Summary:
Explores the role of sex in "The Epic of Gilgamesh", an ancient Mesopotamian text about King Gilgamesh.
Keywords: Sumeria, Sumerian, Hebrew, Bible
In "The Epic of Gilgamesh" it seem like the women have all the power. The women have great influences on the men. In "Gilgamesh" sex plays an important role, and it also seems that sex has a hold on Gilgamesh and also Enkidu - not just a hold on them, but more of an addiction throughout the story of Gilgamesh. In the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh has a great lust that leaves "no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of noble men. To me, the lust in Gilgamesh's heart makes him a very selfish person. I think what makes Gilgamesh a selfish person is because the gods made him perfect, he was beautiful and strong as a savage bull and everyone feared Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh knew he had power so he abused it, because no men could bear Gilgamesh's arms. Also since Gilgamesh was king of Uruk, of which he had built the great city walls, he took what he wanted.
Gilgamesh wasn't a great leader to his people because he would just take all of the virgins of the city for himself. I think Gilgamesh not being a good leader to his people made the gods very furious. The gods are disappointed in Gilgamesh, so the gods of heaven cried to the lord of Uruk, to Anu the god of Uruk, and to Aruru, the goddess of creation, saying, "You made him, O Aruru, now create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart. Let them contend together and leave Uruk in quiet." Then Aruru makes Gilgamesh's better half, Enkidu, from clay and set him down in the forest.
For a while everything is fine in Enkidu's life until one day a trapper sees Enkidu and notices that Enkidu is preventing the trapper from catching any game. So to his father and the father send the trapper to Gilgamesh to get a harlot to trap Enkidu. And how does she trap Enkidu? By using her womanly powers, sex, and these powers Enkidu cannot resist. When Enkidu tries to return to his home in the forest, roaming with the animals, the animals reject Enkidu. The wild beasts reject Enkidu when he has been with a woman, as if being with a woman is contaminating: "When next he comes down to drink at the wells she will be there, stripped naked; and when he sees her beckoning he will embrace her, and then the wild beasts will reject him." So then the woman teaches Enkidu her ways. But then back with Gilgamesh, the power of lust and sex takes Gilgamesh and Gilgamesh try to take another virgin before the husband. Word gets back to Enkidu, who is the good to Gilgamesh's evil, and Enkidu travels to Uruk to stop Gilgamesh. When Enkidu arrives Enkidu fights Gilgamesh.
It's interesting to me that just as Gilgamesh is going to the bed of a new bride, Enkidu steps in his way and they begin to wrestle. To me there's a link of course between violence, aggression and sex. But then immediately his fury dies and Enkidu and Gilgamesh embrace and their friendship is sealed.
But were Enkidu and Gilgamesh just friends or were they lovers as well? Back when Gilgamesh had his dream and mentioned an attraction was like the love of woman and tells Ninsun "Mother I dream a second dream. In the streets of strong- walled Uruk there lay an axe; the shape of it was strange and the people thronged round. I saw it and was glad. I bent down, deeply drawn towards it; I loved it like a woman and wore it at my side." This part make me believe that Gilgamesh and Enkidu had a homosexual relationship. Gilgamesh trades in his philandering with women and starts hanging out exclusively with Enkidu. Also early on in the story, the story said that not just virgins but no son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children. Later on in this story when Gilgamesh had put on the crown, Ishtar the goddess of love lifted her eyes, seeing the beauty of Gilgamesh, she says, "come to me Gilgamesh, and be my bridegroom; grant me seed of your body, let me be your bride and you shall be my husband." Gilgamesh replies by saying no. Why? Is it because he heard of all Ishtar's other lovers and how they love her with all their hearts but Ishtar doesn't care for them so she turns them in to animals and tortures them? Maybe he is rejecting her because she is a woman all together.
Gilgamesh is a great story that focuses on a lot of point, good versus evil, women versus men, but sex has a lot to do with this story also.
This is the complete article, containing 811 words
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