Note Reading

Epic of Gilgamesh

1. “Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance,
   he is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild bull.” (Tablet 1)
   This person is described as a “wild bull,” which I interpret is a very masculine person who one should not deal with as he is also strong and courageous as the people describe him as such. This dude is such an alpha male.
2. “Offspring of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh is strong to perfection,
   son of the august cow, Rimat-Ninsun;… Gilgamesh is awesome to perfection.
   It was he who opened the mountain passes,
   who dug wells on the flank of the mountain.” (Tablet 1)
   Wow, I didn’t expect Gilgamesh to be that masculine to begin with. This is something that I would be jealous of. If Gilgamesh has the skills needed to rule Uruk, then I would elect him as he is overqualified to be ruler of Urrk. I wish to become like him.
3. “When the animals are drinking at the watering place
   have her take off her robe and expose her sex.
   When he sees her he will draw near to her,
   and his animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will be alien to him.” (Tablet 1)

The first time I read this, I was laughing so hard because I didn’t know that it was this vulgar. I guess it is essential to the plot as if you have sex with a woman, the animals will treat him as an alien which is something that is so insane that I almost questioned myself.

4 “They kissed each other and became friends.
[The Old Babylonian becomes fragmentary. The Standard Version resumes]
“His strength is the mightiest in the land!
His strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu.” (Tablet 2)

I guess when you fight each other but you can’t defeat each other, you become friends afterwards. It makes sense. They do respect each other’s strength and they would come to go on an adventure later on.

5. ”My friend hates me …
   while he talked with me in Uruk
   as I was afraid of the battle he encouraged me.
   My friend who saved me in battle has now abandoned me!” (Tablet 7)
   This is the part where Gilgamesh missing his best friend. This seems to be a turning point.
6. “Four leagues he traveled …,
   dense was the darkness, light there was none,
   neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.” (Tablet 9)
   Now, I don’t think that it was that bad but because this is partially fiction, it can be described as such. Gilgamesh is really struggling to go through this after he has heard about this from the old man.
7. ”Go up, Urshanabi, onto the wall of Uruk and walk around.
   Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly–
   is not (even the core of) the brick structure of kiln-fired brick,” (Tablet 11)
   The guy is telling Gilgamesh to examine his city once again to recognize how beautiful it is and for Gilgamesh to remember what he created during his reign. It is a sight to see!