Gilgamesh: Hairy Men, Prostitutes and Hiking

Gilgamesh may be one of the most random stories I have ever read, if not the most random story. As we discussed in class, Gilgamesh is a, 2/3 God and 1/3 Human, King who rules over his people as a tyrant...yet he is glorified all throughout the book... yet he seriously doubts himself when facing Humbaba... yet he beats Humbaba. There seems to be a lot of internal conflict going on within Gilgamesh, either that or whoever wrote the epic wasn't too good at writing stories. Despite the amount of randomness present in the story, (such as Humbaba appearing out of nowhere) there are some redeeming qualities to the literature. For example, we have a contrast between "heroes". On one side we have Gilgamesh: extremely powerful and influential; however, Gilgamesh is very, very selfish and displays both good and bad characteristics. Enkidu on the other hand is somewhat "super" like Gilgamesh, but is a more caring individual. Enkidu is certainly less selfish than Gilgamesh, especially when he decides to fight Gilgamesh over the atrocities he was committing (prima nocta).

Superhero time... Is Gilgamesh a superhero? In my opinion no, at least not yet. We have yet to finish the story, but thus far I would say that Gilgamesh is definitely not a "superhero" in traditional respects. Gilgamesh does not have a costume, so to speak, does not fight for the "common good", and he is not altruistic. Yes, he does go off to fight Humbaba, but only because he desires to. Out of boredom or for glory, Im not sure which. Gilgamesh does go on the heroes journey (a.k.a. walking out into the wilderness, fighting, and then coming back) but this does not necessarily make him a superhero. For the majority of what we read, Gilgamesh is more of a tyrant or a bully than a hero. Enkidu, however, may be interpreted as a hero. He has a costume or at least something to identify him with, in this case, he is very hairy. This gives him a certain recognizability that can be utilized by the audience. Enkidu also SEEMS to have the best in mind. He goes off to fight Gilgamesh after hearing that he has been sleeping with unwilling brides, and swears to protect Gilgamesh in the face of danger. Truly, to say that Enkidu is a "superhero" is a stretch, but I suppose the argument can be made. 

Next I wanna talk about symbolism. With many of the ancient texts we read in class, I always ask myself: Is this meant to be symbolic? So many times if feels like these stories are either way to simple to not include deeper meanings, or they are way too simple simply because of the era in which they were written. Just like Oedipus and Beowulf, many symbolic references can be made when diving deeper into the text. Perhaps Enkidu is supposed to be a paragon of the perfect ruler to the people of Mesopotamia, while Gilgamesh is an example of a faulted ruler. Perhaps the fight between Humbaba and Gilgamesh and Enkidu represents the eternal struggle of good vs. evil, or the concept of civilization vs. the wilderness and savagery. Or, most likely, the Epic of Gilgamesh was written without any attempt to include symbolism. It's very likely that Gligamesh was written simply for entertainment and does not allude to any hidden ideas that the author may have wanted to illustrate. Im not really sure, but as we read these ancient stories, I believe its important that we process the information critically and always ask the question of whether a story is meant to be taken literally or figuratively. 

Next class Id really like to go a little more in depth with Gilgamesh's dreams and any possible symbolism that might arise from them. I also would like to briefly discuss the relationship between Gilgamesh and the Gods, and the correlation between Mesopotamia and Egypt regarding the god Anu ( a common deity). 

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