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Suffering in the Epic of Gilgamesh*
GERDA DE VILLIERS (UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA)
ABSTRACT This article examines moments of suffering in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Initially Gilgamesh himself causes much suffering by abusing his power as king and tormenting his subjects day and night. Enkidu is created to curb the king’s energy and to alleviate the distress of the people. Gilgamesh’s greatest joy in finding a true friend also turns into his greatest sorrow when Enkidu becomes ill and dies. Gilgamesh is inconsolable and his suffering drives him away from his palace and his city, in search of life everlasting. When a snake snatches away his last hope of living forever, he realises that life eternal is to be found in life here and now. The article concludes with some suggestions of appropriating Elizabeth Kubler Ross’ five stages of grief to the Epic of Gilgamesh. KEYWORDS: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Uruk, Suffering, Trauma, Grief, Death A INTRODUCTION During the recent three decades or so, the Epic of Gilgamesh has attracted the attention of several scholars for various reasons. Works from the ancient Greek and Roman world, like those of Homer, Hesiod and Virgil, were known for many ages and they inspired especially the artists of the Renaissance period. However, not much, if any knowledge existed about ancient Mesopotamia and the great civilizations of Babylon and Assyria, except for the rather negative portrayal of these cultures in the Hebrew Bible. Interest in the Gilgamesh Epic was sparked only in 1872 when George Smith, a brilliant amateur Assyriologist deciphered Tablet XI of the Epic, whilst working in the British Museum.^1 To his astonishment Smith realised that what he was reading, was in fact the so-called Babylonian Flood narrative, which has remarkable resemblances with but also shows significant differences from the biblical account of the Deluge (Gen 9 – 11 ). Its relationship to the Gilgamesh Epic became evident only some years after the discovery, decipherment and pasting together other fragments of the story. What emerged was not an epic of national scope and heroic victories, but a
- Submitted: 09 / 11 /2020; peer-reviewed: 02 / 12 /2020; accepted: 04 / 12 /2020. Gerda de Villiers, “Suffering in the epic of Gilgamesh,” Old Testament Essays 33 no. 3 (2020): 690 – 705. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2312- 3 621/2020/v33n3a19. (^1) Andrew R. George, The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation (Suffolk: Barnes & Noble, 1999), xxiii.
moving recount of one man's struggle with humanity's deepest existential question: the “grim struggle with death.”^2 B RATIONALE FOR THE ARTICLE Although the Gilgamesh Epic is not primarily known as a narrative of suffering, like Ludlul Bēl Nēmēqi or the Babylonian Job, for example , suffering is a prominent motif in the story: Tablets VII–X are all about agony and suffering. Whereas the Epic is also not a religious text as such, religious actions and conduct, and the relationship between humans and the divine, are certainly important in the plot. Lastly, although the Gilgamesh Epic is not a hymn or a psalm, it is poetry. The whole of the Epic is in fact a long narrative poem. As Michael Schmidt remarks, in reference to a conversation between Bill Griffiths and Paul Batchelor, the Gilgamesh Epic is “... basically a balanced line, like the Psalms, with a repetition of sense in the two halves of the line: sense and rhythm.”^3 Since numerous synopses of the Gilgamesh Epic are available on the internet —albeit not always equally informative—this article will refrain from providing one. Rather moments of suffering will be examined in some detail, and the progress of the narrative will be outlined briefly. Unless otherwise indicated, the plot of the Standard Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic will be followed.^4 Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are from Andrew George, as rendered in his major work of 2003: The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Tests. Volume I.^5 References to Tablets will be indicated with Roman numerals, followed by a colon and common numbers specifying the lines. (^2) Andrew R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Tests (vol. I Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 33. See also Tzvi Abusch, “The Development and Meaning of the Epic of Gilgamesh: An Interpretative Essay,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 121 /4 (2001): 614–622 (614) Online: https://www.jstor.org. (^3) Michael Schmidt, The Life of a Poem: Gilgamesh (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019), 38. (^4) The Old Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic has also been reconstructed. The plot is like the Standard Version, but with some omissions and some editions which are significant. Abusch, “The Development and Meaning,” 614–622 discusses three versions of the Epic namely, the Old Babylonain Version, The Standard Babylonian Version ending with Tablet XI, and the Standard Babylonian Version with the addition of Tablet XII. He notes the added passages in each version and indicates significant interpretative shifts. (^5) George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic.
