Background for The Epic of Gilgamesh (2150-2000 B.C.)

1. Background for • The Epic of Gilgamesh • (2150-2000 B.C.)

2. Mesopotamia • A term commonly used to refer to the geographical area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

3. The Epic of Gilgamesh • Cuneiform tablets first discovered by archaeologists in the 19th century CE among ruins in Ninevah (Once the capital city of the Assyrian Empire • Other copies and versions found throughout the area now corresponding to the Ancient Near East

4. Cuneiform • From the Latin meaning “wedge-shaped”, a system of writing used throughout the Near East during the first three millennia BCE

5. Akkadian • A Semitic language (i.e., from the same language family as Hebrew and Arabic) that was the common tongue of ancient Mesopotamia

6. Mesopotamia • Divided their history into two parts: Before and after the Great Flood • Before the flood, priests and sages ruled the land receiving their instruction from their god, Ea, the god of waters and wisdom • After the flood, kings like Gilgamesh ruled the land

7. Mesopotamia / Sumerians • Sumerians became the first literate culture in Mesopotamia, and the first to develop schools • Developed a number system based on 60 • Today, our 60 second minute and our 60 minute hour originate with the ancient Sumerians (as does our 360 degree circle) • Cities built around six or seven story stepped temples that served as staircases used by the gods when descending from the heavens

8. Mesopotamia • Between 2500 and 500 BCE Mesopotamia was filled with ongoing wars between the everpopulating cultures • In 2300 BCE, the Babylonians defeated the Sumerians and adopted their culture • The Babylonians were the first culture to record Gilgamesh in its present form • They added the flood story and the prologue (a thousand years before the Hebrew Old Testament was composed)

9. Akkadians (2100 - 2000 BC) The Akkadian people easily take over Sumerian culture – perhaps because of Sumer’s lack of a unified government. However, Sumerian culture is main- tained through these shifts in power. Under their king, Sargon, the Akkadians produce a version of Gilgamesh.

10. Babylonians (1700-700 BC) Hanging Gardens

11. Babylonians (1700-700 BC) King Nimrod’s Tower of Babel

12. Importance of Gilgamesh Earliest known literary work (earliest version 1900 BCE – Babylonian) Contains an account of the Great Flood and the story of a virtuous man named Utnapishtim who survived (likely the source for the biblical story of Noah) Expresses values of ancient civilization – such as the belief in divine retribution for transgressions such as violence, pride, the oppression of others, and the destruction of the natural world.

13. The Epic of Gilgamesh • About 75 different copies of this version survive, although fragmented, such that the text cannot be reconstructed in full • Lost until 1845 until an archeologist discovered it in Ninevah • May be the oldest work of literature in human history

14. The Epic of Gilgamesh • Reflection of editing and combination of earlier and smaller Sumerian tales into what we now know as an “epic” • What we know as The Epic of Gilgamesh has multiple unknown authors who have woven these tales into a single story/larger narrative with sustained themes.

15. The Epic of Gilgamesh • The stories preserved in the literary tale(s), however, are not historical in any strict sense,although some elements may trace back to the myths and legends that began to spread (in both written and oral form) in his own time and perhaps even soon after his death

16. The Epic of Gilgamesh • Composed in verse, rather than prose • Concerns humankind and the gods, but not a sacred text in the sense of a text used in liturgies(public worship)or religious festivals - in contrast to the EnumaElish (Babylonian creation myth)

17. Anu – father of gods and god of the sky (similar to Zeus) Enlil – god of the air Utu – sun god; lord of truth and justice

18. Sumerians (5000-2100 BC) Religious Beliefs • The Sumerians (and later the Babylonian people) worshipped a pantheon of gods and goddesses. • Regardless of one’s actions in life, they did not believe in life after death. They believed that after one dies there is only emptiness.

19. Literary Significance • Gilgamesh is a historical figure (a king) • He ruled the Sumerian king who ruled Uruk almost a millennium before The Epic of Gilgamesh was composed (ca. 2700 BCE)

20. Importance of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh serves as an early model of the archetypal hero. Studied by Joseph Campbell as a primary example of the monomyth (or hero’s journey story). Large number of parallels to The Odyssey and other Greek epics

21. Archetypes (on the level of blowing your mind) Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist, argued that the root of an archetype is in the “collective unconscious” of mankind. The phrase “collective unconscious” refers to experiences shared by a race or culture. This includes love, religion, death, birth, life, struggle, survival etc. These experiences exist in the subconscious of every individual and are recreated in literary works or in other forms of art.

22. The term "archetype" has its origins in ancient Greek. The root words are archein, which means "original or old"; and typos, which means "pattern, model or type". The combined meaning is an "original pattern" of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are derived, copied, modeled, or emulated.

23. Function of Archetype • The use of archetypical characters and situations gives a literary work a universal acceptance, as readers identify the characters and situations in their social and cultural context. By using common archetype, the writers attempt to impart realism to their works, as the situations and characters are drawn from the experiences of the world.

24. Archetypal Hero • They occur in all literature from around the world in all of our human history • Represent human culture or entire human race, shape the structure and function of a literary work. • An archetype, also known as universal symbol, may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting.

25. Archetypal Hero The Hero: He or she is a character who predominantly exhibits goodness and struggles against evil in order to restore harmony and justice to society e.g.  Beowulf, Hercules, D’artagnan from “The Three Musketeers” etc.

