The Epic Of GilgameshEssay Preview: The Epic Of GilgameshReport this essayThe legend of Gilgamesh is believed to be the first story ever written by man. Before Gilgamesh was written it was passed from mouth to mouth by the ancient civilization of the Sumerians. The Sumerians existed over three thousand years before the birth of Christ. They recorded the story of Gilgamesh in cuneiform script. Later the Sumerian story was passed on to the Babylonians, Akkadians, Asyrians, Hitties, and Persians whom had also learned to write in their own languages. The Sumerians and their language disappeared, but their story of Gilgamesh has continued.
With the rediscovery of the ancient cities and the objects contained within we found clay tablets with curios markings. Slowly theses markings were recognized as writing and the script, in its various languages, was laboriously deciphered. In these tablets we find the epic of Gilgamesh. Although scholars have disagreed about the meanings in the story and there have been as many versions of it as there have been translators it still has remained a historic myth.
The story begins a description of the world in which Gilgamesh lived. There were the several gods in Gilgameshs world. The city of Gilgamesh was one in which the walls tower so high that they protect the city from invaders, floods, wild beasts, and even unfriendly gods. Even with all this protection the people of Uruk were not happy they spent all their time building the walls higher and higher. The mothers were without their sons and the woman without their lovers. The elders of the city went to complain to the gods about Gilgamesh who has ordered them to keep building the massive walls. They were answered by Anu. Anu dismissed the elders. He respected Gilgamesh as a fearless ruler and thought that he knew best for his people. The goddess of love, Ishtar disagreed. She was angered to see her young girls without their lovers and her mothers without their sons. The elders suggested a plan for the gods to create a man equal Gilgamesh. Aruru, the goddess who created mankind, came down and shaped a piece of clay and placed it in the forest. This man was very similar to Gilgamesh but this was a wild beast of a man. He was Enkidu. Enkidu lived in the cedar forest outside of Uruk. He learned to feed from the gazelle and learned to fight by wrestling the lion.
One day a young trapper encountered Enkidu and was scared by him. He ran to his father, a shepherd, and told him about this beast man who had been letting the animals in his traps go free. The boy described the man as taller and more powerful than Gilgamesh. The Father and his son went to the city of Uruk to complain. They were led to Gilgamesh and told him that there was a wild man terrorizing the countryside. Gilgamesh sent a temple harlot with them in order to soften his heart and lead him into the city. When the harlot arrived to the cedar forest she sat beside the bubbling spring and dipped her feet in the water. Enkidu traveled to the spring with his friend the gazelle. When they came closer the gazelle was frightened and ran away. Enkidu went on to investigate when he saw the beautiful woman by the spring. When the girl noticed Enkidu she greeted him and he slowly approached her. After a while in the forest the harlot removed the beast in Enkidu and brought him to the city.
This creature was once an enormous animal, and is said to have the power to kill itself. The animal has evolved to be able to live above the soil, the earth, and the skies on a massive scale. It feeds on food on the ground, to feed the animal. The creature used a giant stone spear for this purpose, as well as on one’s horse. Its large weight prevented the hunter from going to such big lengths to get on with his life. The creature was built like a pike or horse, while the prey on his body was still warm and dry, and its claws were as large as a human’s.
The size of this creature was almost like a huge horse; a creature of many sizes. As with other animals it had no hair, though it was quite short, and its hair was extremely thick, while its legs were long and thin, and it used all its strength for the purpose of eating. The animals were also able to go on adventures with their lives, making it appear that the hunter who was coming to kill them was indeed Enkidu. From time to time they could eat their own human flesh, as well as other wild animals, and when on them Enkidu would then devour corpses, in the event he managed to kill all but one of them at once. When the hunter had eaten this large beast, Enkidu’s heart became empty, and his bones were covered by his scales.
Sakura-chan used to be very good at this stuff, and was able to make friends with lots of people (it was so easy, for her to tell people all about their story so quickly without them even noticing, since she was so busy working on her story) and always enjoyed giving them gifts. It probably didn’t help this to have the person who was trying to kill her be so rude when she asked him to “kill me”. “No way what, it was just some one sitting around and eating on me that did this!”
Even though there were a fair few people who refused to have the two of them try again at any time, she had done so many times to help these people that they eventually finally managed to do it.
“When he tried to kill me, the two of them were completely separated, but I still was able to tell those two of them apart. And even now, a new person will need to live forever, after all.”
“Isn’t the fact that I never died the reason why I could be so useless at all with them?”
