Chapter 3: for the Love of Heroes
What do you look for in a story? Many readers and viewers turn to a story in search of a hero. Do you enjoy rom coms, action movies, detective yarns and graphic novels because you revel in the moment when the hero (no gender association intended) wins through against towering odds?
Action Gilgamesh
In Chapter 2, we explored the concept of mythic narrative, a story tradition that embeds a people in its origins and teaches their values and ways of living. As in most mythic traditions, Gilgamesh embodies the virtues of the society in heroes who at least symbolically secure blessings for their people by doing battle against aliens and monsters. Let’s return to the story and explore his role as an action hero.
from Tablet 1
Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance,
he is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild bull.
He walks out in front, the leader,
and walks at the rear, trusted by his companions.
Mighty net, protector of his people,
raging flood-wave who destroys even walls of stone!
The people of Uruk are proud of their hero-king. Yet they also chafe under his unmatched dominance.
There is no rival who can raise his weapon against him.
His fellows stand (at the alert), attentive to his orders,
and the men of Uruk become anxious. …
Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother
The daughter of the warrior, the bride of the young man.
Like many a man of power, Gilgamesh takes women as he wishes. On a bride’s wedding night, he claims the right of lying with the woman before the husband. This is tradition and also a source of unrest.
Like many a man of power, Gilgamesh takes women as he wishes. On a bride’s wedding night, he claims the right of lying with the woman before the husband. This is tradition and also a source of unrest. When the citizens of Uruk cried out, the gods listened:
Anu![1] listened to their complaints,
and (the gods) called out to Aruru[2]:
“it was you, Aruru, who created mankind(?),
now create a zikru[3] to it/him.
Let him be equal to his (Gilgamesh’s) stormy heart,
let them be a match for each other so that Uruk may find peace!”
When Aruru heard this she created within herself the zikru of Anu.
Aruru washed her hands, she pinched off some clay, and threw it into the wilderness.
In the wildness she created valiant Enkidu,
born of Silence, endowed with strength by Ninurta.
His whole body was shaggy with hair,
he had a full head of hair like a woman,
His whole body was shaggy with hair,
He knew neither people nor settled living.
And so a new contender enters the picture: the wild man Enkidu.
A notorious trapper came face-to-face with him opposite the watering hole. …
On seeing him the trapper’s face went stark with fear,
and he (Enkidu?) and his animals drew back home.
He was rigid with fear; though stock-still
his heart pounded and his face drained of color. …
“Father, a certain fellow has come from the mountains.
He is the mightiest in the land,
his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu![4] …
I was afraid, so I did not go up to him.
He filled in the pits that I had dug,
wrenched out my traps that I had spread,
released from my grasp the wild animals.
He does not let me make my rounds in the wilderness!” …
The trapper went off to Uruk,
he made the journey, stood inside of Uruk,
and declared to … Gilgamesh:
“There is a certain fellow who has come from the mountains–
he is the mightiest in the land,
his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu!”
[4] Anu: Sumerian sky deity, lord and ancestor of other gods
Alarmed by news of a possible threat to his supremacy, Gilgamesh sends a woman to seduce and weaken Enkidu. Shamhat is charmed by the wild man and his strength, but she is disturbed by his “uncivilized” lack of elegant behavior.
Learning Objectives
Look about, Enkidu, inside Uruk-Haven,
where the people show off in skirted finery,
where every day is a day for some festival. …
Enkidu, you who do not know how to live. …
Enkidu, it is your wrong thoughts you must change!
It is Gilgamesh whom Shamash loves,
and Anu, Enlil[1], and La[2] have enlarged his mind.
The conflict between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is a matter of combat, but it is even more a cultural clash. The hero of Uruk represents the Sumerian idea of civilization as a superior way of life. This is the essence of a mythic hero, the champion who embodies the refined elegance of a people’s rituals and style.
Shamhat leads Enkidu to begin learning civilized ways and he heroically protects shepherds’ flocks from danger. The shepherds tell Enkidu of an upcoming wedding in Uruk and a not so civilized custom, his habit of taking brides on their wedding nights. Enkidu is appalled and sets out to stop the outrage.
Enkidu walked down the street of Uruk-Haven,
He blocked the way through Uruk the Sheepfold.
The land of Uruk stood around him,
the whole land assembled about him,
the populace was thronging around him,
the men were clustered about him,
and kissed his feet as if he were a little baby. …
Enkidu blocked the entry to the marital chamber,
and would not allow Gilgamesh to be brought in.
They grappled with each other at the entry to the marital chamber,
in the street they attacked each other, the public square of the land.
The doorposts trembled and the wall shook. …
Gilgamesh bent his knees, with his other foot on the ground,
his anger abated and he turned his chest away. …
They kissed each other and became friends.
