountains, I have traveled here on the hidden road through the underworld, where the sun comes forth. Show me the way to Utnapishtim.”

Again only achievements to give credence to his ability to ascent to Utnapishtim. Nothing more

“Urshanabi said, ‘Your own hands have prevented the crossing, since in your fury.”

Synecdoche for biting the hand that feeds you and everything Gilgamesh did to offend the gods in contrast with Utnapishtim who was granted immortality by the gods as you will later see.

Gilgamesh sails across the waters of death and finds an old man observing him and Gilgamesh asks where he can find Utnapishtim. The old man in return asks “Why are your cheeks so hollow?... Why is there so much grief in your heart? Why are you worn out and ready to collapse, like someone who has been on a long hard journey?” Evidently Gilgamesh’s level of grief comes off as a bit too extreme

Gilgamesh responds “Shouldn’t my cheeks be hollow... Shouldn’t my heart be filled with grief?... repeating the things he has already said justifying his mood.

“Sweet sleep has rarely softened my face. I have worn myself out through ceaseless striving, I have filled my muscles with pain and anguish.”

Sleep is a big component in mania as well as crashes into depression from things caused by a manic high or chemically by the manic high. I personally suffered from both or either

“And what in the end have I achieved? When I reached Shiduri the tavern keeper, I was filthy, exhausted, heartsick. Now let the gate of sorrow be closed behind me, and let it be sealed shut with tar and pitch.”

Every conquest, seen or otherwise, results in you and everyone else’s death that only history retells if that. For instance, the planet’s humans living at a certain time will be supplanted completely by an entire new set of humans only distantly related to you every 100 years roughly. What legacy is there except your interactions with other things on the planet to propel you into the future. Even then the planet dies. I digress, so what journey is there except spiritual? K digressing ends now

“Utnapishtim said, ‘Gilgamesh why prolong your grief? Have you ever paused to compared your own blessed lot with a fool’s? You were made from the flesh of bath gods and humans... to the fool they gave beer dregs instead of butter, stale crusts instead of bread that is fit for gods.... and a frantic, senseless, dissatisfied mind. Can’t you see how fortunate you are?”

Gilgamesh lacks the reference of somebody who has been given a destitute pair of dice and can’t see it in his depression. Despite all Gilgamesh has done the pain is still too much to bear.

“You have worn yourself out through ceaseless striving, you have filled your muscles with pain and anguish. And what have you achieved but to bring yourself one day nearer to the end of your days?”

All this struggle of not enjoying the life you’ve been given only to end up at the same place as everyone else. Granted, a Bipolar Gilgamesh has little say in his mood cycles. I personally ponder if looking at mental illness (in humans?) either allegorically or literally can lend ability to understand human nature better either personally or societally/socially.

“At night the moon travels across the sky, the gods of heaven stay awake and watch us, unsleeping, undying. This is the way the world is established, from ancient times.”

There is a word based off the Latin word for moon. Lunatic

“The handsome young man, the lovely young woman – in their prime, death comes and drags them away. Through no one has seen death’s face or heard death’s voice, suddenly, savagely, death destroys us, all of us, old or young. And yet we build houses, make contracts, brothers divide their inheritance, conflicts occur- as though this human life lasted forever.”

Preoccupied Utnapishtim is with death

“The sleeper and the dead, how alike they are!”

A person with depression can have the inherent proclivity to sleep as much as they can. A depressed person also can have thoughts of death including going to sleep and not waking up

“When the gods assemble, they decide your fate, they establish both life and death for you, but the time of death they do not reveal.”

An interesting spin on this is that your birth time is also unknown to you. For others preceding you an approximate time is known for your beginning of life just like how for others your death time is approximately known. You don’t get to experience either because nobody remembers their birth or subjectively or objectively can tell you where it starts. Likewise for death when you die you stop experiencing physically right at the moment of death therefore to the behold both the end and the beginning are not known. But to others both times are known and if you live right both times will be remembered. In a lens, enter stage right, exit stage left

Book XI

“Gilgamesh said to Utnapishtim, ‘I imagined that you would look like a god. But you look like me, you are not any different. I intended to fight you, yet now that I stand before you, now that I see who you are, I can’t fight, something is holding me back.”