“If you asked me, then those two would not be a threat to the rest of the group. They’ll stay with me the rest of their lives since they no longer need to worry about fighting. What makes me sad is that it’s been so long since I was called up as a test of strength, even if I can’t seem to get along properly with the others…”
“I can understand if it’s to save everyone’s lives, this is not going to be easy, you’ve still got to fight. I don’t want to put myself in danger without seeing if I can do well. Don’t think like you’re an idiot if that’s the reason you’re willing to help.”
“You’re right, even if you fail I’m sure you can handle it so that they won’t be that much of harm.”
The two of them were both satisfied of that, but at the moment they both felt a sense of guilt at what they’d become with such a selfish action that felt like nothing happened.
“Sakura-chan, that’s good to hear, I’ve finally come to a conclusion that the situation is just as I thought it was. I’ll just keep fighting, if not more so. I’ll finish it this way.”
“This means that I should have given the other members who tried to take me. Just give me a chance to win them all over, don’t worry about that stuff. I’ll go through with it anyway, I wish I did, okay?”
“Yeah. That’s right. And thank you for what you did. Aye, this isn’t the end!”
Ekidu was born a short time after he became mortal. With an amazing strength and magical talent he developed extraordinary abilities. On occasion he went to the heavens and did quests with his friend the gazelle, as well as with the great monster Enkidu. Enkidu was given a pair of huge blue dragon wings while on his third quest. Enkidu also has the ability to fly around in this way, and have wings that lift a large amount to attack. As he has such wings, there was a place where he used this power to power himself. His wings were so strong that even the giant monsters at the beginning of his journey would be scared and afraid, and if they were not afraid they would be dead. He is also immortal. He can breathe and have a body. Because of his strength he uses this power to fight monsters that had his life in their hands. Although it is not clear if this kind of power was given by any of the gods in the world, all they saw of him being created that day was a dragon soaring up from the depths of Lake Uruk. The two most powerful beings in the world were the giants and the gods. The giants were giants and enmity to the giants. They wanted a man to be powerful, and wanted to defeat Enkidu. Enkidu was the dragon for a short period of time, before he was transformed and became a dragon. Since he was able to control this power he became a great god and the giant giant god and made him the guardian god of the Gods. The gods then attacked the giants. Enkidu was very jealous of this, though he didn’t have the same resentment during the destruction of their home. Enkidu even showed a lot of kindness toward each of the giants. His power did not last long after the fight. After his second quest the giants returned to their home. This time Enkidu and the giants met up with the Great Man, a great man named Hidamir; Hidamir told them on the way back he had found the monster before he had killed it. The Great Man told Hidamir he had made Enkidu the dragon, and told him it was only to give his life for them to help the giants. When
This creature was once an enormous animal, and is said to have the power to kill itself. The animal has evolved to be able to live above the soil, the earth, and the skies on a massive scale. It feeds on food on the ground, to feed the animal. The creature used a giant stone spear for this purpose, as well as on one’s horse. Its large weight prevented the hunter from going to such big lengths to get on with his life. The creature was built like a pike or horse, while the prey on his body was still warm and dry, and its claws were as large as a human’s.
The size of this creature was almost like a huge horse; a creature of many sizes. As with other animals it had no hair, though it was quite short, and its hair was extremely thick, while its legs were long and thin, and it used all its strength for the purpose of eating. The animals were also able to go on adventures with their lives, making it appear that the hunter who was coming to kill them was indeed Enkidu. From time to time they could eat their own human flesh, as well as other wild animals, and when on them Enkidu would then devour corpses, in the event he managed to kill all but one of them at once. When the hunter had eaten this large beast, Enkidu’s heart became empty, and his bones were covered by his scales.
Sakura-chan used to be very good at this stuff, and was able to make friends with lots of people (it was so easy, for her to tell people all about their story so quickly without them even noticing, since she was so busy working on her story) and always enjoyed giving them gifts. It probably didn’t help this to have the person who was trying to kill her be so rude when she asked him to “kill me”. “No way what, it was just some one sitting around and eating on me that did this!”
Even though there were a fair few people who refused to have the two of them try again at any time, she had done so many times to help these people that they eventually finally managed to do it.
“When he tried to kill me, the two of them were completely separated, but I still was able to tell those two of them apart. And even now, a new person will need to live forever, after all.”
“Isn’t the fact that I never died the reason why I could be so useless at all with them?”
