The Role of Women in The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay

Overall women are very important and powerful parts in Gilgamesh, and technically there would not be an Epic of Gilgamesh without the powerful roles that they

After passing through the twin mountains of Mashu, Gilgamesh encounters Shiduri, the tavern keeper. Lost in his wanderings, he is forced to seek advice from her on how to reach Utanapishti. It is ironic because after his blatant abuse of power and mistreatment of women, as mentioned above, it is a woman that he seeks advice from in one of his weakest moments. She tells him how to reach Utanapishti and the dangers that lay in between and tells him to find Ur-shanabi so that he may continue his journey. In addition to providing guidance, women also play powerful roles. Shamhat, for example, uses the power of sex and curiosity to lure Enkidu away from his wild environment. After having sex for seven days and seven nights, Enkidu was no longer able to return to live amongst the animals and was forced to learn the ways of civilized life, which Shamhat taught him. It is easy to see that at this point in the epic, Shamhat clearly possessed the upper hand over Enkidu. He succumbed to her every word, learned the ways of morality and man, and was even convinced to go stand up to the mighty king of Uruk, which ultimately led to the friendship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh.Ishtar also takes on the role of a powerful woman. The goddess of love used her sexual power over men. Not only did she use it to get the man she wanted, but she used this power to dominate and hurt the men that loved her. Knowing that her love would eventually lead to his loss of independence and

The Epic of Gilgamesh follows a tale of two brothers tasked with defeating an all-powerful beast, yet they aren’t the most important characters in this story. Without their wisdom and guidance, Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s journey would have ended a lot sooner, and Gilgamesh would have still rampaged in Uruk, never bringing peace to those who were below him. Aruru, Shamhat, Ninsun, Ishtar, Siduri, and Utanapishtim’s wife all contribute to Gilgamesh’s journey, and in the end, provide Gilgamesh with the necessary tools in order to transform his character. These women in The Epic of Gilgamesh are essential to the plot, and provide both wisdom and perfection, but can also bring temptation and destruction if given the power to do so.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story of Gilgamesh, a man who was two-thirds god that was saved by companionship. Gilgamesh was a cruel and careless king, who spent his time raping women, exhausting citizens, and conquering foes and foreign lands until he met, fought and was guided by his great friend and soul mate, Enkidu. With the help of Enkidu and his influence, he learned compassion as well as wisdom and integrity, and eventually Gilgamesh became a great and fair king. Though the story focuses mainly on Gilgamesh and his friendship with Enkidu, there are several roles played by women that help to make and move the story along. Without these important women who show great strength and feminine qualities despite being oppressed by the

About 2700 years ago there lived a king by the name of Gilgamesh who ruled the city of Uruk in Mesopotamia now known to us as modern day Iraq. Parts of his life are written on clay tablets believed to be the oldest existing written story of a man’s life. (XI). “The epic of Gilgamesh”, is the story of his quest for eternal life. In this paper I will be writing about the influence that the women in his life have played in his quest.

maker of wine, since I have seen your face do not let me see the face

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role. While women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of humans, they still had tremendous influence. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not play a necessarily minor role. With all the women that play a role in the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender is a topic worthy of discussion.

Gilgamesh encounters Utnapishtim, a man who survives the great flood and receives immortality. Utnapishtim gives Gilgamesh eclectic tasks to achieve eternal life. The first task is to stay awake for seven days, which Gilgamesh is unable to accomplish. Feeling sorry, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh a secret that if he finds the “plant that grows under the water… [it] restores his lost youth” (31). Gilgamesh lights up and ties rocks to his feet to sink down to search for the marvelous plant. Gilgamesh finds the ultimate boon. He is overjoyed and eager to bring the plant back to his homeland to restore the youth of all the men there. The refusal of the return occurs when, he was returning home and becomes careless and bathes in a nearby well of cool water, leaving the plant unattended. A snake suddenly appears and eats the plant, restoring the snake’s youth. Gilgamesh begins to weep upon seeing that he failed in his quest for immortality. Gilgamesh returns back to his homeland, Uruk, and engraves his story on a stone for everyone to see and

The Epic of Gilgamesh chronicles the life of the great warrior and hero Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is not great hero because he is moral. In fact he is feared because "a goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, none can withstand his arms" (1). This phrase underlines the terrible power of femininity, in the view of the Mesopotamian culture that produced the text. On one hand, the female principle is responsible for creation. On the other hand, the female principle also has the ability to destroy: the epic takes a largely dim perspective of humanity, and often, by extension of women, because the source of all creation is a goddess, Aruru. Aruru creates but she also generates suffering.