Not like Gilgamesh to not smash his way through things

Gilgamesh asks Utnapishtim how he was granted immortality by the gods. Utnapishtim recounts the Mesopotamian Flood Myth extremely similar to Noah’s Ark. Is the great flood narrative a real occurrence or is it a soteriological allegory? Or maybe something else? Most scholars think it’s too common to be less than historical

“Now then Gilgamesh, who will assemble the gods for your sake? Who will convince them to grant you the eternal life that you seek? How would they know that you deserve it? First pass this test: just stay awake for seven days. Prevail against sleep, and perhaps you will prevail against death.”

A wise man once asked me, are prophets chosen or created? An interesting question to say the least; all depends on your doctrine. Was Utnapishtim chosen for the job based off his deeds or was he created for it? What about Gilgamesh? And to those that fail? What are they?

“So Gilgamesh sat down against a wall to begin the test. The moment he sat down, sleep swirled over him, like a fog.”

To quote Book IV, “and sleep overcame him, as it does all men.” Except this time, he sleeps for seven days straight where before he slept until midnight

“Gilgamesh cried out, ‘what shall I do, where shall I go now? Death has caught me, it lurks in my bedroom, and everywhere I look, everywhere I turn, there is only death.”

Sinking deeper into his depression. The thought of death is pervading his mind

With no hope for Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim’s wife takes pity on Gilgamesh and asks Utnapishtim to give him “a mystery, a secret of the gods.” A plant said to contain the “secret of youth.”

“Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi, ‘come here, look at this marvelous plant, the antidote to the fear of death. With it we return to the youth we had. I will take it to Uruk, I will test its power by seeing what happens when an old man eats it. If that succeeds, I will eat some myself and become a carefree young man again.”

Better to be safe than sorry. Spoken like a true king. Wouldn’t want to end up like the king in Hamlet.

“At four hundred miles they stopped to eat, at a thousand miles they pitched their camp. Gilgamesh saw a pond of cool water. He left the plant on the ground and bathed. A snake smelled its fragrance, stealthily it crawled up and carried the plant away. As it disappeared, it cast off its skin.”

I notice the similarity of a snake as in Genesis except Genesis seems to be backwards Gilgamesh in some sense. I also love the addition that the snake molted

“When Gilgamesh saw what the snake had done, he sat down and wept. He said to the boatman, ‘what shall I do not? All my hardships have been for nothing. O Urshanabi, was it for this that I gave my heart’s blood? I have gained no benefit for myself but have lost the marvelous plant to a reptile. I plucked it from the depths, and how could I ever manage to find that place again?”

A course reminder that life is a one way journey

“At four hundred miles they stopped to eat, at a thousand miles they pitched their camp.”

“When at last they arrived, Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi ‘This is the wall of Uruk, which no city on earth can equal. See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun. Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine, approach the Eanna Temple, sacred to Ishtar, a temple that no king has equaled in size or beauty, walk on the wall of Uruk, follow its course around the city, inspect its mighty foundations, examine its brickwork, how masterfully it is built, observe the land it encloses: the palm trees, the gardens, the orchards, the glorious palaces, and temples, the shops and marketplaces, the houses, the public squares.”

The End

It is clear that before Enkidu Gilgamesh is manic and after Enkidu Gilgamesh is depressed while during Enkidu is more balanced but still leans towards mania

Bada Manic, Bada Depressive, Bing Bang Boom Bipolar. I leave the essay to ChatGPT

[Insert ChatGPT essay here]

One can also look at this story as Gilgamesh gets older, experiences life’s tribulations, gets close to the end of his life and realized no matter how much effort he put into prolonging death it still happens. The old man is a young man. Life is the journey and who you choose to sit at your table. I choose you

The Relationship Between Gilgamesh and Enkidu

As we know the gods created Enkidu for Gilgamesh but what were the dynamics of their relationship?

