Gilgamesh, Prologue and Book 1

Even mostly avoiding the sketchy bits, you had a good discussion of the opening of Gilgamesh. The point I wanted to make about Shamhat and Enkidu is how she civilizes the beastly Enkidu with her “love-arts.” He “could not longer run/like an animal, as he had before….he knew that his mind had somehow grown larger,/he knew things now that an animal can’t know” (79). In our culture, this power given to female sexuality makes us very uncomfortable, so I can understand your reluctance to discuss this scene, especially with me, but it is an important aspect of the epic that reveals a profound cultural difference between the ancient Sumerians who wrote the story and modern Americans who create stories in which female sexuality is seen as the source of evil and as emasculating. Consider the character of Grendel’s mother in the movie version of Beowulf.

When considering the passage quoted above, also consider the way that humans and animals are distinguished from one another. Though, as you pointed out, even the greatest of humans, Gilgamesh, has animal traits. A number of times, Gilgamesh is compared to a “wild bull,” which you noted is a violent animal with uncontrollable strength. As king, Gilgamesh is “a wild bull of a man,” suggesting his great power but also that his power is not always under control (71). Even those who care for the wild bull can get trampled, as Gilgamesh tramples his people, if they get too close.