169).^7 From this point onwards, Gilgamesh and Enkidu would become inseparable, literally, until “death do them part”. From a narrative point of view and regarding the topic of suffering, the irony in the plot is that Enkidu was created to alleviate the suffering of the people of Uruk, which he has succeeded in doing. Gilgamesh's attention now shifts to Enkidu. However, the attachment to Enkidu would also cause Gilgamesh's deepest suffering—Enkidu's untimely death. 2 Reasons: slaughtering divine beasts The rest of Tablet II continues to tell of Enkidu's slight depression, apparently because he realises that he has no biological parents, and that he is losing some of his old strength. Subsequently, Gilgamesh suggests that they embark on a death-defying adventure—to slay Humbaba, the monstrous guardian of the divine Cedar Forest, appointed by no one else but the god Enlil. Gilgamesh turns a deaf ear to Enkidu's objections, and the escapade nearly costs them their lives, had Shamash, the sun god not intervened. It appears that Ninsun had prayed to Shamash for the safety of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and as the two men were staring death in the eyes, the god blinded the monster with tornado-like winds in order to help them overcome him (Tablets III - V). In Tablet VI, after returning to Uruk, the attractive Gilgamesh catches the eye of Ishtar, the goddess of love(?) and war. She eagerly proposes marriage to him and promises him everything a man can wish for—sex, wealth and power. However, he turns down her offer, reminding her of the cruel ways she treated her former lovers, and implying that the same fate would await him. Livid with rage, Ishtar demands that the Bull of Heaven be sent down to smite Gilgamesh in his palace. Anu, the sky god who is also her father, is hesitant at first, but eventually gives in to her demand. The Bull causes havoc in the city, killing several hundreds of people. Fortunately, Gilgamesh and Enkidu arrive on the scene, and vanquish yet another heavenly beast. Tablet VI ends with Gilgamesh and Enkidu celebrating their victory with the people of Uruk and making much merry in the palace. However, as they lie down to sleep, Enkidu has an ominous dream; he sees the great gods taking counsel. Tablet VII opens with a lacuna of 26 lines, but Andrew George fills in the gaps with a fragmentary Hittite version of the Epic.^8 The gods taking counsel are the highest gods in the pantheon—Anu, Enlil, Ea and Shamash. Anu accuses Gilgamesh and Enkidu of slaying both Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. He therefore says that one of them must die, but why not both of them? The implication is that the two of them were so close and killing them both would (^7) George, Epic of Gilgamesh , 12–17 fills in the lacunae of the Standard Babylonian Version in with fragments of other tablets. (^8) George, Epic of Gilgamesh , 54–55.