Book I

“When Aruru heard this, she closed her eyes, and what Anu had commanded she formed in her mind. She moistened her hands, pinched off some clay, she threw it into the wilderness, kneaded it, shaped it to her idea, and fashioned a man, a warrior, a hero: Enkidu the brave, as powerful and fierce as the war god Ninurta. Hair covered his body, hair grew thick on his head and hung down to his waist, like a woman’s hair. He roamed all over the wilderness, naked, far from the cities of men.”

A lot to read into! Notice: the similarity to Genesis, the perhaps civilized perspective of those that came before them or even the uncivilized that may still have existed “far from the cities of men,” and that the author identifies a trait characteristic of women; long hair implying gender norms

Shamhat, a priestess of sex for Ishtar, literally fucks Enkidu’s brains into him and he becomes human

“He knew that his mind had somehow grown larger, he knew things that an animal can’t know.”

Gilgamesh’s writer puts sex with females as the driving force that domesticated humans to society. A less literal, but also not necessarily, theory is that male-male competition is higher the further you trace homo past and the lessening of male-male competition, so the theory goes, could theoretically increase female selection which would eventually result in domestication of the species and thus civilization happens. Male-male competition as in fights and murder between males fighting for women. An antiquity version of this is the story of Troy (they go to war over Helen) in the Iliad. This female selection could have resulted in females sexually selecting males that were more social, empathic, intelligent, dumber, attractive, whatever the female in question had choice to choose. This is possibly where homosexuality comes from in males because almost every female loves to have a gay male around

“He looked at her, and he understood all the words she was speaking to him... ‘You are beautiful, you are like a god. Why should you roam the wilderness and live like an animal? Let me take you to great-walled Uruk, to the temple of Ishtar, to the palace of Gilgamesh the mighty king.’”

Indeed

“She finished, and Enkidu nodded his head. Deep in his heart he felt something stir, a longing he had never known before, the longing for a true friend.”

“‘Even before you came down from the hills, you have come to Gilgamesh in a dream.’ And she told Enkidu what she had heard. ‘He went to his mother, the goddess Ninsun, and asked her to interpret the dream. ‘I saw a bright star, it shot across the morning sky, it fell at my feet and lay before me like a huge boulder... This boulder, this star that had fallen from the earth – I took it in my arms, I embraced it and caressed it the way a man caresses his wife. Then I took it and laid it before you. You told me that it was my double, my second self.”

Some may project their current cultural values and mindset on what may turned out to be Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship. That is for them to decide

“It stands for a dear friend, a mighty hero. You will take him in your arms, embrace and caress him the way a man caresses his wife. He will be your double, your second self, a man who is loyal, who will stand at your side through the greatest dangers. Soon you will meet him, the companion of your heart. You dream has said so.’”

“Gilgamesh said, ‘May the dream come true. May the true friend appear, the true companion, who through every danger will stand at my side.”

Interesting how the first recorded story has such a drive for companionship. To those who have experienced such companionship it seems too good to be true and to lose it would seem devastating

Book II

Enkidu blocks Gilgamesh from literally consummating a marriage and they tussle. Some would say it was slightly erotic in nature but this version of Gilgamesh doesn’t really show that. But this next part does according to “normal” standards

“They embraced and kissed. They held hands like brothers. They walked side by side. They become true friends.”

Book III

Gilgamesh tries to persuade Enkidu (who is terrified of Humbaba) to enter the Cedar Forest and kill Humbaba. Gilgamesh eventually persuades Enkidu and acquiescing,

“Enkidu listened gravely. He stood silent there for a long time. At last he nodded. Gilgamesh took his hand.”

From a modern standpoint Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship dynamic would be seen as “gay” regardless that they both have had sex with women. It stands that Gilgee and Enkee are truly the best of friends despite modern standards depicting them as too close to be heterosexual in nature. This demonstrates either the social norms at the time where two males could be physically close to eachother or they were in a sexual relationship together. It does not really matter (or does it?) because they’re soul mates, twin flames, other halves

“Hand in hand, the two friends walked to Ninsun’s temple.”

