The Enuma Elish Character Analysis

Throughout the creation stories of The Enuma Elish and Xowalaci and His Companion, the power dynamic between men and women is seen to be relevant in both, but in extraordinarily different ways. In The Enuma Elish, Tiamat seems to have all of the power she could possibly want, but from further inspection, it can be seen that her character was corrupted from men’s influence from the beginning. Because she was forced to kill her children by men in the beginning, and her husband was later killed, her reign of destruction and creation of monsters began. Before death consumed her life, Tiamat was a content creator goddess. After, however, she became destructive and began creating in order to kill. She is highly criticized and even killed because …show more content…
While Tiamat was one of the creator gods, she seemed to be less than the rest: men had control over what she created and how she created them. The story beings with Apsu approaching Tiamat telling her that she must destroy her creations. This upsets Tiamat and she cries out, saying “Why must we destroy the children that we made? If their ways are troublesome, let us wait a little while,” (PM 93). This is relevant because she was heartbroken over the fact that just because Apsu asked her to, she would have to kill her own children. This is the beginning of her becoming destructive and creating truly evil beings. On the surface, the story shows Tiamat to be exactly what a woman is often seen to be— overly emotional and extraordinarily rash. This, however, is untrue. Tiamat was subject to men’s control, forced to kill her own children, and controlled by the will of the other gods. This control is seen clearly later in the story, after Apsu is killed and Tiamat is rising up in grievance and rebellion towards the other gods: “Who instigated rebellion? Who stirred up Tiamat? Who led the battle?” (PM 105). The answer to all of these questions are men. This shows that Tiamat was led to where she was because of men: her father, Apsu, and Marduk. If Tiamat had the choice, she would have continued in creating beings she was proud to call her own, not destructive beings just for the …show more content…
While Tiamat on the surface, due to her being a creator god, seems to be more powerful than most, the fact that she is completely subject to men until she begins her destruction shows the power that med had over her. The power is the same for the woman in Xowalaci and His Companion. Her whole life revolves around men: she was created by a man, raped by a man, and later claimed by a man. This draws a great connection between the stories, because while on the surface Tiamat seems powerful, she, just like the woman, is seen as only there to be subject to