not really have a devastating effect. If one dies, however, the other will suffer the rest of his life, mourning the death of his friend. Enlil decides that it is Enkidu who would die. D HUMAN-DIVINE RELATIONSHIPS Louise Pryke observes that Mesopotamian narrative literature frequently explores “themes involving mortality and immortality, power and authority, creation and destruction.”^9 The plot of the narrative is structured by means of relationships and interactions between gods and humans which may be on the one hand mutually rewarding, but on the other hand destructive and damaging. Good relationships between humans and gods are fostered when both parties keep to their deal—divine blessing in response to human obedience. Relationships suffer when humans either neglect their responsibilities to the gods or transgress divine orders. The other side of the coin is when the gods remain silent to human suffering, apparently when the humans do everything, they were supposed to do to maintain good relationships between the “here” and “there.” Undeserved calamity inflicted by gods to an obedient supplicant is called “theodicy.” Benjamin Clark explores theodicy literature in ancient Mesopotamia and Israel and discusses three texts namely the biblical book of Job, the Babylonian Theodicy and Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi.^10 How then do these observations apply to the Epic of Gilgamesh? In Enkidu's dream, the relationships and interactions between humans and deities are particularly destructive and damaging. They are not innocent sufferers. They transgressed their human boundaries by killing off two heavenly beasts. One may add that Gilgamesh has insulted a goddess by a very impolite rejection of her proposal. Of course, they deserve some punishment. However, the gods are also not without blame. Before Gilgamesh and Enkidu embark on the journey to the Cedar Forest, Ninsun prays to Shamash to protect them, but her plea is somewhat an accusation. Ninsun asks Shamash (III:46–48; 53– 54 ): (^46) Why did you assign (and) inflict a restless spirit on [my] son Gilgamesh? (^47) For now you have touched him, and he will travel (^9) Louise Pryke, “Religion and Humanity in Mesopotamian Myth and Epic,” Online publication, August 2016, n.p. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.247. (^10) Benjamin Clarke, “Misery Loves Company: A Comparative Analysis of Theodicy Literature in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel,” Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies 2 / 1 (2010): 77 – 92 (79), https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol2/iss1/5.
E THE DEATH OF ENKIDU
Enkidu knows that he is dying. In Tablet VII, he becomes delirious, probably with fever and fear. He recalls his past, remembering but also cursing everyone that played a role in his life. He has grim visions of the netherworld where he knows that he is heading, and then, towards the end of his life, he cries out, “My god has spurned me!” (VII:263), which may vaguely remind one of Psalm 22. The 1999 translation of George^14 indicates that Enkidu wished that he had died in battle, in honour, in order to make an everlasting name. Dying in illness means dying in shame. The whole of Tablet VIII consists of Gilgamesh's lament for Enkidu. He calls upon all of humanity and nature to mourn his friend, expressing his anguish in harrowing words (VIII:59–64):^15 He covered (his) friend, (veiling) his face like a bride, circling around him like an eagle. Like a lioness whose cubs (are) in pits,^16 he kept turning about, this way and that. He was pulling out his curly [tresses] and letting them fall in a heap, tearing off his finery and casting it away, [... like ] something taboo. After laying his friend to rest, Gilgamesh vows (VIII:90–91):^17 “And I, after you have gone, [I shall have] myself [bear the matted hair of mourning,] I shall don the skin of a [lion] and [go roaming the wild.]” Gilgamesh prepares a grand burial for Enkidu with plentiful and elaborate gifts to the deities of the netherworld, praying to them that they may welcome his friend favourably. Nevertheless, he cannot be consoled. Tablet IX:1– 5 opens:^18 For his friend Enkidu Gilgameš was weeping bitterly as he roamed the wild: “I shall die, and shall I not then be like Enkidu? Sorrow has entered my heart. I became afraid of death, so go roaming the wild, to Ūta-napišti, son of Ubār-Tutu …” Kathleen Smith^19 states that: (^14) George, Epic of Gilgamesh , 62. (^15) George, Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic, 655, 657. (^16) Ibid., 657, fn. 11. (^17) Ibid., 657. (^18) Ibid., 667. (^19) Kathleen Smith, “Grief and Anxiety,” (2019): n.p. Online: https://www.psycom.net/anxiety-complicated-grief/.
