Bruises and
Blessings
Feraco
Myth to Science Fiction
13 September 2011
Wasting Life
 Before he goes on the journey to the
Cedar Forest, Gilgamesh doesn’t seem
to value the life he grows terrified of
losing.
 Think about how he spends his time!
 He’s overwhelmed by the shallowness
of his existence, acts on base desires
without heed for their impact on
others, and does nothing to change his
ways even though they’re contributing
to his misery.
 He’s selfish, inconsistent, and crude;
his mother, Ninsun, believes Shamash
cursed her son with a “restless heart.”
Counterpart/Outlet
 What Gilgamesh needs is a
counterpart, an equal, someone to
serve as an outlet for whatever
uncontrollable urges seize him at any
given moment.
 He has none.
 Gilgamesh is isolated – from his
people, from his gods, from himself.
 The only companion he has (save the
women he takes advantage of) is
Ninsun.
 He doesn’t naturally reach out to
others
 We see this reflected in his behavior
during his search for Utnapishtim in the
epic’s second half.
Instability vs. Peace
 The story seems to equate loneliness
with weakness, isolation with
instability – and togetherness with
peace
 The lonely king essentially tears at his
world instead of tending to its
foundations, repeating the bingepurge-suffer cycle, never
demonstrating any sort of growth nor
knowing any peace.
 While Gilgamesh hungers for more, a
desire that manifests itself violently
in his actions, he doesn’t seem to know
how to break free or reach out.
All I’m Losing is Me
 Meanwhile, it’s easy to miss, but the
beginning of the story features a loss for
Enkidu.
 While it’s different from the one Gilgamesh
eventually suffers, it’s just as profound.
 After the wild man’s encounter with the
prostitute, Shamhat – whose surprisingly
complicated role in the epic will be explored
later – the animals shun him, and he loses his
ability to communicate with the only beings
he’s ever known.
 Thus Enkidu is essentially cast out of Eden,
provided the Steppe counts as Paradise: his
new knowledge of Man (specifically, Man
from the Walled City) pollutes him in the
eyes of his former friends.
Alone…
 Resigning himself to his new life,
Enkidu then sides with the humans
against the animals, helping the
shepherds by driving the lions away
and capturing the wolves.
 This betrayal forever isolates him
from them; there is no going back.
 While this transformation reflects
ancient attitudes regarding man’s
relationship with the natural world –
Enkidu was seen as automatically
better off now that he’s encountered
civilizing influences – it’s worth noting
that he’s now suddenly and
fundamentally alone.
…Together
 The gift Gilgamesh and Enkidu
gives each other, then, is one of
connection – the thing that
breaks the former’s cycle of
suffering while relieving the
latter’s newfound pain.
 When they first meet, both men
are a bit unbalanced, needing to
reconcile their wildness with
their humanity.
The Young Man from the Provinces
 Enkidu becomes the archetypal
Young Man from the Provinces,
coming in from the outside to
revitalize Uruk by “curing” the
king of his melancholy.
 He removes the king’s isolation
and stands steadfastly by his side
– a marked contrast from the
citizens of Uruk, who only defend
Gilgamesh because they must.
Gifted Purpose
 And just as Enkidu relieves
Gilgamesh of his loneliness, the
king confers a new purpose upon
his friend.
 Each gives the other his missing
piece of humanity.
 One could argue that each brings
out the best in his counterpart,
for they aren’t wild in the same
way.
Relative Savagery
 In some ways, Gilgamesh proves more
“savage” than his new friend; while the king
seemingly lives to ravage and consume,
Enkidu lives to preserve and support.
 Everything we know about him, save his
wildness, reflects a quality we wish we could
see in ourselves – whereas very little of what
Gilgamesh does seems worth doing.
 Enkidu understands compassion and
brotherhood, shows both courage and
caution, and ultimately pays the price –
unwillingly, but still – that spares his friend’s
life.
 Gilgamesh only rediscovers his human values
through Enkidu, and the story lionizes him in
turn.
Triumph and Despair
 When we first meet him, Gilgamesh
won’t engage with the world, refusing
to acknowledge the unity of things
and living out a pale shadow of life
behind his towering walls.
 So the world goes to him in the form
of Enkidu, breaching the old defenses,
leaving Gilgamesh both more alive and
more vulnerable than ever before.
 With his new friend, the king comes to
know triumph, but also learns of
despair.
The Big Questions
 If Gilgamesh never meets Enkidu,
never makes a friend, he’ll never
feel the pain of loss…but he’ll
never know the happiness he
finds once his loneliness shatters.
 Is it a worthwhile trade? Is it
really better to have loved and
lost than to never have loved at
all…in Gilgamesh’s case?
 Moreover, is Gilgamesh’s grief
selfish – does he mourn Enkidu’s
loss simply because he feels
reduced without him?
Interrupted Potential
 At first blush, it seems odd that a man
who lived as brutally as Gilgamesh did
would grieve a lost life so heavily.
 Perhaps it’s a matter of meaning; his
life was meaningless before Enkidu
arrived, and Gilgamesh has no desire
to return to the way things were.
 Or perhaps it’s a larger metaphysical /
thematic concern: Thorkild Jacobsen
says that Gilgamesh is a “revolt
against death,” that the story
essentially posits that a just and good
universe would allow man’s glories to
continue uninterrupted (whereas
death merely prevents us from
reaching our potential and discovering
our true meaning).
Questions About Death
 Thus we ask ourselves questions
about the nature of death.
 Is it simply a termination?
 A snuffing out of possibility and
potential?
 A gateway to something greater?
 Is there meaning in death, or is
death meaningless?
The Last Big Questions
 Does some of life’s urgency come
from that final consequence – the
knowledge, however acknowledged,
that life ends no matter what we
do?
 And can one find meaning in life
without enduring terrible pain? Can
one find meaning without risk?
You need bruises to know blessings,
and I have known both.
Frances Shand Kydd
 More to follow…