The Epic of Gilgamesh Group Paragraph: Major Themes, Pride
In The Epic of Gilgamesh there is a theme shown. It is that excessive pride bringing about your downfall. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar has been insulted and turned down her offer of marriage by Gilgamesh. She is demanding from her father the god Anu, to give her the bull of heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. She says “my father give me the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. Fill Gilgamesh I say with arrogance to his destruction; but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts”(87). This quote shows how the hurting of your pride can cause your common sense to become illogical. Ishtar’s pride is hurt and because she feels insulted by Gilgamesh for his harsh, but true, …show more content…
Although this is foolish her pride is hurt, causing her to act irrationally. Shortly afterwards in the poem, we see the repercussions of Ishtar’s demanding and prideful behavior. Gilgamesh and Enkidu have just killed the Bull of Heaven, foiling Ishtar’s plan to kill them, so she flies into a mad rage and curses Gilgamesh as she completely blames him for the death of the Bull of Heaven. In the quote it says, “but Ishtar rose up and mounted the great wall of Uruk; she sprang on to the tower and uttered a curse. ‘Woe to Gilgamesh for he has scorned me in the killing the Bull of Heaven’.” (88). Ishtar asked for the Bull of Heaven earlier in the story to destroy Gilgamesh, but instead Gilgamesh has turned on the Bull and killed it as shown in the quote when Ishtar curses him for it. In a fit of wounded pride, Ishtar has both threatened to bring about an apocalypse and indirectly gotten the Bull of Heaven killed. All this just because Gilgamesh rejected her unwanted advances. Ishtar sought revenge against Gilgamesh for humiliating her, but her actions had the opposite effect. They only served to humiliate her further as Gilgamesh
In The Epic of Gilgamesh there is a theme shown. It is that excessive pride bringing about your downfall. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar has been insulted and turned down her offer of marriage by Gilgamesh. She is demanding from her father the god Anu, to give her the bull of heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. She says “my father give me the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. Fill Gilgamesh I say with arrogance to his destruction; but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts”(87). This quote shows how the hurting of your pride can cause your common sense to become illogical. Ishtar’s pride is hurt and because she feels insulted by Gilgamesh for his harsh, but true, …show more content…
Although this is foolish her pride is hurt, causing her to act irrationally. Shortly afterwards in the poem, we see the repercussions of Ishtar’s demanding and prideful behavior. Gilgamesh and Enkidu have just killed the Bull of Heaven, foiling Ishtar’s plan to kill them, so she flies into a mad rage and curses Gilgamesh as she completely blames him for the death of the Bull of Heaven. In the quote it says, “but Ishtar rose up and mounted the great wall of Uruk; she sprang on to the tower and uttered a curse. ‘Woe to Gilgamesh for he has scorned me in the killing the Bull of Heaven’.” (88). Ishtar asked for the Bull of Heaven earlier in the story to destroy Gilgamesh, but instead Gilgamesh has turned on the Bull and killed it as shown in the quote when Ishtar curses him for it. In a fit of wounded pride, Ishtar has both threatened to bring about an apocalypse and indirectly gotten the Bull of Heaven killed. All this just because Gilgamesh rejected her unwanted advances. Ishtar sought revenge against Gilgamesh for humiliating her, but her actions had the opposite effect. They only served to humiliate her further as Gilgamesh