Grieving people often feel that they have lost their sense of safety and control in life, and they find themselves panicking or worrying excessively about what or whom else they could lose in the future. They also may have trouble sleeping or taking care of themselves, which can put them at higher risk for anxiety. Grief after some form of personal loss is normal but grieving that continues for a prolonged and indefinite time, for example, for more than six months after a loss, results in what Smith^20 calls complicated grief. This is a serious anxiety disorder that also interferes with everyday life activities. Excessive worry and specific phobias and panic attacks are some of the symptoms listed by Smith. Gilgamesh seems to be a classic example of “complicated grief.” He ceases to take care of himself; he rips out his hair, tears off his fine clothes and dons the skin of a lion. His mind is focused on death; his panic, his phobia of death prevents him from carrying on his duties as king of the city Uruk. He leaves his city and his palace and goes roaming in the wild. He is afraid that he may die and become like Enkidu, but quite ironically, he now becomes exactly like Enkidu whilst he is still wild and untamed.^21 However, unlike Enkidu who, presumably like all animals, was unaware and therefore unafraid of Death, Gilgamesh is panic stricken at the very thought of death. He is intensely aware of his mortality, that his days are numbered and that he too, like all humans, will die. However, there is one man who escaped this final destination and managed to live forever—Uta-napishti, son of Ubar-Tutu. Gilgamesh's obsessive fear of Death drives him to seek and find this man, hoping to learn from him the secret of life everlasting, so that he, Gilgamesh may also live forever. However, Uta-napishti lives beyond the borders of the earth, beyond the Waters of Death that surround it. In order to reach Uta-napishti, Gilgamesh has to travel first to the Twin Mountains at the end of the earth; there, the sun rises and sets every day in crossing its heavenly path by day and travelling through a deep dark tunnel by night. Thereafter he has to cross the Waters of Death to find Uta-napishti, the Distant (see image below). (^20) Smith, “Grief and Anxiety.” (^21) Keith Dickson, “Looking at the Other in Gilgamesh,” JAOS 127 /2 (2007): 177 –
my friend whom I love so deeply, who with me went through every danger: the doom of mankind overtook him, for six days and seven nights I wept over him. I did not give him up for burial,^26 until a maggot fell from his nostril. Then I was afraid ... I grew fearful of death, and so roam the wild. The case of my friend was too much for me to bear so on a distant road I roam the wild. The case of my friend Enkidu was too much for me to bear, so on a distant path I roam the wild. For how could I stay silent? How could I stay quiet? My friend whom I live, has turned to clay, my friend Enkidu whom I love, has turned to clay. Shall not I be like him and also lie down, never to rise again, through all eternity? Without hesitating, he asks for directions to Uta-napishtim, and although Siduri warns him about the dangers, she directs him to Ur-shanabi, Uta- napishtim's boatsman. He and his strange companions, the Stone Ones (who seem to play a role in ferrying the boat across the Waters of Death) are stripping a cedar amidst the forest. Gilgamesh takes the boatsman by surprise and smashes the Stone Ones. However, just like Siduri, Ur-shanabi notices Gilgamesh's worn appearance, and asks questions. To the boatsman, Gilgamesh also repeats his lament (X:119–148) in exactly the same words he addressed to Siduri (see above), demanding that Ur-shanabi ferries him across the Waters of Death. The boatsman agrees, but Gilgamesh has to compensate him for smashing the Stone Ones by cutting three hundred punting poles to help them cross the primeval ocean. At last, Gilgamesh reaches what is seemingly his goal. Like Siduri, and like Ur-shanabi, this mortal who has managed to live forever, asks questions about Gilgamesh’s run-down looks, and Gilgamesh once again provides the same answer (X:219–248). It is important to note that this heart-rending lament occurs three times in Tablet X, but before discussing suffering and trauma within the lament itself, a brief synopsis of the rest of the plot may be informative. Uta-napishtim agrees to disclose to Gilgamesh how he managed to be the sole survivor of a great Deluge, and how the gods have blessed him with (^26) Here Tzvi Abush draws attention to an additional line in the Old Babylonian Version which is omitted in the Standard Babylonian version, (saying) “my friend perhaps will rise up to me and cry ...” Tzvi Abusch, “Gilgamesh’s Request and Siduri’s Denial. Part II. An Analysis and Interpretation of an Old Babylonian Fragment about Mourning and Celebration,” Journal of the Ancient near Eastern Society (1993): 3–19,
- The significance of this line will be discussed later in the article.
