Tablet XI

The man with the long and complicated name explains why he became immortal in a long and complicated story which I will now attempt to recount.

Basically, the gods had the clever idea to drown everyone in the city of Enlil. But Ae, who apparently like what's-his-name, told him to get on a boat with his family, which is what he did. So then everyone died and Utna-something made an offering to the gods, who came to see him.

Enlil appeared and got mad that a man had survived, but Ae convinced him to bless his intelligence rather than curse his cunning, and they made him immortal.

I guess his name wasn't that hard to figure out, then.

Anyway, Utnapishtim (I said it!) said he'd make Gilgamesh immortal too if he managed to stay awake for seven days, but for the first time ever Gilgamesh failed at something and so he didn't become a god.

He was about to go back to his city dressed as a king and with his beauty displayed, but Utnapishtim's (hey, it isn't that hard after all) wife tells him that he should give Gilgamesh a gift. So Utna tells him where he can find the plant called How-The-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-A-Young-Man. I love that name!

Gilgamesh thanks him and finds it. He is delighted because he once again become the youngest and the strongest, and he will give it ti the old men in his village (with obviously no thought to the problems that that would cause, including but not limited to overpopulation).

Then a snake steals it and Gilgamesh cries some more (jeez, for a hero he really is a crybaby).

He goes home and measures Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh.

Tablet X

Gilgamesh finally arrived to where he wanted to be, but the tavern keeper refuses to open the door for him because he looks like he's been on a journey and has a bitter face (a phrase that is repeated about, oh, five thousand times this chapter).

But at least she tells him where he can find someone who will tell him where the person he is seeking for is, which is on an island in the sea where there's no possible way Gilgamesh can find him.

But he does, and that guy that tells him where he can find the Guy-With-Such-a-Weird-Name-He -Became-Immortal-To-Learn-It (which is in Faraway. What an original name!), and they set off together, across the waters of death, to another island where the immortal man is.

The man actually says something pretty interesting there, which is (in metaphor) that nothing can last forever and all humans die, whether they be peasant or king, and that the day of death is set at birth, though it isn't known.

Tablets VIII & IX

Well, not much happens in Tablet VIII except that Gilgamesh is very sad that Endiku died and tells everyone that they should be sad too, then makes an offering to the gods.

Let us observe a minute of silence in memory of Endiku the stormy-hearted.

In Tablet IX, Gilgamesh decides that he's terrified of death (apparently Hotel Hell didn't sound pleasant to him. How strange!), so he decides to avoid it. Simple, but efficient. I like it.

He decides that the only person who knows the secret to being immortal was Utnapishtim (no wonder he's immortal. He must've spent thousands of years trying to figure out how to pronounce that name), and sets off on a journey to to find him.

The journey begins, and Gilgamesh braves lions and tigers and bears and hunger and monsters, oh my!

Finally he crosses the path were the sun travels at night. It was freezing and barren and he was utterly bear, but since he's two thirds god and one third man he managed and arrived in a sort of paradise where he saw (gasp!) the sea!

Tablet VII

So the gods have their council and decide that one of the brothers must die. Enlil picks Enkidu, and Gilgamesh feels bad and cries a lot (although I bet he'd cry even more if he was the one chosen).

And so Enkidu becomes really ill, has a raging fever and curses the hunter who first saw him and the whore who brought him to Gilgamesh, then changes his mind and blesses them because they allowed him to meet his bro (isn't that touching?)

Then he falls asleep and has a dream that he meets the Grim Reaper, who has the head and paws of a lion, but the talons of an eagle. The fight, but of course Death wins, and brings him to Hotel Hell, -5 stars, where everyone wears the clothes made of feathers, and for their buffets they have
Clay a la Carte and Vin de Dirt. Yummy. Although I suppose it really must be good, because a bunch of famous dead people are sojourning there.

Then he dies.

I guess that's why they don't call it "Gilgamesh and Endiku."

Tablet VI

In Tablet VI the Goddess of Love, Ishtar, falls in lust with Gilgamesh and asks him to have sex with her. He refuses, however, reminding her of the other people she had made love with and what had happened to them (ex: ended up a frog in a swamp, or a mole on a foot).

She is enraged, and runs to her Daddy to ask for help punishing him (by the way, when one does that, one does not go around screaming, "he exposed my foulness!!!" One goes around screaming, "what a freak! He said all these awful lies about me!"). Anyway, after a while her father agrees to get the Bull of Heaven to beat up Gilgamesh, but when he goes to earth Endiku and his bro kill him and have a big party. Ishtar is enraged, and the chapter ends with Endiku having a dream about the angry gods having a council. What a cliffhanger.

