God vs. Man

The opening pages of Gilgamesh reveal the multiplicity of gods in the Sumerian world. There are, of course, the primary gods - Anu, Ea, Enlil, Ishtar, and Aruru - but there are others, minor deities that can also affect the course of a man's - or an entire city's - fate. The presumption, then, would be that this world is an orderly one controlled by sensible, rational beings. It does not, however, take long to see that this is an entirely erroneous expectation. The gods have greater than human powers, but their ethics are no better formed. In fact, it sometimes seems as if the gods are more ill behaved than the creatures over which they rule.

Anu, Ea, Enlil, and the rest of the gods, by definition, possess powers and abilities far superior to their human worshippers. However, they employ these powers with a capriciousness...