everlasting life (see fn. 13 above for the plot). However, for Gilgamesh, there will not be another Deluge; the only way for him to obtain life everlasting would be if he succeeds in staying awake for six days and seven nights. Needless to say, Gilgamesh fails this test miserably. Uta-napishtim instructs Urshanabi to take Gilgamesh back to where he came from, to Uruk. However, his wife persuades him to give their weary guest a parting gift—a shrub that grows on the bottom of the ocean that also has rejuvenating capacities: whoever eats from it, will never grow older. Gilgamesh retrieves the plant but decides to try it out first on the senior citizens of Uruk. As he and Urshanabi break camp for the night, he goes for a dip in a pool of cool water, leaving rather carelessly the precious plant unguarded. A snake is lured by its sweet odours, and as Gilgamesh comes out of the water, he is just in time to see the creature snatch away the plant, sloughing its old skin and sailing away young and new. Gilgamesh breaks down and cries. All his efforts are in vain. Gilgamesh returns with Urshanabi to Uruk and is speaking from its walls to the boatsman in exactly the same words of the opening lines of the Epic. However, he is now addressing Urshanabi, boasting about the splendour of the city and its surroundings (XI:322–328).^27 He does not appear to be depressed or downcast. On the contrary, he seems to be composed and rather proud. He may have realised at last that no human being, regardless of how strong or powerful he is, can live forever, but, as Andrew George concludes, “there will always be men on this earth, for life itself is eternal.^28 And in Gilgamesh the interest is in the living.”^29 F TRAUMA AND SUFFERING As noted above (fn. 25 ), Tzvi Abusch compares the Old Babylonian Version of the Epic to the Standard Babylonian one. For the purpose of this article, his literary analysis of the differences between the two texts is not important, but his observations on Gilgamesh’s anguish are. Here the insertion in the Old Babylonian Version of Gilgamesh’s cry that his friend may wake up and speak to him, is significant. Abusch notices that the rhythm of the poem itself appears to be “broken and tense,”^30 thereby reflecting Gilgamesh’s distressed mood. Furthermore, the cry that Enkidu may wake up is of course unrealistic, even delusional. The stark reality, which is also documented in the Standard Epic, is that after several days, a maggot dropped from Enkidu’s nose. In other words, the body has reached some stage of decay, before Gilgamesh accepts that his friend is dead. (^27) George, Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic , 725. (^28) Ibid., 528. (^29) Ibid., 526. (^30) Abusch, “Gilgamesh’s Request,” 6.
and come to terms with his death. His grief exceeds the normal period of mourning. Consequently, he develops an obsessive fear of dying himself, but also to having delusions that there must be a possibility for him to live forever. Irrational thoughts and behaviour are all part of prolonged suffering and grief, long before these symptoms were diagnosed clinically and treatment was made available. At the end of the Epic, however, Gilgamesh seems to have found quiescence. In this regard, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief may be illuminative. G ELIZABETH ROSS’ FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF AND THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH Two articles aim to appropriate Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief to the Gilgamesh Epic but either the scenarios do not quite apply to the stages of grief^36 or the references to particular anecdotes are incorrect.^37 In this article, I propose that the five stages be applied as follow:
- Denial: Gilgamesh first experiences the denial of Enkidu's death. Thereafter he starts to deny his own mortality and goes in search of life everlasting.
- Depression: He is clad in the skin of a lion, neglects his personal appearance, and roams the plains in search of life everlasting.
- Anger: His fear of death and obsession to find the secret to everlasting life cause him to threaten to strike Siduri’s door and break the bolt if she does not let him in (X:22). Anger and his fervency to cross the Waters of Death may also have driven him towards overcoming Urshanabi and smashing the Stone Ones (X:92–206).