    The epic Gilgamesh is a story about a man’s quest for immortality and the sadness that comes from realizing you are going to die someday. Gilgamesh believes he is the greatest man alive and that he will live forever. This leads to his inflated ego and also the mistreatment of his people. Enkidu is made by the gods to be a foil to Gilgamesh and to change his behavior so he will treat his people better. While Enkidu does exactly that, the story wouldn’t be able to progress if it wasn’t for the woman in this story. Shamhat the harlot turns Enkidu from a wild man into a civilized person after having sex for “7 days and 7 nights” (Gilgamesh 12; tablet II). And Ninsun the goddess convinces Shamash to send winds to help Enkidu and Gilgamesh when they fight Humbaba. The many women in this story help the heroes and the plot progress through different benchmarks. A woman’s knowledge and insight are vital to keeping any man on track toward his goals, but at the same time, a woman scorned can have serious consequences.

Women in The Epic Of Gilgamesh and Mesopotamian Society In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role, because while women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of all humans, they still had tremendous influence over others around them, and even today, over those who study and learn about the women of the time of Mesopotamia. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not necessarily play a minor role. Throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh, the roles of women are mixed. Women are represented as harlots (Shamhat), as wise (Ninsun), and as gods (Ishtar). There is a substantial amount of gods which are represented as women and it could represent a society with multiple

All throughout history, the role that women play have been overlooked and not thought of as being as important as the men. In reality, the world could not possibly go round if it wasn't for the women and the minor, but crucial roles they play. Although the women in the Epic of Gilgamesh had minor roles, their roles were definitely important. The women, who are Aruru, Shamhat, Ninsun, Siduri, Ishtar, and the wife of Utnapishtim, represents not only great wisdom and power, but also temptation, which the men try no to fall victim to, and ruin. Just like the men in this epic, the women also have powers, of which the men were aware.

In her essay Images of Women in the Gilgamesh Epic, Rivkah Harris dissects the roles that women play in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the essay, Harris examines the epic which “reveals cultural stereotypes and ideals” surrounding the view of women. In the essay Harris makes a convincing argument that women in ancient Mesopotamia were likely stereotyped and held to gendered ideals using evidence that appeared consistently in The Epic of Gilgamesh. One of the biggest issues Harris examines is the subservient role that women take in the story line.

Gilgamesh begins searching for the meaning of life after the death of his friend, Enkidu. He contracts with a young woman, Siduri, the maker of wine. He asks her to direct him to the immortality. Siduri tells Gilgamesh to enjoy the life of this world and its pleasure. This is the “lot of man,” to fell one’s bell with food and drink, to enjoy the life and be merry, to cherish children, and to love one’s wife. Siduri tries to persuade Gilgamesh of these things to his quest for immortality. However, Gilgamesh was very motivated to overcome the death. Gilgamesh thinks that the dead live in darkness surrounded by dirt and dust and suffering darkness. By the end, Gilgamesh gave up to what Siduri had told him and he begins to address the problem of

Gilgamesh, like Qin Shi Huang and Pope Innocent VIII and many others across time, demonstrates his commitment to his quest for physical immortality through his willingness to risk his life for a chance to live forever. A determined and defiant Gilgamesh ventures across the Waters of Death to reach his intended goal and survives the waters; however, all human beings to date lost their lives in their pursuit proving ultimately that human beings appear helplessly defenseless against death. Gilgamesh also believes Utnapishtim possesses amazing supernatural power denoting an extraordinary being able to illuminate his mind and body to achieve immortality, but he soon realizes that Utnapishtim is merely a man given immortality at the hand and