Myths of Destruction: Epic of Gilgamesh
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“The gods that were in it were old”
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Building and measurements of the boat
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“the world bellowed like a wild bull”
“he whispered their words to my house of reeds”
Food and drink
Coming of the storm
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“pulled out the dams of the nether waters”
Clouds, “flames” of the seven judges of hell
Lament of Ishtar
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The Flood Subsides
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6 days and 6 nights
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Comes to rest on the mountain of Nisir: does not
“budge” for 6 days
Release of the birds to find land: dove, swallow, raven
Sacrifice of thanksgiving: “the gods gathered like flies”
Ea’s defense
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“punish him a little…do not drive him too hard”
“the wise man learned it in a dream”: do you agree?
Utnapishtam gains blessing and immortality
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The Flood and Noah
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“wickedness was great”; “the Lord was sorry”
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Preparations
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What difference does it make that there is no other god
to dispute God’s will?
“Noah walked with God” ; contrast, Ea talking to the
walls
“clean and unclean”
What does Noah not put in the ark?: contrast p. 189
The Flood: 40 days and 40 nights
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“fountains of the deep burst open”
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After the Flood
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“I will make a covenant with you”
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Now allowed to eat meat
Covenant: “bond,” to rectify broken relationship
between Yhwh and man
Rainbow: How might the bow have been a “sign”—what
was it a sign of? -- Compare Ishtar’s jewelry
Contrast p. 190 bottom: “do not drive him too hard”
Three sons of Noah: power of “Shem” over “Ham”
Why do you think Noah does not gain eternal life?
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Ovid’s account of a great flood
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What’s the attitude of Jove at the beginning?
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What does it tell us how experiences of disaster are
interpreted?
Oath by Styx
Why does he begin with the story of Lycaeon (lĕ-kă´on)?
Why are the gods sad? (What do they want?)
Rain, not fire
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Winds, rainbow, oceans (ll. 112, 120, 129)
Discuss description of flood (ll. 145-172)
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Deucalion and Pyrrha
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See box bottom p. 135
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Zeus relents (ll. 195-200)
“we have no certainties” (l. 222, also l. 230)
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Phocis, Mt. Parnassus, Corycian caves
Saved by Themis
Pray to Themis
Doubt of oracle
“from this our race is tough” (l. 299): etiology of
humans and animals
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Phocis
Parnassus ✖
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(c) Dorry Majzner
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Norse Myth of Destruction: Ragnarok
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Snorri retells Norse tales
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Other Gods
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Aesir: Odin, Thor, Valkyries
Vanir (earthly prosperity): Njörd (fishing), Frey (land),
Freya (sexual desire)
Tyr: war god (originally Germanic)
Heimdall (orig. Vanir water god): guards Bifrost (= Bilröst)
Story transformed after conversion to Christianity
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All poetic lines from “Sibyl’s vision”
Gangleri (=Gylfi) riddling Aesir (gods/kings)
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http://www.germanen-plakat.de/der-kosmos-die-drei-ebenen-der-germanischen-welt/
Asgard
Heimdall
Midgard
World-serpent
Garm
Ice/
frostgiants
Niflheim
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Enemies of the Gods
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Surt and the sons of Muspell
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In “Deluding of Gylfi,” heats the ice of Niflheim
Loki, the trickster, possibly giant in origin
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Children with a giantess
Midgard Serpent = Jormungard (cast down around
Midgard)
Fenrir, the wolf (remains, but bound; Tyr loses hand)
Hel, cast down as ruler of underworld (female)
• Watchdog, Garm (“hound”)
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Garm
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Hound or dog at the gates of Hel
“Now Garm howls loud | before Gnipahellir, The
fetters will burst, | and the wolf run free; Much do
I know, | and more can see Of the fate of the
gods, | the mighty in fight.
