Bruises and Blessings: Gilgamesh #1 Feraco Myth to Science Fiction 30 September 2009

Gilgamesh has survived in our world because a constellation of our emotions is reflected in it. We could almost say that anything so profoundly human as the image of Gilgamesh was bound to reappear, yet we are still surprised to learn that one of the very oldest stories of man is so inherently contemporary…In an age in which we consume and are consumed by a superfluity of one- dimensional images, this poem calls us to be profound. Gilgamesh has survived in our world because a constellation of our emotions is reflected in it. We could almost say that anything so profoundly human as the image of Gilgamesh was bound to reappear, yet we are still surprised to learn that one of the very oldest stories of man is so inherently contemporary…In an age in which we consume and are consumed by a superfluity of one- dimensional images, this poem calls us to be profound. Herbert Mason

A Question for Reflection  Is it really better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? Is your happiness worth that pain?  “The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” G.K. Chesterton

There’s More to It  We’re reading a portion of the Gilgamesh tales; Mason focuses on this portion “for reasons of dramatic unity”  The story, which seems to wander around in the beginning (forest creatures! wrestling! bulls!), eventually centers on Gilgamesh’s quest to essentially defeat death  However, Mason points out that there are many other questions to consider within the narrative, and there’s one question (with a billion sub-questions, of course) that I want to focus on today

The Bigger Picture  For example, the book isn’t just about death, but about life and how we greet it  How do we interact with the world? How should we? And is life defined by the risks we’re willing to take, particularly in our interactions with one another?  “The eternal quest of the human being is to shatter his loneliness.” Norman Cousins

In the Beginning  Our setting reinforces one of the poet’s thematic concerns, as we’re introduced to Uruk, a massive walled city that Gilgamesh erected in ancient Babylon(ia)  It’s a place of isolation and interruption, where citizens resent the king (and for good reason, which we’ll explore later)  Gilgamesh lives within his city’s walls, far from the natural world – and from his own potential

Build Your Barricade  The walls serve as an easy symbol for Gilgamesh’s trapped state  He’s caught up in the shallow, arbitrary ways of his world, building up those walls with feverish intensity before letting them crumble, charging off into battle in order to feel alive, forcing himself upon his citizens  None of these have any sort of meaning, purpose, or permanence for him  Gilgamesh’s ruling style ends up reminding us of a thrashing, dying beast – deeply unstable, violent, unpredictable – and the city’s decay symbolizes both the lack of vitality at its king’s core and the separation between the king and his people

On the Outside  Beyond the City lie the Steppe and the Forest – two natural and largely untamed realms  Gilgamesh is of the City, Enkidu of the Steppe, and Humbaba of the Forest  Life lies outside the City, not just in the form of the Steppe and Forest, but in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that gush alongside it, bordering it with symbols of fertility and life  Things are connected outside of Uruk – men frolic with animals, gods protect the forest, and even those in the underworld have found marriage and love

The Danger in Caution  This contrast between the natural world and the City couldn’t be starker, and it highlights one of the book’s important points  There is a danger in building the barriers that surround Uruk, in shutting “invaders” out, in preventing yourself from feeling something for your fellow beings  True, the walls we erect can shut out a lot of things, including the good…but I’m not sure we can build walls that can keep out all of the worst aspects of life  Only when Gilgamesh leaves those walls behind does the narrative pick up any sort of momentum, because it’s only once Gilgamesh leaves that he begins living – acquires something worth losing, something worth valuing (companionship)

Samsara  Gilgamesh doesn’t seem to value life; think about how he spends his time  He’s overwhelmed by shallow things, 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, cursed with a “restless heart” by Shamash  He needs an outlet for whatever’s surging through him, so he essentially tears at his world instead of tending to its foundations  He repeats this cycle of suffering time and again, never demonstrating any sort of growth nor knowing any peace…and while he hungers for more, a hunger that violently manifests itself in his actions, he doesn’t seem to know how to break the cycle

Only Way to Be Alone  Gilgamesh is isolated – from his people, from his gods, from himself  The only companion he has (save the women he takes advantage of) is his mother  He doesn’t naturally reach out to others; we can see this in his adventures in the underworld as well  The story seems to equate loneliness with weakness, isolation with instability – and togetherness with peace

Separated Self  Meanwhile, it’s easy to miss, but the beginning of the story features a loss for Enkidu – one that’s as profound as the one Gilgamesh suffers once his friend dies  After his encounter with the prostitute, the animals shun him, and he feels a great emptiness and loss of purpose  Enkidu is essentially cast out of Eden, his new knowledge of Man (specifically, Man from the City) polluting him in the eyes of his fellow friends  He then sides with the humans against the animals, driving the lions away and capturing the wolves  This betrayal forever isolates him from them; there is no going back

Break the Cycle  The gift each gives the other, then, is one of connection – the thing that breaks the cycle  Both men are a bit unbalanced; both need to reconcile their wildness with their humanity  Enkidu becomes the 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, whereas the people of Uruk only defend him because they must

Bring the Best  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 they bring out the best in one another, for they aren’t wild in the same way  In some ways, Gilgamesh proves more “savage” than Enkidu

The Role Model  While Gilgamesh 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  It’s the latter who understands compassion and brotherhood, the latter who shows both courage and caution, and the latter who honorably sacrifices himself to save his friend  It’s through his friend that Gilgamesh rediscovers these human values, and it’s one of the reasons the story lionizes Enkidu

Never Know  Gilgamesh won’t engage with the world, refuses to acknowledge the unity of things…so the world goes to him in the form of Enkidu, with all of the triumph and despair that accompanies it  If Gilgamesh never makes a friend, he never feels the pain of loss…but he never knows happiness  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?

Lose Yourself  Is Gilgamesh’s grief selfish – does he mourn Enkidu’s loss simply because he feels reduced without him?  It seems odd that a man who lived as Gilgamesh did would grieve the loss of 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  Perhaps it’s a larger metaphysical/thematic concern: Jacobson 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)

Is This True?  Is there meaning in death, or is death meaningless?  Does some of life’s urgency come from that final consequence – the knowledge, however acknowledged, that life ends no matter what we do?  Can one find meaning without pain? Can one find meaning without risk?  “You need bruises to know blessings, and I have known both.” Frances Shand Kydd