Gilgamesh Episodes

I would summarize the epic of Gilgamesh into seven episodes. The first episode I would call "the problem". This is when Gilgamesh was overbearing, and the people pleaded for his rival. There was a need for someone to match his power because his pride was out of control. The second episode I would call "Friendship." This is when Enkidu and Gilgamesh first of all wrestle in the streets. However, after that they end up joining forces, and plan to defeat Humababa. The next episode I would call, "The battle." The beginning part of this is Enkidu and Gilgamesh journeying to the Pine Forest where they will fight Humbaba. They end up defeating him, and head back home. The next episode would be, "The return." This is when Enkidu and Gilgamesh come back from fighting Humbaba, and they end up having to fight the bull of Heaven. This is because Gilgamesh's pride again gets out of control, and he won't take Ishtar the goddess for his wife, and moves on to insult her. She sends the bull of heaven on them after that. I would call the next episode "Lament". This is when Enkidu dies  because the gods decide that one of them shouldn't live, and Gilgamesh starts to mourn, and wander the country. The next episode would be "Immortality." This is when Gilgamesh resolves to go and try and find immortality as he is afraid of his own demise, so he visits Ut-Napishtim who gives him challenges to prove that he is worthy of immortality. He fails. The last episode is "Back from the dead." Enkidu makes it out of the underworld to be rejoined with Gilgamesh.

Lex Talionis

I think that the justice system should, as best as possible, try and distinguish between what is out of someone's control, like an addiction, and try to reform them, but if someone is intentionally trying to hurt someone, or break the law, then they should be punished as they have done to others. However, seeing as people are liars, they should be punished with what they deserve, unless it is clearly seen that someone needs help. Polygraphs help.

Ruling

Is it better to be governed by fixed written laws with little discretion on the part of the rulers, or to be governed by the best rulers we can find, using their discretion to try and achieve justice?

       I think that it is better to be governed by a fixed set of written laws because, for one, putting most of the power on one man leaves a lot of room for error since it is only one man doing whatever he wants, whereas if there is a collection of people writing laws by which that kingdom will be ruled, then everybody keeps each other accountable, and revises each others ideas, so there will be less room for corruption. Also, choosing the "best" ruler in the ancient times did not necessarily mean the most just ruler. They many times measured greatness by power and authority, and power and authority do not inherently include justice. We can see this through Gilgamesh: he was a very powerful and authoritative man, but he was also extremely corrupt, so the peoples' choice will not always be the best ruler

Historical and Literary Analysis

Historical Analysis:

        1. The various Mesopotamian versions can help us understand the history of the cultures which produced them because it shows what they valued, and shows where other cultures were based. We can see that these ancient cultures were very oral based because of the repetition that is given in all of these documents. They repeated many passages because they wanted these important things to stick in their minds because most of this was passed down orally. We can also see where other cultures were based because of how the story changes geographically. On page 43, we see many examples of conflicting stories of where things were based (for example, where the ark ends up after the flood).

Literary Analysis:

        3. These documents can show us a lot about the place of literature in the ancient world. In the ancient world Mesopotamian world,  literature was not as holy as in the middle ages. The books were written by schoolboys, and there were many conflicting details signifying lack of care. In the middle ages, books were copied down with a painstaking process and much of the literature was considered holy. So we can conclude that literature in ancient Sumeria was considered more of an entertainment than something serious.

Ancient Civilizations

1.      A person looking at our culture today might see many buildings, and have different opinions about which is the most important. For example, they might see the largest and most important buildings as grocery shops, and malls. This shows how we live in a very consumerist society whereas an ancient society would probably be centered around spiritual buildings like ziggurats, so those cultures were much more focused on divinities.

2.      The most valid criteria for a culture to be considered a civilization would be an ability to write, a complexity to the social group, and distinct functions that are established, and having some technological advancement, like working with metals.

Ice Cream Epithets

Tiamat- Tiamat would be a chocolate ice cream with cherries and strawberries jam to visualize the havoc that she brought to the gods. It can be topped with

Enlil- Enlil will be a caramel ice cream to represent royalty (like a crown) and will be topped with a cherry crown, 

Enki- Enki can be a brown, chocolate ice cream with pistachios on top to represent earthiness and wisdom.

Marduk- Marduk will be a vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce, and cherries to look like an ancient marble ziggurat.

Dumuzi- Dumuzi can either be a vanilla ice cream with chocolate pieces, and a sugar snow ball (if possible) to represent winter, or he will be a brown chocolate ice cream with cherries and caramel to represent fall.

Nanna- Nanna will be a chocolate ice cream with a whipped cream or some white moon on top.

Enuma Elish vs. The Theogany

There are many similarities that we can see between the Theogany and the Enuma Elish. One common thing between these two ancient creation documents is that in both of these, the gods are very human like in that they reproduce and, they fight with each other. In both of these, everything was created from the gods and their babies. Also, there are many cases of hatred and murder. In the Theogany, it is not uncommon for a parent to loath their child, and in Enuma Elish, the gods kill each other over petty things.... like not getting enough sleep. However, therein lies the main difference between these two documents. In the Theogany, the gods are immortal, but in Enuma Elish, the gods can be killed, and can be killed for very foolish reasons.