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GILGAMESH THE ANTI-HERO
Was Gilgamesh the King of Uruk really a hero as our
patriarchal society likes to portray him, or was he a tyrant?
He certainly didn't seem to do himself any favors.
Why
do we have so many contradictions with the hero's in all our
mythology who seem so tyranical (Zeus raping Leda as just one
example).
What happened to the heroine's part of the
journey? Why are females so villified in our mythology and
males get away with horrendous actions that are made out to be
noble?
Why are females always the temptress and the
evil Goddess?
Gilgamesh was a tyrannical king, just to start
We begin the tale of Gilgamesh with his story about vast
power and strength and come to see the real story about an
arrogant and selfish demigod.
He oversees countless wars and has no problem enslaving
others in forced labor.
He also rapes women (much like Zeus), every time he gets the
opportunity. It doesn't matter to Gilga whether she is
someone's wife or daughter, or a noble woman, and he even
indulged in bride's on their wedding night.
He was created as the most perfect and beautiful man but his
style of leadership was definitely problematic.
Quest for immortality goes very wrong
Gilga sets off on a journey to find immortality and quickly
befriends Enkidu who supposedly 'calms' Gilga's reckless
nature, however, the two of them soon wreak havoc when they
murder an innocent servant named Humbaba.
Humbaba begged for his life and the Gods were angered by
Gilga and Enkidu's actions so they turned Enkidu into clay.
He wrongly spurns Ishtar
Gilga spent 6 days and 7 nights with Ishtar and she fell in
love with him. She was the Queen of Heaven and she asked him
to marry her and he rejected her (for all the wrong
reasons).
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Ishtar was the Queen of Heaven and she
granted all kings their kingdoms in her Eanna temple. Was
Gilga not aware of this? He would not be a king without
her as her temple was the tutlary deity of the city he
ruled (meaning that as king he may have annually performed
a sacred marriage ritual with her). Was his final action
toward her, which went against the cosmic order, the
reason he never became immortal and died a mere mortal?
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Much of the big deal against Ishtar is
that she had the audacity to ask Gilga to marry her and
this is a man's job (in a patriarchal society) so that
makes her a seductress and we all know a million other
words for that spoken by men.
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He blames her for all her failed
relationships, but really, they are the same relationship
only with different names. Tammuz is also Dumuzi,
the same as Ishtar was Innana. It just depends on the age
of the myth and the possibility that these relationships
occurred in multiple (reincarnated) lives. What is the
intent of the translation because it's obviously
deceptive.
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Not to mention the fact that he
used Ishtar for 6 days and 7 nights and left her
terribly confused about his actual intent. She acted out
of love toward him and he trashed her instead and showed
hate.
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Tammuz (or whatever you call him) was a
real cad. He never even bothered to look for Ishtar and
was partying instead.
Bull of Heaven
In the story of Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven,
Gilga is busy trying to usurp all Inanna's traditional
ceremonies in her temple and he shows total disrespect
toward her.
When there's an elephant in the room, you can't pretend it isn't there and just discuss the ants. (Ellen
Wittlinger)
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He treats Ishtar with the same disdain he treated her in the
first iteration; Gilgamesh, and he equally displays
the same arrogance and hubris.
He kills the Bull of Heaven (her brother) and then threw a
piece of the bull at Ishtar.
Femme fatale or female fate?
Gilga strongly feels that Ishtar was acting badly; much like
a man, because she was a warrior for love. In contrast,
there is a vast difference how other females in the myth who
display more docile 'feminine' traits are not considered to
be acting badly when they seduce Enkidu. That old double
standard.
Is this really the story of how the Sumerians took down the
powerful side of feminine nature and her importance in our
world? Because, truly, nothing has run that well in our
world since that happened and we are definitely out of
balance.
Also, this all occurred at the beginning of our written
history, long before the Age of Pisces, and we're already
rattled by Tiamat.
vengeance is mine
So is the moral of this story about Ishtar's vengeance
against Gilga for killing her bull or is it a story about
Gilga being a total feminine hater, user, abuser and a huge
failure (only wearing a mask)?
What was her vengeance against Gilga anyway? She asked Bull
of Heaven to defend her against Gilga who was trashing her
very being and using his mouth against her (black magic).
Age of Aquarius
As much as our patriarchal society likes to ignore the
divine Goddess Ishtar she hasn't gone away! She is still
here and ready to start working.
Welcome to the Age of Aquarius where both sides, male and
female, are going to balance out. The masculine left brain
and the feminine right brain finally fully enjoined and
coequal.
And willing to forgive each other for their role in pitting
both sides against each other.
Hero's journey needs a rewrite
Or
possibly just a better translation, one where females are
included in a positive light. Yes there are female temptress,
but there are also males who do the same!
The Bible is
a very inspirational book, but it also needs a proper
translation, not one carried out by a king running a
patriarchal government and anti-feminine propaganda. All the
while trying to push his version of religion.
Unlike
the Fool's Journey in tarot, which is representative of both
feminine and masculine.
And really, it's not just about
heroine's who have been omitted from the journey everywhere,
but also, that the connotation and translation of our
mythology is oftentimes so slanted and omits so much.
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