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Völuspa (= Sibyl’s Vision) Stanza 44, 49, 58
http://www.voluspa.org/voluspa41-45.htm
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Prelude to Ragnarok
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War, slaughter, sexual corruption
Three extreme winters without summer (timing
unclear)
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Sun and moon eaten by 2 wolves
Earth, mountains tremble; trees uprooted
“all fetters and bonds will be snapped and
severed”
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Fenrir attacks earth
Midgard Serpent, seas in convulsion, blows poison
Naglfar ship gets loose (Snorri: uncut “nails” of the
dead)
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Preparation for Battle
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Surt and people of Muspell sail from the east
(presumably on Naglfar)
Surt’s army rides over Bifrost
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Bridge breaks
Sword replaces sun
Heimdall blows horn (Gjoll)
Odin consults Mimir; Yggdrasil trembles (see 151,
ll. 3-4
Aesir and army meet the monsters and giants
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The Battle
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Odin killed by Fenrir, who is killed by Odin’s son
Vidar
Thor and Midgard Serpent kill each other
Frey killed by Surt
Tyr and Garm kill each other
Heimdall and Loki kill each other
Surt “will fling fire over the earth” (see 152, ll. 428)
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The New World (Völuspa)
59. Now do I see | the earth anew Rise all green |
from the waves again; The cataracts fall, | and the
eagle flies, And fish he catches | beneath the cliffs.
60. The gods in Ithavoll | meet together, Of the
terrible girdler | of earth they talk, And the mighty
past | they call to mind, And the ancient runes | of
the Ruler of Gods.
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The New World (Völuspa) (2)
61. In wondrous beauty | once again Shall the
golden tables | stand mid the grass, Which the gods
had owned | in the days of old,
62. Then fields unsowed | bear ripened fruit, All ills
grow better, | and Baldr comes back; Baldr and
Hoth dwell | in Hropt's battle-hall, And the mighty
gods: | would you know yet more?
63. Then Hönir wins | the prophetic wand, And the
sons of the brothers | of Tveggi abide In Vindheim
now: | would you know yet more?
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The New World (Völuspa) (3)
64. More fair than the sun, | a hall I see, Roofed
with gold, | on Gimle it stands; There shall the
righteous | rulers dwell, And happiness ever | there
shall they have.
65. There comes on high, | all power to hold, A
mighty lord, | all lands he rules.
66. From below the dragon | dark comes
forth, Nithhogg flying | from Nithafjoll; The bodies
of men on | his wings he bears, The serpent bright: |
but now must I sink.
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The New World (according to Snorri)
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Dwellings of the dead
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Sons of the now-dead gods rule in Idavoll
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Bottom 152
Top 153
Sons of Thor possess his hammer (Mjollnir)
Baldr returns from the dead
Humans preserved from fire in a tree
A new sun (old sun’s “daughter”)
(The Aesir have no more answers; hall vanishes)
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“Heroes”: Introduction
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Greek “heros” (singular)
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Person who died in an especially significant way
Death brought “glory” > “demi-god”
Presence of body (part) insured well-being, prosperity
Received sacrifice at a specific, local shrine = “cult”
Not “good” or helpful in a “heroic” way
Examples of hero-like figures in other traditions
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Ancestors (China)
Christian saints
Buddhism: part of Buddha at burial mound (“stupa”)
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Detour: Joseph Campbell’s concept of “hero”
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Monomyth: universal, world-wide myth of hero
The meaning of the myth is found in its pattern
Separation, Initiation, Return
Unconsciousness and consciousness are one
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Cosmic unity of everyday world & “ultimate reality”
Reality is “getting high”
The meaning of myth is psychological, specifically
the psychology of Carl Jung
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Separation, Initiation, Return
“A hero ventures forth from the world of
common day into a region of supernatural
wonder: fabulous forces are there
encountered and a decisive victory is
won: the hero comes back from this
mysterious adventure with the power to
bestow boons on his fellow man.”
