Unfair

Gilgamesh Reading Response

Tablet VII

As the death of the bull of heaven infuriated the Gods, one of the killers must die. In this case, it was Enkidu for he was not Gilgamesh the gifted one. Even though both had gone in the errand of killing the guardian of the Cedar forest, Huwawa and also of the death of the bull, Enkidu was the one cursed. As he felt sick, he cursed the world, specially the temple prostitute. Shamash the god who send both on the errand, made him regret his curse. As Enkidu had a dream, of his death, Gilgamesh came into the room and heard the rattle of death.

It really disgusted me the way in which Shamash made Enkidu regret his curse. It is true that if the hunter wouldn't have found Enkidu in the wild, nothing of this would've happened. I loath the idea of having to civilized nature because Shamash wanted too. ¨Because of her you eat the food and drink the palace affords. Because of her you wear the garments suitable for a prince to wear; the great ones of the earth bow down before you¨. Shamash is more like our human perspective. We have to have it all to be happy. Being famous is great and your name shall be said all over history. What ever! Enkidu didn't know anything about this until he found the temple prostitute. He could have been even happier without knowing about the civilized world. Shamash is the protector of civilization, and the destroyer of nature. Shamash was more like a coward. instead of doing the business himself, he could do it himself. He didn't even try to defend Enkidu that much, he would just let him die. Now, he has to die to the God that send them into the errand, Shamash. Gilgamesh or Enkidu didn't have to kill the guardian. He supposedly was the devil because he was a savage. As in Ishmael, Enkidu became a taker, were he defies the God and the course of nature.

Tablet VIII


Enkidu´s death was the end for Gilgamesh. Now, with his companion gone, the only thing that he could do was mourn for him, and let the others mourn too. He decided to built a statue for him and honor him as a king.

I don't like the idea that after Enkidu dies, there is sadness. I cant belief that Gilgamesh would really let him die alone. If he could live without him, why didn't Gilgamesh sacrifice for Enkidu. At least Shamash could have done something. That is way more symbolic or even more heroic than weeping and mourning when the person is already dead.

This reminded me of my grandmother´s death. It was so sudden, but she was already gone, and there was nothing to do. We decided that we would do a cremation to make the loss go away faster. It was very hard for all of us specially my grandad (they had just celebrated their fiftieth anniversary). Eve how, we figured that the most simple it would be, the better. She was already dead, what else could we do?

The video I will post is about the civilization conquering nature. In this case, I refer it to Pocahontas. Radcliffe (evil purple guy), I relate him as Shamash, the killer of nature. John Smith is more like Enkidu and Gilgamesh in their quest to kill the protector of nature, in this case, the Indians such as Pocahontas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P99grcBer30&feature=related