- Bargaining: The whole encounter with Uta-napishtim seems to be marked by bargaining. He learns that there will not be a second Deluge for him, then accepts the impossible challenge of staying awake for six days and seven nights. The retrieving of the rejuvenating plant at the bottom of the ocean is his last chance.
- Acceptance: After the snake snatches the plant, he realises that he cannot escape his own mortality. He returns to Uruk, standing on (^36) No author, “Gilgamesh and the Five Stages of Grief,” n.p., https://quizlet.com/95009728/gilgamesh-and-the-five-stages-of-grief-flash-cards/. (^37) No author, “Kübler-Ross’ Stages of Grief in Job and Gilgamesh,” n.p., https://writer.tools/subjects/p/psychology/kubler-ross-stages-of-grief.
“the walls that will be his enduring monument.”^38 Gilgamesh comes to the “cruel realization of his own mortal inadequacy. And aware at last of his own capabilities he becomes reconciled to his lot, and wise.”^39 Scholars like Jeffrey Tigay and Anthony Westenberg^40 agree that Gilgamesh ultimately learns to accept his mortality instead of wasting the rest of his life in his vain struggle against death. As Tigay observes, Gilgamesh has not completely given up on immortality, but it is immortality that is imbedded in life itself. He accepts that he must die, like all human beings, but consequently strives to establish for himself the immortal name of a good king. The opening lines of the Epic attest to Gilgamesh’s interests in Uruk; Tablet XI ends with his own testimony of the pride he takes in his city to Urshanabi. Eventually, his investment in Uruk and his performance as a good king will bring him the immortality and fame that he had hoped for. H CONCLUSION The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest extant text that can be described as a “literary composition”, that is, a text with an interest in humanity. The main characters are not deities, and the topic is not creation or overcoming chaos. The main character is Gilgamesh whose whole life is transformed first by the coming of his friend, Enkidu, and then by Enkidu’s tragic death. A suffering Gilgamesh exhibits symptoms and behaviour which are only millennia later described and diagnosed in clinical terminology that are used today. Furthermore, it seems that Gilgamesh also progressed through the “five stages of grief” determined by Elizabeth Kubler Ross. It may be observed that suffering, trauma and grief are as old as humanity itself, and fate that causes devastating loss cannot be avoided. As Westenberg concludes, The Gilgamesh Epic is: … a story of how a man comes to accept his mortality. The epic shows this through the repetition of the opening lines, and through its concurrent theme that to struggle against mortality and fate is a poor decision, one that causes harm to those around Gilgamesh and causes him to suffer… Mortality within the modern mindset is thus something against which humanity can fight, and one’s fate is something that one can, and perhaps should, seek to change.^41 (^38) George, Gilgamesh Epic, 88. (^39) Ibid. , xlvi. (^40) Jeffrey H. Tigay, The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982), 249–250; Anthony Westenberg, “Fate and Mortality in the Epic of Gilgamesh.” https://www.academia.edu/9233304/Fate_and_Mortality_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh? email_work_card=view-paper. (^41) Westenberg, 2020, n.p.
“The Physical Symptoms of Grief.” n.p. https://obittree.com/funeral-advice/grief- articles/physical-grief-symptoms.php. Last edited 2016. “Gilgamesh and the Five Stages of Grief.” n.p. https://quizlet.com/95009728/gilgamesh-and-the-five-stages-of-grief-flash- cards/. “Kübler-Ross’ Stages of Grief in Job and Gilgamesh.” n.p. https://writer.tools/subjects/p/psychology/kubler-ross-stages-of-grief.. Dr Gerda de Villiers. Department of Old Testament and Hebrew of Scriptures, Faculty of Theology and Religion. University of Pretoria. E-mail: gerdadev@mweb.co.za. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000- 0002 - 4391 - 8722.