 This is boon is “perfect illumination,
transcendence of all being”
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Critique of Campbell’s Theory
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He does not study myths in their entirety
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Pattern of monomyth imposed
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Takes pieces of myths
Interprets events taken from different myths/traditions
E.g., “The Belly of the Whale” & “Little Red Riding
Hood”
Assumes meaning of myth
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Assumes that the monomyth is universal
Assumes it has a psychological meaning
Assumes Jungian psychological interpretation (opposed
to Freud)
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Heracles: Early life
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Birth by Zeus
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tricking Alcmene whose husband was away
Husband arrived soon after
Two sons: identified by Heracles strangling snakes
• Sent either by Hera or Amphitryon
Kills lyre teacher in rage; acquitted by “selfdefense”
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Father sends out in fields: huge, strong, and “fiery
gleam”
Killed Lion
Unknowingly sleeps with all 50 daughters
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Madness and Labors
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Due to Hera’s jealousy
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Threw his, and his brother’s, children into fire
Purified; told by Delphi to settle in Tiryns and
undertake 10 labors
Ten Labors
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Note map p. 448—why think of labors as taking place
right “here”?
• With the 6th labor (456), what’s the significance of
Heracles leaving Greece?
What is the nature or significance of Heracles’ heroism?
In what sense is Heracles a “role model”?
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Miscellaneous observations
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Eurystheus protects himself from Heracles (454 bot.)
Explanation for immortality of Prometheus (455 mid.)
Goddesses help or hinder (## 6, 9, 10 [bottom])
Heracles has other adventures along the way
In later labours, the results of the quest often released
or returned
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The bull, Man-eating mares, Apples from Hesperides,
Ceberos
So “what’s the point” of his life?
Note variations in details
Consider 452-3
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Epic of Gilgamesh: Introduction
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Historical Gilgamesh king of Uruk 2800- 2500 bce
First versions 2100 bce
Present text 1200 bce
Syncretism—Sumer and Akkad
Better text/translation available at
http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotami
an/gilgamesh/tab1.htm
= “Kovacs”
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Account
of
Deluge
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Gilgamesh: The coming of Enkidu
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“the deeds of Gilgamesh”
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Long journey—> Gave a story
Built a great city: “look at it”
The arrogance of Gilgamesh
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He takes everything he wants: sons, virgins, wives
“now create…stormy heart for stormy heart”
Why is Enkidu so fear inspiring (172 mid.)?
Why/how does sexual experience domesticate Enkidu?
• “take his energy” (Kovacs) = “welcome his love”
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Gilgamesh meets Enkidu
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“I will challenge him…change the old order…”
Gilgamesh’s dreams: a meteor, an ax
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“drawn as though to a woman” = (Kovacs) “embraced
it as a wife”
Enkidu blocks Gilgamesh’s attempt to violate a
bride
“oppressed by idleness”: resolves to seek out
Humbaba in the Land of Cedars
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Heroic action as antidote for fear of death (175)
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Humbaba, Guard of the Cedar Forest (175)
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Across the face of the mountain the Cedar brought forth luxurious
foliage, its shade was good, extremely pleasant. The thornbushes
were matted together, the woods(?) were a thicket ... among the
Cedars,... the boxwood, (Kovacs, Tablet V)
 Shamash “abhors” Humbaba (176)
(Kovacs: “something baneful that Shamash hates”)
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Killing of Humbaba
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Series of dreams warn of terrors ahead and assure of victory
The winds of Shamash
Humbaba promises to be Gilgamesh’s servant
Enkiku says he must be “killed”
(Kovacs, end Tablet V) Turn wood into great door, ride down
Euphrates to Nippur while Gilgamesh holds head (see 182)
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Ishtar
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Sees Gilgamesh’s beauty, wants him as husband
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Demands the Bull of Heaven from Anu
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“grant your lusciousness” (Kovacs, Tablet VI)
Gilgamesh: your infatuation can’t be trusted
Threatens to release the dead
(Kovacs: Anu: 7 years famine; Ishtar: I have enough
food stored up)
Killing of the Bull; heart given to Shamash
Ishtar protests; Enkidu flings hindquarter at her
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“If I could only get at you I would do the same to you! I
would drape his innards over your arms!” (Kovacs)
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Ishtar’s fickleness (Kovacs, Tablet VI)
You loved the colorful 'Little Shepherd' bird and
then hit him, breaking his wing, ….