Ninsun is Gilgamesh’s mother and she blesses the two males with victory in their journey and battle against Humbaba. After her prayer, Ninsun summons Enkidu to adopt him as her son

“As a priestess takes in an abandoned child, I have taken in Enkidu as my own son. May he be a brother for Gilgamesh.”

Their relationship is far above the average relationship as they are as close as brothers if not closer

“Enkidu listened. Tears filled his eyes. He and Gilgamesh clasped hands like brothers.”

The two care for eachother so deeply that the mere thought of danger to the other sparks tears not to mention how beautiful it is for a mother to take in a son

Book IV

Gilgamesh goes through five dreams with Enkidu giving a favourable interpretation to each whereas the dreams themselves are not favourable

# I appear to have missed a detail in my Gilgamesh Bipolar Exegesis

Book III

“She lifted her arms in prayer and said ‘Lord of heaven, you have granted my son beauty and strength and courage – why have you burdened him with a restless heart? Now you have stirred him up to attack the monster Humbaba, to make a long journey from which he may not return.’”

Ninsun puts Gilgamesh’s motivation impetus to be divine from Shamash and points out his restless manic heart. Also telling of mania to embark on an odyssey from which they may not return

# Returning

Book V

“Suddenly Enkidu was seized by terror, his face turned pale like a severed head. He said to Gilgamesh, ‘Dear friend, I cannot continue, I am frightened, I cannot go on. You go into the dreadful forest, you kill Humbaba and win the fame.’”

“Gilgamesh answered, “Dear friend, dear brother, I cannot kill Humbaba alone. Please stay here with me. Stand at my side... ‘A three-ply rope is not easily broken.’ If we help eachother and fight side by side, what harm can come to use? Let us go on and attack the monster. We have come so far. Whatever you are feeling let us go on.”

Enkidu protests

“Gilgamesh said, ‘Courage dear brother, this is no time to give into fear... Though your arms feel weak now and your legs tremble, you are a warrior, you know what to do. Shout out your battle-cry. Let your voice pound like a kettle drum. Let your heart inspire you to be joyous in battle, to forget about death. If we help each other and fight side by side, we will make a lasting name for ourselves, we will stamp our fame on men’s minds forever.’”

“They came within sight of the monster’s den. He was waiting inside it... He glared at Gilgamesh. ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘you will never go home. Prepare to die.’ Dread surged through Gilgamesh, terror flooded his muscles, his heart froze, his mouth went dry, his legs shook, his feet ‘were rooted to the ground.”

“Enkidu saw his dismay and said, ‘Dear friend, great warrior, noble hero, don’t lose courage, remember this... ‘A three-ply rope is not easily broken.’ If we help each other and fight side by side, what harm can come to us? Let us go on.”

These examples of a symbiotic relationship between the two show that with two people connected to eachother so positively can conquer the evil in the world, Humbaba

Humbaba calls the two “a pir of frightened girls.” amongst other things

“Gilgamesh back away. He said, ‘How dreadful Humbaba’s face has become! It is changing into a thousand nightmare faces, more horrible than I can bear. I feel haunted. I am too afraid to go on.’”

“Enkidu answered, “Why, dear friend, do you speak like a coward? What you just said is unworthy of you. It grieves my heart. We must not hesitate or retreat. Two intimate friends cannot be defeated. Be courageous. Remember how strong you are. I will stand by you. Now let us attack.”

Indeed, the power of two twined friends is unassailable

“Gilgamesh felt his courage return.”

The four winds paralyze Humbaba (as per Ninsun’s blessing where she adopts Enkidu as her own) and Gilgamesh holds a knife to Humbaba’s neck. Humbaba begs for mercy

“Knowing he was doomed, Humbaba cried out, ‘I curse you both. Because you have done this, may Enkidu die, may he die in great pain, may Gilgamesh be inconsolable, may his merciless heart be crushed with grief.’”