26. The Epic of Gilgamesh • Legends state that Gilgamesh ruled for 126 years, although a “year” may have been measured in seasons or moon phases, or perhaps the length of reign was embellished to make his legacy larger than life • Gilgamesh is 2/3 god and 1/3 man, being the son of the goddess Ninsun and the Priest Kullub

27. Literary Terms Hubris Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance; seen as an undesirable trait in ancient cultures

28. Hubris

29. Hubris

30. Hubris

31. Hubris

32. Story of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh is the story of King Gilgamesh of Uruk. Gilgamesh is a ruthless and oppressive leader, and the gods punish his prideful behavior. Horrified about what happens and the prospect of his own demise, Gilgamesh undertakes a quest for immortality. There he finds the truth about life and death.

33. The Hero’s Journey See Ms. Platte’s HERO’s JOURNEY POWERPOINT

34. Epic of Gilgamesh text on audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeDL_0Nszr0 The Epic of Gilgamesh text http://www.aina.org/books/eog/eog.pdf

35. Thematic Elements DIVINE vs. HUMAN (Tablets I - VI) • Gilgamesh is perched uncomfortably between divine and human • The gods are forced to intercede because of his arrogance • Mortality as reminder of his humanity • Humanization of Enkidu

36. Thematic Elements (Tablets I - VI) CITY vs WILDERNESS • Enkidu’s entry into civilization is marked by his geographical movement from the wilderness to the city • His participation in the battle against Humbaba, signifies his switch in loyalties • Enkidu’s death causes Gilgamesh to make the opposite move, from city to wilderness on his journey

37. CITY vs WILDERNESS (Tablets VII - XI) • It is only through journeying through uncertainty and and darkness that he arrives at wisdom • Returns in the end to the city, a more mature and better king having experienced not just strength and victory, but also loss and failure

38. DIVINE vs. HUMAN vs. Animal (Tablets VII - XI) • Reflections on human mortality and hopes for immortality • The text gives answers as to what constitutes immortality for humans: civilization and fame • Purpose of mortal lives: friendship and wisdom

39. Plot • Epic begins with the oppressive despotism of Gilgamesh • Compared to a wild bull in both strength and lack of control; also a lack of care for the weak • The complaints of his people create first conflict and move the first action of the text • The gods hear the pleas of the people and decide to create Gilgamesh’s double- Enkidu - as an equal for him to fight

40. Plot (Cont’d) • Enkidu raised in the wilderness • Lives like the animals • The Stalker (unnamed hunter who moves between - and mediates - the worlds of the wilderness and the city) sees Enkidu and tells Gilgamesh • Gilgamesh has The Stalker bring the temple courtesan to Enkidu, so he will be drawn to her and “his animals will turn from him”

41. Plot (Cont’d) • The process of relations with the courtesan results in the animals recoil from Enkidu • After talks of Gilgamesh and his power (and Uruk and its riches), she convinces Enkidu to travel to Uruk to try and conquer Gilgamesh

42. Plot (Cont’d) • Enkidu comes to Uruk • Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight • Gilgamesh wins, but the two become friends • The two set off in search of adventure and fame • They fight Humbaba, the guard of the cedar forest • They are victorious and return to Uruk as heros

43. Plot (Con’t) • The goddess Ishtar, impressed, asks Gilgamesh to marry her • He refuses and she unleashes the Bull of Heaven upon him • For Gilgamesh’s hubris, the gods decide that Enkidu must die • Enkidu becomes ill, laments his departure from the wilderness, then comes to accept its goods

44. Plot (Cont’d) • Gilgamesh is devastated by the loss of his friend • He now begins to question mortality/immortality and the inevitability of death

45. Plot (Cont’d) • Gilgamesh speaks to Utnapishtim, who is rumored to be the only human to have escaped death • Gilgamesh’s journey is filled with imagery of hardship and darkness, together with repetition, which serves to evoke the journey’s length as well as to underline its key points

46. Plot (Cont’d) • Gilgamesh tells the story to all whom he encounters. Each time, he retells his reason- stressing that he is compelled by a need to KNOW • All tell him his journey is pointless - humankind is mortal- there are no exceptions and no act of heroism can change this • The extreme repetition serves to highlight the endurance and persistence of Gilgamesh (foil to the hero seen in the earlier part of the tale)

47. Plot (Cont’d) • Gilgamesh succeeds in seeing Utnapishtim, who tells him the story of the Flood • The god Enil sends the Flood to humankind without consulting the rest of the gods • The god Ea gets around the requirement to not tell any humans by speaking to Utnapishtim through a reed wall and helps him think of a way to explain why he is building a big boat • Utnapishtim and his family survive, carrying with them seeds of animals as well

48. Plot (Cont’d) • After the flood, Ea convinces Enil to only punish the wicked, not all humans, in the future and there is a trade-off; instead of the threat of total destruction, humankind receives hardship in life

49. Plot (Cont’d) • Only one man, Utnapishtim, is spared the fate of death • Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that he too can can ask the council of the gods for eternal life, provided that he pass a test of not sleeping for six days and seven nights • Gilgamesh fails

50. Plot (Cont’d) • Utnapishtim then tells him of a plant, the eating of which may bring immortality. • Gilgamesh fails again. He finds the plant, but a serpent eats it • Gilgamesh returns to Uruk, still mortal but wiser for the journey