You loved the supremely mighty lion, yet you dug for
him seven and again seven pits.
You loved the stallion, famed in battle, yet you
ordained for him the whip, …and the lash,….
You loved the Shepherd, … who continually
presented you with bread baked in embers,….
Yet you struck him, and turned him into a wolf,…
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Death of Enkidu
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Why must Enkidu die?
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Gods caused it, nonetheless mortals must suffer
Curses gate, trapper, harlot (is the harlot “good” or “bad”
for society?)
Vision of the underworld (“vampire”)
• Even kings must die
• “servants” of the underworld
Enkidu feels shame (textbook); abandonment (Kovacs)
“Weep all the paths where we walked together
(184)”
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“resembled the Anzu” (Kovacs)
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Journey to Ut(a)napishtim
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“joined the Assembly of the Gods, and was given
eternal life” (Kovacs)
Wilderness, mountains, monstrous beings,
darkness
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Contrast between heroism and emaciated condition
Recites story of relationship with Enkidu
Crosses the “waters of death”
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“Why are 'the stone things' of the boat smashed to
pieces!” (see top 188)
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Ut(a)napishtim’s lesson
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“Through toil you wear yourself out, / you fill your
body with grief,” (Kovacs)
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Death looks just like sleep---Gilgamesh falls asleep
Gods give life and death, but don’t tell us when we will
die
We can’t fight for immortality
The return
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The ferryman is banished
Gilgamesh gets and loses a plant of youth—stolen by
snake
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Ramayana
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Composed from c. 500 bce to 400 ce
“smriti”: “remembered”; traditions recalled
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Distinguished from older “sruti,” cosmic reality “heard”
by poets
Dharma (see 206): what one must do to “uphold”
or “maintain” the world—duty
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Rituals
Customs of class and station
Ethical principles: e.g., don’t steal or lie
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Ramayana, Book I
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King Dasaratha needs sons
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Rama, 12 yrs. old, sent to deal with “titans”
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Horse sacrifice
4 sons:
• Rama, of Queen Kausalya
• Bharata, of Queen Kaikeyi
• Lakshmana, & Satrughna (twins) of Q. Sumitra
On return, Rama meets and proves his worth to marry
Sita
Sita was found in a field—comes “out of” the earth
Bharata leaves with his uncle
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Queen Kausalya and horse sacrifice
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Rama breaks Siva’s bow
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Ramayana, Book II
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King Dasaratha to crown Rama as heir apparent
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Rama “was only too happy” to go into exile
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Mother of Bharata conspires to have her son crowned
Uses 2 “boons” (211) – “chamber of wrath”
Becomes a “forest dweller” with Sita and Lakshmana
Bharata becomes king
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His father’s grief kills him
Asks Rama’s mother for forgiveness
Asks Rama to return; Rama insists on fulfilling duty
Bharata is king, but lives as ascetic
Rama leaves: continues journey
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Ascetic
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Ramayana, Books III, IV
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Rama proves his prowess—receives celestial bow
Plot to kidnap Sita: the golden deer
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Sita manipulates Lakshmana into looking for Rama
Ravana flies Sita away to Lanka
The dying message of Jatayu
Alliance of Rama and the monkey people
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Conflict for a throne
Rama’s strength, and delay
Beginning of the quest
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Books V and VI
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Hanuman finds Sita, but Rama must rescue
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Time is running out!
