#also they weren't even homosexual. they both also sleep with women. but the erasure of bisexuality is a completely different hornet's nest
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something that kind of bothers me about modern feelings toward the epic of gilgamesh is how it's been COMPLETELY watered down to being "gay". Bear with me as I explain.
this is more of an extreme example, but I see this take all the time (not the yaoi part. the gay lover part). it's boiled down to the fact that it's gay over literally anything else in the epic. Gilgamesh's lament to Urshanabi about Enkidu's loss is overshadowed by the fact that Gilgamesh is mourning his gay lover. Gilgamesh is on a journey because he lost his gay lover. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were gay.
Now I understand that with a modern lens, people tend to lock on to how unabashedly Gilgamesh mourns Enkidu, because it's gay and because it's the oldest written epic in human history. People feel deeply connected to the idea that people like them have been around since the dawn of literature. But placing exclusive focus on the nature of the relationship as gay, rather than why the relationship or its loss was important, erases the story the epic is trying to tell.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about love, yes, but it is not a love story. It's about the fear of death, coping with loss, and desperation to stave off the inevitable. It's about the bonds of friendship, about hardship, coming to terms personal change and losing pieces of yourself as you learn and grow. It is about consequences, arrogance, death, second chances, mourning, yearning, loving and LIVING. The Epic of Gilgamesh is about the entire human experience and one man's struggle to accept it. What does it mean to have lived? What does it mean to have loved, and lost? What does it mean to die, and to be remembered? What does it mean to be human?
It is perfectly okay to find appreciation for the Epic because of Gilgamesh and Enkidu's relationship. But also understand that the world's oldest story is not about two gay men who loved each other. It is a story about being alive.
TLDR;
#the epic of gilgamesh#mesopotamia#sumerian#once again recommending that everyone read the epic of gilgamesh at least once because it really is a great story#gilgamesh and enkidu's relationship is first of all--a minor detail at best. homosexuality was normal in sumerian society#so it wouldn't have been unusual. in fact placing such intense focus on it is what's unusual#also they weren't even homosexual. they both also sleep with women. but the erasure of bisexuality is a completely different hornet's nest#i could also probably write a post about how watered down the whole ea-nasir thing is too#but hes so much of a meme i might as well try to convince a brick wall to get up and walk for all the good it'd do#anyway. im pretentious about this topic because i love it so fucking dearly. please recognize what it is youre appreciating
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