The Epic of Gilgamesh is a widely known and respected ancient poem which tells the story of Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. The Epic of Gilgamesh contains two main quests: Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s journey to kill Humbaba and Gilgamesh’s journey to seek eternal life. During both quests, the Mesopotamian gods not only provided guidance to Gilgamesh and Enkidu, but also obstacles that the two had to overcome. Despite the power of the gods, it is clear that The Epic of Gilgamesh sheds light on both the positive and negative human emotions of the gods as proven by Gilgamesh and Enkidu 's multiple interactions with them.
The two main gods that Gilgamesh and Enkidu interacted with were Shamash and Ishtar. Shamash was the god of the sun and fortune tellers, and Ishtar was the goddess of sex, love, and war. While all gods were considered powerful, Shamash and Ishtar had ample control over Gilgamesh and Enkidu because they had dealt with them on multiple occasions. Shamash was first …show more content…
In Tablet Seven when Gilgamesh rejects Ishtar 's proposal of marriage, she set the Bull of Heaven loose, not only putting Gilgamesh in danger, but also causing seven years of famine and drought. Ishtar 's actions showed that she was an imperfect goddess with human emotions that resulted in harmful actions. Despite the fact that Ishtar was irate, she could have controlled her anger and not allowed herself to be led by her emotions. Similarly to Shamash, Ishtar had a large amount of power because she was a goddess and yet power did not prevent Ishtar from having both positive or negative emotions. Within in the context of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar seemed to make decisions that weren’t exceptionally wise and seemed to have been led by her emotions which in turn, harmed others. In contrast, Shamash was also led by his emotions, however, he was able to channel those emotions in a way that helps
The two main gods that Gilgamesh and Enkidu interacted with were Shamash and Ishtar. Shamash was the god of the sun and fortune tellers, and Ishtar was the goddess of sex, love, and war. While all gods were considered powerful, Shamash and Ishtar had ample control over Gilgamesh and Enkidu because they had dealt with them on multiple occasions. Shamash was first …show more content…
In Tablet Seven when Gilgamesh rejects Ishtar 's proposal of marriage, she set the Bull of Heaven loose, not only putting Gilgamesh in danger, but also causing seven years of famine and drought. Ishtar 's actions showed that she was an imperfect goddess with human emotions that resulted in harmful actions. Despite the fact that Ishtar was irate, she could have controlled her anger and not allowed herself to be led by her emotions. Similarly to Shamash, Ishtar had a large amount of power because she was a goddess and yet power did not prevent Ishtar from having both positive or negative emotions. Within in the context of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar seemed to make decisions that weren’t exceptionally wise and seemed to have been led by her emotions which in turn, harmed others. In contrast, Shamash was also led by his emotions, however, he was able to channel those emotions in a way that helps