Introduction
The given passage is from “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” a story about the king of Mesopotamian city Uruk, Gilgamesh. He, together with his friend Enkidu, go on a quest in search of immortality. The female characters of the story hold small but significant roles. Even though they are portrayed as secondary to the men’s characters, female roles show influence over males and the capability to manipulate the story through actions and change the fate of men.
Main body
The excerpt talks about the situation when Gilgamesh comes to the house of the only immortal man named Utnapishtim, who, together with his wife, survived the flood. Gilgamesh fails the immortality test and before he leaves, Utnapishtim’s wife asks the husband to give Gilgamesh a present because he survived many hardships along the way. Utnapishtim listens to his wife and tells Gilgamesh how to find a secret of youth as a gift.
In “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” there are three primary archetypical examples among female characters: the temptress, the goddess, and the good mother. At first glance, the roles of females in the story seem to be secondary and serve to assist the male characters. However, women, even though somewhat oppressed at times, play a vital role in the setting of the plot flow and destiny of the male characters.
Shamhat plays the role of temptress, where she uses her sexual and feminine powers to tame Enkidu and to bring him to the world of men. On the one hand, it can be argued that Shamhat’s sexuality is seen solely as providing a service to a man, making her an unimportant character. However, on the other hand, Shamhat’s ability to transform Enkidu from his animalistic state to a civilized man using her female energy emphasizes the power that females hold over males. Instead of treating her role as a servant of man’s will, she should be seen as a benefactress of new destiny having goddess powers.
Utnapishtim’s wife is the archetype of the good mother as she shows, nurturing, compassion, and care towards Gilgamesh. She can be seen as an extension of her husband, embodying the archaic female role of housewife, who does not even have a name. However, if it was not for her suggestion to give Gilgamesh a present, the main character’s journey could have been absolutely different. The wife shows virtue and empathy towards Gilgamesh by using her female power over her husband and convincing him with just a few words. She has a significant influence on the development of the myth through her power over Utnapishtim.
The role of Ishtar is the archetype of the goddess as she represents a powerful female character and is different from the others in the tale. Unlike other women, Ishtar embodies destruction, rather than assistance to the man. She settles as dominant over the primary character, Enkidu, by sending him death, which brings the end to his friendship with Gilgamesh. Ishtar represents the role of destroyer and dominator over men who punishes her lover when she gets bored with him. It makes her different from the classic view of a female character, even though, similarly to others, she disappears from the tale after serving her role.
Conclusion
The male characters in “The Epic of Gilgamesh” are considered to be the central ones, while females have secondary roles. However, these roles have an undeniable effect on the plot. Females are the creators of the story because each time a woman appears in the story, she initiates a critical turn of events, and males have to comply with them. Mostly, the feminine power is represented positively throughout the myth, and women overall possess heroines or goddess-like abilities. The archetypical analysis shows that in Mesopotamian culture, women were regarded mostly as bringers of life and mothering figures.
Work Cited
Short, William R. “Hurstwic: Viking-Age Laws and Legal Procedures”. Hurstwic.Org, 2020.