1. GILGAMESH (Lectures 12-13)

2. sacred myth
legend
folktale
WORLD
inflexible
somewhat flexible, generally hostile
highly flexible
CAUSALITY
hard determinism
rigid laws, fateful determinism, some room for human choice
chance and luck; in the extreme, fairytale wish-fulfillment
STANCE
absolute resignation
acquiescence and endurance
optimism and opportunism
MORALITY
irrelevant: good = divine will
irrelevant: moral character NOT = quality of experience
relevant: moral character = quality of experience

3. Hero Pattern BIRTH Mixed Status divine + human parents CHILDHOOD
Signs of Election
Separation
Education
superior abilities as child/teen
removal from home due to threat
mysterious teacher
DEPARTURE
Call
Sidekick
Journey
Exploits
Encounters
desire for glory / urgent mission
double
unexplored terrain
monsters (cosmogonic)
young woman/old woman/old man
RETURN / DEATH
Failure
Reconciliation
Death
death of sidekick
bond with others
heroic funeral
MEMORIALIZATION
Myth & Ritual
center of community

4. Gilgamesh Chronology 2700-2500
Historical King Gilgamesh of Uruk, 2nd Early Dynastic Period
Oral tradition: "Gilgamesh & the Land of the Living"; "Gilgamesh, Enkidu & the Netherworld"; "The Death of Gilgamesh"; "Gilgamesh & the Bull of Heaven"; "The Deluge"
Akkadian Gilgamesh epic based on Sumerian and Akkadian (Atrahasis) sources
Internationalization of epic. Prologue, Flood Tale, Tablet XII added.

5. Gilgamesh Pattern BIRTH Mixed Status 2/3 divine: Lugalbanda + Ninsun
CHILDHOOD
Signs of Election
Separation
Education
[rescue by eagle]
[raised by gardener]
[narrative missing]
DEPARTURE
Call
Sidekick
Exploits
Gilgamesh the bad king
vision of corpse
desire for heroic glory
Enkidu
Huwawa, Ishtar, Bull of Heaven
RETURN
Failure
Reconciliation
death of Enkidu; vision of Afterworld
journey to meet Uta-napishtim
rejection by Uta-napishtim
return to Uruk
building of wall; inscription of narrative
death of Gilgamesh

6. Synopsis I
Gilgamesh bad king. Gods create wildman Enkidu. Lured into intercourse, Enkidu becomes "civilized.” II
Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight to a stalemate.
III
Vision of corpse. Gilgamesh plans expedition to the Cedar Forest. IV
Journey to Cedar Forest.  Admonitory dreams. V
Defeat of Huwawa. Cedars cut down for door of temple. VI
Gilgamesh rejects advances of Inanna. Bull of Heaven destroyed. Enkidu insults Inanna,
VII
On deathbed Enkidu has vision of Land of Ereshkigal, Queen of the Dead.
VIII
Lamentation over Enkidu. IX
Gilgamesh wanders the earth in search of immortal Uta-napishtim, once mortal. X
Gilgamesh crosses Waters of Death to visit Uta-napishtim. XI
Utnapishtim tells Flood story. Gilgamesh fails test. On return journey, loses plant of rejuvenation. Returns to Uruk, builds wall, inscribes adventures, dies.

7. Cosmogony, Anthropogony, & The Fall
union of primal parents in undifferentiated harmony
initial harmony between human and divine and/or human and nature
split or separation of parents and/or body of female parent
rupture of harmony, either through
(a) accident, or
(b) transgression
loss of unity in the rapidly dividing and divisive world
resulting disharmony, from
(a) separation of human and divine, and (in case of transgression)
(b) punishment of the transgressor
rupture as origin of worldly evil: work, pain, disease, death

8. Fall of Enkidu Fall of Adam
Gilgamesh
(Sumer, ca BCE)
Genesis
(Syria-Palestine, ca BCE)
Enkidu in natural state
nakedness
sexual innocence
food: grass, animal milk
Adam and Eve in Eden
food: fruit
Enkidu seduced by Shamhat
sex for six days and seven nights
Eve tricked by serpent* // Adam “seduced” by Eve
eating of “forbidden fruit”
Enkidu “fallen”
loss of strength and speed
rejection by animals
“wisdom” (“thoughts of a man”)
godlikeness
Adam and Eve “fallen”
self-consciousness and shame
rejection by Yahweh
knowledge of good and evil
godlikeness (“the man has become like one of us”)
nature  culture
Enkidu eats bread and drinks wine
Enkidu becomes drunk**
clothing
bathing and grooming
hunting of animals
(sickness)
(death)
childbirth pain
work and suffering
frustration
sexual desire
male dominance over female
death
*Later in Gilgamesh, a serpent steals the plant of rejuvenation and swallows it.
**Compare the later account of Noah's drunkenness (also linked with  nakedness and shame) after cultivating the first grapevine.

9. SPECIES
CHARACTER
FOOD
CLOTHING
CONDITION
DISPOSITION
animal
Enkidu
raw
none
mortal: unconscious of death
serenity
human
Gilgamesh
cooked
skins/perishable cloth
mortal: conscious of death
despair/joy
divine
gods
mineral (?)
immaculate cloth
immortal