The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Epic of Gilgamesh - Essay Example Different phenomena of our world not only attracted their attention but needed explanations. Their views were at the stage of developing, the explanations were not definite and many things were still explained by the existence of different gods. It is clear from the legend that the main goal of these people was to kill somebody and to conquer some territory (Dalley 34). The role of a woman is also represented vaguely. The attitudes towards women in the legend are very different. We can see that the positive and respectful attitude is represented mostly towards goddesses. Ishtar is one of them, she was the goddess of richness, love, and battle. Ishtar is represented in a great number of myths and legends and in every myth she has a different mission. Ishtar is usually portrayed as a strong, egoistic and proud woman. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, she represented as an enemy of the main hero. She is very ambitious in the Epic of Gilgamesh and it is not possible to define if she is positive or negative heroin. The readers can be shocked by her cruelness when she decides to kill Gilgamesh after he rejects her. The main goal of this woman is to satisfy her ambitions. This testifies that the people of that time saw women as strong, cruel and ambitions creatures (Dalley 56). They gave these features to a goddess and that means that in their opinion such charact eristics should have belonged to ideal women. Ishtar is also very sensual; she can’t and is not going to overcome her feeling to Gilgamesh, she demands an immediate satisfaction of her passion: â€Å"Come, Gilgamesh, be my lover! Give me the taste of your body. Would that you were my husband, and I was your wife! Id order harnessed for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and gold, its wheels of gold and its horns of precious amber. You will drive storm demons--powerful mules! Enter our House, into the sweet scent of cedarwood† (Tablet 6, col. I).