So Gilgamesh and Enkidu battle it out. Just imagine what superhero action directors would make of the scene! The action rages until the wild man acknowledges the strength and authority of Uruk’s hero.
Then something surprising happens. Well, surprising to us. The two combatants become friends and allies and, as every good hero-pair will, they look about them for adventures. Gilgamesh proposes a venture that risks the wrath of the Gods. Gilgamesh proposes a feat that will earn immortal renown: kill the monster Humbaba whom Enlil has assigned to protect the Cedar Forest:
Enlil assigned him as a terror to human beings,
and whoever goes down into his forest paralysis will strike!
When Enkidu urges caution and restraint, Gilgamesh questions his friend’s courage:
Gilgamesh spoke to Enkidu saying: …
“Who, my Friend, can ascend to the heavens!
Only the gods can dwell forever with Shamash.
As for human beings, their days are numbered,
and whatever they keep trying to achieve is but wind!
“Now you are afraid of death–
what has become of your bold strength!
I will go in front of you,
and your mouth can call out: ‘Go on closer, do not be afraid!’
Should I fall, I will have established my fame.
(They will say:) ‘It was Gilgamesh who locked in battle with Humbaba the Terrible!’ …
It is I who will establish fame for eternity!”
Here Gilgamesh articulates the formula for heroics shared by stories told in all times and places. Human beings are mortal and will soon disappear. The only way to extend oneself beyond the limits of mortality is to be remembered in a reputation for heroic achievement that generations will treasure. Mythic heroes face death because only heroics can reach beyond its implacable judgment.
Gilgamesh proposes a superhuman test for the freshly formed alliance. Take on the monster guardian appointed by the gods. Everyone else thinks this is a bad idea. Rimat-Ninsun, Sumerian cow goddess and the hero’s mother, fears for the outcome. Enkidu hangs back and the leading citizens of Uruk question the hero’s youthful recklessness.
you do not know what you are talking about!
…gave birth to you.
Humbaba’s roar is a Flood,
his mouth is Fire, his breath Death!
He can hear any rustling in his forest 100 leagues away!
Who would go down into his forest!
Who among even the Igigi gods can confront him?
In order to keep the Cedar safe, Enlil assigned him as a terror
to human beings.”
Combat with the monster ends as heroes’ battles generally do, Gilgamesh severing Humbaba’s head. The heroes cut down cedars, form a raft, and return to Uruk carrying Humbaba’s head. Like mythic heroes around the world, Gilgamesh is credited with bringing to his people cedar wood, a treasured trade good in the deltas of the Tigris and Euphrates.
But the adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu are not over. When Gilgamesh resists the sexual advances of Inanna/Ishtar, the patron deity of Uruk, she sends the Bull of Heaven to punish him. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, ensuring lasting fame and the anger of the gods who demand a death to restore balance to the world order.
Anu, Enlil, and Shamash[1] held a council,
and Anu spoke to Enlil:
“Because they killed the Bull of Heaven and have also slain Humbaba,
the one of them who pulled up the Cedar of the Mountain must die!”
Enlil said: “Let Enkidu die, but Gilgamesh must not die!”
Bur the Sun God of Heaven replied to valiant Enlil:
“Was it not at my command that they killed the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba!
Should now innocent Enkidu die?”
Then Enlil became angry at Shamash, saying:
“it is you who are responsible because you traveled daily
with them as their friend!”
[1] Shamash: in Mesopotamian theology, the sun god, a pre-eminent deity who was seen as a divine judge.
To anyone who has read the ancient Greek poet Homer’s epic of the Trojan war, the Iliad, the argument among the gods over which mortals deserve support will seem familiar. In that tale, the gods of Olympus divide up into teams, one supporting the Greeks, the other defending the Trojans. The heroics of Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax, Hector, and Aeneas are skewed by divine interference. Here, the gods decide that Enkidu, the mere mortal, must bear the penalty for his ally, the semi-divine Gilgamesh. Enkidu dreams of his death and begins to waste away.
to sit with the ghosts of the dead, to see my dear brother nevermore!”
In the Cedar Forest where the Great Gods dwell, I did not kill the Cedar.”
As he watches his friend die, Gilgamesh begins to understand the reality of actual death. Like an adolescent who dreams of glory in combat and wakes up to the horror on the battlefield, Gilgamesh discovers that a hero’s reputation does not breach the limits of mortality.
His tears flowing like canals, he (Gilgamesh) said:
“O brother, dear brother, why are they absolving me instead of my brother?”
This, of course, is the death that shatters Gilgamesh’s illusions and precipitates the existential crisis we read about in Chapter 2. On a journey to the edge of mortality, Gilgamesh moves through the happily-ever-after fantasies that beguile so many hero myths in spiritual trials that lie at the heart of all human experience.