Day 2:  Tablets VI-XII (pp. 46-95, Foster):

Death of Enkidu and the Journey to Dilmun

1)  Why does Ishtar send the Bull of Heaven? And why are the dynamic duo so determined to destroy it?

2) What is the cause of Enkidu's Death? Why does he curse Shamhat?And how does Gilgamesh deal with the loss of his friend?

3) Why does Gilgamesh go in search of Utanapishtim?

Note the major milestones of the Journey: (how does each contribute to character?)

...Scorpion-Man and the Mountain of the sun-by-night (Mashu)

...Ale-wife (Siduri) .........Ferryman Urshanabi

...Utnapishtim and tale of the Flood.... The Test of Sleep

...Herb 'Makes-old-men-young' (won and lost)..... Return to Uruk

Day 3:

1) Read Jacobsen's analysis (pp. 195-219= Foster 183-207), plus 'Gilgamesh and Akka (Foster 99-104).

 In your own words: note key elements contributing to the Gilgamesh Cycle; outline a rough chronology  for the development of the 'Epic'.

2) Read 'Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld' (Tablet XII), Foster pp. 129-43

... What is the significance of the tree that Inanna covets?

...Why must Enkidu go down among the Dead? How should he act?

3) Consider Jacobsen's concluding "Structural Analysis" (Foster 203-7): the Gilgamesh cycle is a study in the Quest for Immortality.

In your own view what are the central themes, inspiring ideas of this story.

4) Now (as time permits) read through the Egyptian "Tale of Two Brothers" of the late 1200s.

...1) Summarize the story.

...2) Compare the tale of Bata and Anubis to that of Gilgamesh and Enkidu:

Similar character and fate of Bata?.... Similar motive for rivalry? (role of woman?)

 

Further Study: Jacobsen's Epilogue (222-39)

1) Recall Jacobsen's theory of the Divine evolving from life-force to ruler to parent. Here in his final chapter Jacobsen idealizes the dominant metaphor of the 2nd millennium: the divine Parent. Now having read his study to the end, does this evolutionary model seem accurate and reasonable?

2) Outline the 'Epic of Erra'.

...How does this development of the 1st millennium reflect changed culture?

...Identify parallels with earlier tales (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek).

3) Erra is identified with the netherworld god Nergal. Sketch his ancient realm.

4) Outline the tale of 'Nergal and Ereshkigal'. Again, identify parallels.

5) Return to Dunnum (231ff)..... J. remarks the savagery of 1st millennium myth, treating the butchery of gods and ritual victims as somehow a new, degenerative feature. How so? Or not.