“Gilgamesh dropped his axe, appalled. Enkidu said, ‘Courage, dear friend. Close to your ears to Humbaba’s curses. Don’t listen to a word. Slaughter him! Now!’”

“Gilgamesh hearing his beloved friend came to himself.”

Book VI

Victorious, Gilgamesh returns to Uruk and the goddess Ishtar eyes him up with lust

“Her heart was smitten, her loins caught fire. ‘Come here Gilgamesh,’ Ishtar said, ‘Marry me, give me your luscious fruits, be my husband, be my sweet man.’”

Ishtar showers him with motivation to pursue her but Gilgamesh remains stalwart in denying her citing reasons such as: Ishtar’s riches being far beyond his means, how could he repay her, and what happens to Gilgamesh when Ishtar’s heart turns elsewhere.

Gilgamesh then references her previous lovers which are alleged to be lost stories the Mesopotamians knew about

I bring up Gilgamesh’s rejection of Ishtar because he would be the only one to have rejected her and, besides, he has Enkidu. Gilgamesh is cunning, baffling, and powerful

Ishtar gets mad and asks Anu (head of the pantheon) for the Bull of Heaven to kill Gilgamesh for “slandering” her

“Uruk will have famine for seven long years. Have you provided the people with grain for seven years, and the cattle with fodder?”

A possible link to Exodus where Egypt escapes the famine

The Bull of Heaven is given to Ishtar

“When it snorted a third time, the earth cracked open and Enkidu fell in, up to his waist,”

“He jumped out and grabbed the Bull’s horns, it spat its slobber into his face, it lifted its tail and spewed dung all over him.”

A wicked combo

“Gilgamesh rushed in and shouted, ‘Dear friend, keep fighting, together we are sure to win.’”

It is true that a person in combination with their other half can achieve almost anything

“After they had killed the Bull of Heaven, they ripped out its heart and they offered it to Shamash. Then they both bowed before him and sat down like brothers, side by side.”

Is a fraternal bond the strongest?

Ishtar complains that her plan failed and Enkidu hears it, rips a thigh off the Bull, and flings it in Ishtar’s face. Ishtar and the two brothers both separately do their ceremonies with the Bull parts

“The two friends washed themselves in the river and returned to the palace, hand in hand.”

It’s interesting from a modern western viewpoint how close these two characters are and how they show it

“Later when the warriors were stretched out asleep, Enkidu had a terrifying dream. When he woke up, he said to Gilgamesh, ‘Dear friend, why are the great gods assembled?”

Book VII

“‘Beloved brother,’ Enkidu said, ‘last night I had a terrifying dream. I dreamed that we offended the gods, they met in council and Anu said, ‘They have slaughtered the Bull of Heaven and killed Humbaba, watchman of the Cedar Forest. Therefore one of the two must die.’ Then Enlil said to him, ‘Enkidu. Not Gilgamesh is the one who must die.’”

“Enkidu fell sick. He lay on his bed, sick at heart, and his tears flowed like streams. He said to Gilgamesh, ‘Dear friend, dear brother, they are taking me from you. I will not return. I will sit with the dead in the underworld, and never will I see my dear brother again.’”

“When Gilgamesh heard his friend’s words, he wept, swiftly the tears flowed down his cheeks.”

The thought of death to either of the friends is dreadful due to how much they care for eachother. Not a typical male relationship by modern standards

“He said to Enkidu, ‘Dearest brother, you have been a reasonable man, but now you are talking nonsense. How do you know that your dream is not a favourable one? Fear has set your lips buzzing like flies.”

“Enkidu said, ‘Beloved brother. Last night I had a second dream.”

Enkidu has a terrifying dream about entering the underworld. Also they way they refer to eachother depicts such a close bond

Gilgamesh retorts with persistent optimism to Enkidu’s doomed resolve

“Enkidu cried out to Shamash, he raised his head, and the tears poured down his cheeks. ‘I turn to you, Lord, since suddenly fate has turned against me.”