I think that this book should be called "Gilgamesh and Endiku," so they both play an equal role in the story. But I suppose Gilgamesh beat Endiku in the beginning, so he is worthier.

Tablets IV & V

In these two tablets, Gilgamesh and Endiku set off to meet Huwawa, whose mouth is fire, roar is floodwater, etc.

Gilgamesh keeps having these weird dreams, and he asks Endiku to interpret them. Endiku, however always says that the dreams are good omens, and so they go on walking, taking 1/3 of the time normal men would take.

Then they meet Huwawa, and decided to ask a god to help. S/he does so, sending thirteen different kinds of winds after Huwawa, who admits that he is defeated and tells Gilgamesh that he will be his servant. Endiku, however, says to kill the beast and they do so, then pull his insides out by his tongue (lovely).

Then, so that everyone will remember that Gilgamesh slayed Huwawa (even though Endiku played an equal part in the dastardly deed), they take the highest tree in the Cedar Forest and plant it by Huwawa's carcass.

Statue of Gilgamesh

This is a picture of our friend, Gilgamesh, "one third man
and two thirds god." He looks three thirds stone to me,
but who am I to judge?

Tablets II & III

In these two tablets, what basically happens is that Endiku goes to Uruk and challenges Gilgamesh to a fight. Obviously, Gilgamesh wins, and Endiku admits his superiority and they "embrace, kiss, and hold hands" (awwww). Then Rimat-Nunsun, his mother, explains to Gilgamesh why he has to be kind to Endiku, and once again they "embrace, kiss, and hold hands" (awwww). After that Gilgamesh suddenly decides to go to the Cedar Forest, where "Huwawa's mouth is fire, his roar the floodwater; his breath is death. Enlin made him guardian of the Cedar Forest, to frighten off the mortal who would venture there. But who would venture there? [repeats]" But that doesn't deter Gilgamesh, who feels that even if he dies there, at least his name will bring fame to his sons.

That's very different from me. I would've said "Hell, no!" and dropped the matter. I guess that's why they don't write books about me.

I think (never mind, I'm a hundred percent sure) that Gilgamesh will win, with Endiku's help, otherwise the book would be a great deal shorter.

One thing that bothers me in this book is that they keep repeating certain phrases. For example, the one about Huwawa that I quoted earlier was repeated at least five times in three pages. Yes, I get that "Huwawa's mouth is fire, his roar floodwater; his breath is death. Enlil made him guardian of the Cedar Forest, to frighten off the mortal who would venture there. But who would venture there? [repeat]" Do you really need to say it a thousand times? But apart from that it's an okay book.

Tablet I

So I read Tablet I of Gilgamesh. It doesn't seem too bad, although I don't usually like books that are written in poetry form.

So far what has happened is that everyone disliked (or worshiped? I couldn't figure it out) a king called Gilgamesh, who is "two thirds god and one third man," and so asked a god to create someone with his same "stormy heart." The god listened, and created Enkidu. He lived in the wild, then a whore came to him, showed him "what a woman can do," and explained to him a dream that Gilgamesh had once had. They leave together, Enkidu having miraculously acquired the power of speech, and Enkidu decided that he really doesn't like Gilgamesh and decides to challenge him. I personally think that Gilgamesh will win, or else the book would have been called "Enkidu."

I don't understand why the animals refused to hang out with Enkidu once he had sex with the temple prostitute. I mean, they mate too, don't they? Why would they find it weird that Enkidu had found someone of his kind to reproduce with? Were they mad 'cause he showed his human nature?

My favorite quote so far is when Gilgamesh is explaining to his mother his dream about Enkidu, and how he was "drawn to it as if it was a woman." I found that very amusing.

Introduction

Well, apparently this is going to be a blog about the books I read in Pre Ap English 9.

I'll do my best to make my entries interesting since I expect at least one person will read it. It probably won't be that hard though, 'cause I like reading and thinking about what I read.

Anyway, I think we're going to start with "Gilgamesh," which is (according to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) the "epic" tale of a Babylonian king. Apparently he built some sort of wall in Uruk and now everyone worships him. Interesting.

By the way, I heard my English teacher mention something about checking the time when the entries are posted. I would like to tell him that that really won't work with me since once I'm settled comfortably in a chair and reading, I don't like getting up to go to the computer, so I'll just write it in a journal then type it in when I can be bothered (I'm a lazy person). So just keep that in mind when looking at my blog.