1. Mr. Henderson Mythology
Etana and the Eagle
Mr. Henderson
Mythology

2. Etana and the Eagle Example of a reconstructed myth
Told on three tablets it is the myth of the a mortal king of Sumer named Etana who is childless and searching for a cure.
The myth contains elements of fable and it is likely that it began as one.
Tablets I and III are badly damaged, so certain parts of the myth must be guessed at.

3. The Animal Fable
At the beginning of the myth an eagle and a snake are friends. Both have a nest of eggs they protect.
The eagle however, once its hatchlings are born, decided to feast on the snake’s young to feed its own fledglings.
Despite the advice of one of its own children, who cautions the eagle against betrayal, the eagle does so and kills the snake’s young..

4. The Animal Fable
The snake prays to the god Shamash, who advises the snake to lay a trap for the eagle.
The snake kills a bull and hides in the carcass.
When the bird, including the eagle, come to feed, the snake leaps out of the bull and bites the eagle.

5. Etana meets the eagle
As the eagle lay in a ditch injured, its prays to Shamash, who doesn’t answer.
Eventually Shamash tells the eagle that a man is coming, who perhaps might help.
The man Etana is a king of Sumer who is seeking a plant (called unoriginally “the plant of birth”) that will help him have a child.

6. Etana meets the eagle
Etana has also been praying to Shamash, and the god tells him where to find the eagle.
Etana nurses the eagle back to health and after seven months, the eagle is able to fly again.
In return for his help the eagle offers to find this “plant of birth” for Etana.
But as far as the eagle searches, he cannot find the plant anywhere on earth.

7. The End of the Myth
Finally the eagle suggests that the plant might not be on earth but is maybe in the heaven of Anu.
The eagle offers to fly Etana up to heaven on its back.
So Etana rides the eagle… and that’s where the myth ends, because the third tablet is too badly damaged to read the rest.

8. Reconstruction
We can however assume that the myth had a happy ending, because we do have on another tablet, the name of Etana listing a son named Balih.
This tablet is called the “Sumerian king list”, and it lists the kings of Sumer, many of whom (like Etana) are perhaps legendary, rather than historical.

9. Etana in Art