Pascal’s wager reference about 3500 years before Blaise Pascal

“As for that wretched trapper who found me when I was free in the wilderness – because he destroyed my life, destroy his livelihood, me he go home empty, may no animals enter his traps, or if they do, may they vanish like mist, and may he starve for bringing me here.”

A reflection on how domestication of the species seemingly could have brough all the negatives of life into being. Free in the wilderness to shackled by civilization and all the things that come with that.

Enkidu turns to curse Shamhat

Shamash hears Enkidu’s death throes and says

“Wasn’t it she who gave you fine bread fit for a god and fine beer fit for a king, who clothed you in a glorious robe and gave you splendid Gilgamesh as your intimate friend?”

Upon typing this up I see that an apple substitutes for bread and Shamhat substitutes for Eve. This isn’t a comparison between Gilgamesh and Genesis but quite a comparison it would make

After hearing Shamash’s defense, Enkidu instead blesses her for bringing him into civilization

“Then Enkidu said to Gilgamesh, ‘You who have walked beside me, steadfast through so many dangers, remember me, never forget what I have endured.’”

Enkidu dies slowly for 12 days

“Yet weren’t we to remain forever inseparable, you and I?”

A tragic ending to a heavenly ordained friendship

“When he heard the death rattle, Gilgamesh moaned like a dove. His face grew dark. “Beloved, wait, don’t leave me. Dearest of men, don’t die, don’t let them take you from me.”

What is Gilgamesh without his dear brother Enkidu now?

Book VIII

“All through the long night, Gilgamesh wept for his dear friend.”

Sound familiar?

Gilgamesh speaks a eulogy for Enkidu

“Hear me, elders, hear me, young men, my beloved friend is dead, he is dead, my beloved brother is dead, I will mourn for as long as I breathe, I will sob for him like a woman who has lost her only child. O Enkidu, you were the axe at my side in which my arm trusted, the knife in my sheath, the shield I carried, my glorious robe, the wide belt around my loins, and now a harsh fate has torn you from me, forver.”

Interesting mention of a belt around his loins. Seemingly sexual but perhaps not

“O Enkidu, what is this sleep that has seized you, that has darkened your face and stopped your breath? But Enkidu did not answer. Gilgamesh touched his heart, but it did not beat. Then he veiled Enkidu’s face like a bride’s.”

Another interesting remark about veiling Enkidu’s face like a bride. Reminiscent of the dream Gilgamesh had in Book I where he caresses his double like he would his wife

Gilgamesh is distraught as per the Bipolar Gilgamesh Exegesis. I will try not to repeat too much.

Book IX

“Gilgamesh wept over Enkidu his friend, bitterly he wept through the wilderness.”

The two were immensely close

Book X

Shiduri asks “Why are your cheeks so hollow...”

“Gilgamesh said, ‘Shouldn’t my cheeks be hollow, shouldn’t my face be ravaged... My friend, my brother, whom I loved so dearly, who accompanied me through every danger – Enkidu, my brother, whom I loved so dearly... My beloved friend has turned into clay – my beloved Enkidu has turned into clay.’”

Repeats the same thing after Gilgamesh sails across the ocean of death and meets an old man named Utnapishtim

Book XI

Interestingly, Enkidu does not even get a mention in this book

By the epithets the two brothers call eachother they would be perceived as having a same sex relationship in the modern day. Not to mention the hand holding and kissing that Enkidu and Gilgamesh partake in. As for their actual sexuality, it is not known, nor do I think it should be. Everyone should embrace their god-given partner in life where that be platonic or not because as the epic goes, life is short and you use your hands as it is given to you. And two hands holding eachother is stronger than any one hand.

According to a certain translation/interpretation by A.D. Kilmer Enkidu is Gilgamesh’s lover and in tablet XII, which is not part of the book I referenced, Enkidu’s underworld trip, including mentioning that Enkidu’s friend touched Enkidu’s penis and crotch and that neither part is there in the underworld. See pages 218 and 219 for more info

It is safe to say that the first Hero story has an extremely strong male counterpart who is at least a very intimate friend and if romantic and sexual; then the two most masculine first in recorded history were gay

How do you like dem apples?

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