Ravana’s brothers choose sides
The Battle (Note the morally neutral tone)
The Reconciliation
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Rama must be convinced that Sita has acted honorably
• The fire ordeal (≈sati)
“preserve dharma”
“everyone lived happily ever after”: the family, the
monkeys, the dynasty
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Norse Gods and Heroes: Introduction
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Riddling game
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The old gods cannot answer all the questions
The old gods are euhemerized and historicized
the Aesir…tell Gylfi (=Gangleri) about…themselves
Re-counting of tradition (222 top): “well-informed person”
Yggdrasil: 3 roots, 3 springs
Review:
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Aesir (Odin, Thor); Vanir (Njord, Fey, Freyja)
Now one unified, “flattened” account
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Major Norse Gods
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Odin: names historicized
Thor: arch-foe of giants
Baldr: transcendent beauty; already dead
Tyr: descendent of Germanic war-god
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“not called a peacemaker”
“Tyr-valiant” and “Tyr-wise”
loses hand when the gods subdue Fenrir (223-4)—>
Uses one-handed weapon
Loki
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223: “reckoned [=“numbered”] amongst the gods
Son of giant, and thus “giantish” in nature
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Baldr: “the Good,” Beauty
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“…wisest of the æsir…most eloquent, …most merciful,
… [so] that none of his judgments stands.”
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Killed by half-brother, Höd (=Hod)
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Snorri adds stories of Loki’s mischief and Höd’s blindness
Loki discovers Frigg did not ask the mistletoe
An ogress pushes the funeral pyre ship into the sea
Hel: the whole world must weep for Baldr
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Bad dreams, gods seek protection from all ills
Giantess (presumably Loki disguised) refuses
Loki’s punishment: Bonds of entrails; Dripping venom
One interpretation: blood feud within a family
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Völuspa’s description of the death of Baldr
I saw for Baldr, the blessed god, Ygg's dearest son, what doom is
hidden: Green and glossy, there grew aloft, The trees among, the
mistletoe.
The slender-seeming sapling became A fell weapon when flung by
Hoth;
But Baldr's brother [half-brother Vali] was born full soon: But one
night old slew him Óthin's son.
Neither cleansed his hands nor combed his hair Till Baldr's slayer
he sent to Hel; But Frigg did weep in Fensalir The fateful deed:
know ye further, or how?
http://www.webcitation.org/5kmlYPBpr
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Húsdrápa on Baldr’s funeral
The battle-wise Frey rides on a boar, bristled with
gold, first to the pyre of the son of Odin, and leads
armies. The exceedingly widely famous Hropta-Týr
[Odin] rides to the pyre of his son…. … The very
powerful Hild of the mountains [giantess] caused
the sea-Sleipnir [ship] to trudge forward; but the
wielders of the helmet flames of Hropt [Odin] felled
her mount.
Lindow, John. Norse Mythology : A Guide to Gods, Heroes,
Rituals, and Beliefs (p. 67).
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Loki
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Trickster figure (Snorri:
“changeable…cunning,…always cheats”)
Does the gods’ “dirty work” in present
Enemy of gods in mythic past and future
(John Lindow, Norse Mythology : A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs [p. 219].)
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Father of Fenrir, Midgard Serpent, and Hel
Ragnarok
Mocks the gods and reminds them of their
misdeeds (Lokasenna)
“Sociability” (444)
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Norse Goddesses
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What female goddesses does Snorri devote the
most attention to?
What do these beings do?
What does this tell us about Norse society and
culture?
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Thor and Utgard-Loki [“Loki of the outyards”]
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Thor acquires two human servants (etiology)
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The Contests
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Thigh bones of magical goats broken open
What’s the moral of the story?
Eating (against “Loki” = fire)
Running (against “Hugi” = thought)
Drinking (the sea —> the tides)
Lift the cat (Midgard Serpent’s tail)
Wrestle (“Elli” = old age)
The castle disappears
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Loki and Utgard-Loki: Questions
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See pp. 437, 445
Are the gods really as strong as they seem?
Can they prove themselves?
Who really wins here? Anyone? Why? If no one,
why not?
What is the power of the gods?
What is the power of the giants?
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