HUM-8 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Ninhursag, Enkidu, Odysseus
Document Summary
It is an epic long poem that tells of heroic deeds oldest epic. A mesopotamian epic celebrates the deeds of a cultural icon. Uruk ancient sumerian city ruled by gilgamesh in 2700 bce. Ishar sumarian goddess of love, fertility and war. Ninsun gilgamesh"s mother, goddess noted for wisdom (often portrayed as a cow) Aruru goddess of earth, partly responsible for creation of men. Gilgamesh heir to throne of of uruk, warrior, arrogant. Ut-napistim - sole survivor of flood, granted immortality by the gods, advisor to gilgamesh on his search for eternal life. Aruru creates a rival (enkidu) for gilgamesh because of complaints of the people from uruk. This rival lives in the wild, he is strong and savage. A hunter sees this savage, the hunters father tells the hunter to go find gilgamesh, ask him for a woman, and use this woman to seduce the enkidu. Enkidu and the woman have intercourse, afterwards, enkidu is physically weakened, but mentally stronger.