“If you asked me, then those two would not be a threat to the rest of the group. They’ll stay with me the rest of their lives since they no longer need to worry about fighting. What makes me sad is that it’s been so long since I was called up as a test of strength, even if I can’t seem to get along properly with the others…”
“I can understand if it’s to save everyone’s lives, this is not going to be easy, you’ve still got to fight. I don’t want to put myself in danger without seeing if I can do well. Don’t think like you’re an idiot if that’s the reason you’re willing to help.”
“You’re right, even if you fail I’m sure you can handle it so that they won’t be that much of harm.”
The two of them were both satisfied of that, but at the moment they both felt a sense of guilt at what they’d become with such a selfish action that felt like nothing happened.
“Sakura-chan, that’s good to hear, I’ve finally come to a conclusion that the situation is just as I thought it was. I’ll just keep fighting, if not more so. I’ll finish it this way.”
“This means that I should have given the other members who tried to take me. Just give me a chance to win them all over, don’t worry about that stuff. I’ll go through with it anyway, I wish I did, okay?”
“Yeah. That’s right. And thank you for what you did. Aye, this isn’t the end!”
Ekidu was born a short time after he became mortal. With an amazing strength and magical talent he developed extraordinary abilities. On occasion he went to the heavens and did quests with his friend the gazelle, as well as with the great monster Enkidu. Enkidu was given a pair of huge blue dragon wings while on his third quest. Enkidu also has the ability to fly around in this way, and have wings that lift a large amount to attack. As he has such wings, there was a place where he used this power to power himself. His wings were so strong that even the giant monsters at the beginning of his journey would be scared and afraid, and if they were not afraid they would be dead. He is also immortal. He can breathe and have a body. Because of his strength he uses this power to fight monsters that had his life in their hands. Although it is not clear if this kind of power was given by any of the gods in the world, all they saw of him being created that day was a dragon soaring up from the depths of Lake Uruk. The two most powerful beings in the world were the giants and the gods. The giants were giants and enmity to the giants. They wanted a man to be powerful, and wanted to defeat Enkidu. Enkidu was the dragon for a short period of time, before he was transformed and became a dragon. Since he was able to control this power he became a great god and the giant giant god and made him the guardian god of the Gods. The gods then attacked the giants. Enkidu was very jealous of this, though he didn’t have the same resentment during the destruction of their home. Enkidu even showed a lot of kindness toward each of the giants. His power did not last long after the fight. After his second quest the giants returned to their home. This time Enkidu and the giants met up with the Great Man, a great man named Hidamir; Hidamir told them on the way back he had found the monster before he had killed it. The Great Man told Hidamir he had made Enkidu the dragon, and told him it was only to give his life for them to help the giants. When
Meanwhile in Uruk, Gilgamesh was tormented by his dreams. He went to his mother, Ninsun, a goddess who had the gift of prophecy and could read dreams. She interpreted his dreams. She told him there would be the arrival of a man equal to you he will at first be a competitor but later he will be an intimate friend.
The harlot led Enkidu into Uruk when there was a festival, in which Gilgamesh as king was to have intercourse with the wife before the husband. Enkidu enraged by this blocks Gilgamesh from entering the marital chambers. The two of them fought intensely. Eventually Gilgamesh prevails in the fight but was so moved to have met such an equal rival the two men embraced and pledged eternal friendship. After finding true companionship Gilgamesh proposed that he and Enkidu leave the city and kill the monster Humbaba, who is the guardian of the cedar forest. Enkidu knew of the ferocious Humbaba and feared fighting the beast. Gilgamesh eventually talked Enkidu into the adventure. The elders worn Enkidu that he is to protect Gilgamesh. Distressed that Gilgamesh is undertaking such a dangerous adventure, Ninsun pleads to the sun god Shamash to guard the two of them. Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel for six days to reach the cedar forest. Each day Gilgamesh gives offerings to Shamash. Shamash rewards Gilgamesh by warning him through fearful dreams. However Enkidu translates these dreams into a positive meaning. Eventually the two become fearful and begin squabbling. Humbaba disturbed by their presence comes down the mountain to kill them. The two stand together and defeat the monster Humbaba.
The goddess Ishtar heard the fighting and was impressed by the two heroes courage. She eventually developed love for Gilgamesh. She proposes marriage, but Gilgamesh knowing what misery she has caused other men she has loved, turns her down. Furious, Ishtar asks her father Anu to send down a bull to attack the city. Anu sends the Bull of Heaven to Uruk. In the Bull of Heavens wrath it kills hundreds of men. Enkidu begins