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Powerful Women in The Epic of Gilgamesh

Over the years, roles of women in society have become spotlighted more than ever.

However, as we all know, it was not always like this. In the days before handheld computers,

stay at home dads, and social media, women were often seen as weak and meant for one purpose

– to care for their family. In Stephen Mitchell’s Gilgamesh, all ideas pertaining to women being

weak are thrown out as Mitchell highlights the importance of them and just how vital they are to

Gilgamesh. These five women, some who play big roles and some who play small, make it

consistently clear that without women, their courage, and their willingness, the epic of

Gilgamesh would not have been possible – and may not even exist.

When a trapper notices a “wild man” consistently coming to his watering hole in the

forest, he consults his father about how to get rid of him. His father instructs him to further seek

Gilgamesh’s guidance. Through Gilgamesh’s orders, we are first introduced to Shamhat, a

temple prostitute who uses herself for the greater good of man. While her role as a temple

prostitute is something that may be frowned upon in our world today, in 2700 BCE, this role was

an honor to have – as it meant disregarding yourself and being completely selfless in that you

used the gifts of your sacred body in order to do good for man. Her sole order by Gilgamesh is to

simply seduce Enkidu, civilize him, and bring him to the city of Uruk. While she does indeed

follow this order and achieve it, she does much more for him. After Shamhat “civilizes” Enkidu,

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by sleeping with him for 6 days and 7 nights, deterring his former animal friends away from him,

and showing him that he has a need for companionship with other human beings, she introduces

him to the city of Uruk, and tells him of the life he could have. Not only does she give him

clothes off her own back in order to rid him of the embarrassment of his naked body, but also

gives him a taste of finer things by taking him to a picnic where he experiences the taste of bread

and beer for the first time. People often portray prostitutes as dirty people who do not care for

others, however Shamhat was the opposite. She does much more than what originally asked for,

showing that while she may be seen simply as a prostitute, she has a big heart and is selfless –

just like the other women that we are introduced to in this epic. Shamhat’s vitality to Gilgamesh

is hard to ignore as she is practically portrayed as “the gateway to life” for Enkidu. Without her,

he would have never been civilized, and there for never would have met Gilgamesh and

befriended him.

Ninsun, Gilgamesh’s mother who is also a goddess, plays a vital role in the slaying of

Humbaba by Gilgamesh and Enkidu. When they announce that they will go on this journey,

Ninsun is very skeptical for the simple fact that she knows that power of Humbaba and does not

want Gilgamesh to ultimately get slain by him. However, after Gilgamesh consistently

explaining to her just how important this is to him, she realizes that this is something they are set

on doing. Ultimately, it is almost as if she has not choice but to pray for them and give them her

blessing, as she knows she cannot change their minds. She prays for them, their strength,

courage, and for all of the Gods and Goddesses to be in their favor as they embark on this

adventure. While Ninsun could have denied Gilgamesh of her blessing, resulting in him not

going after Humbaba with Enkidu, she gave him what he wanted. While some may take this as

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her “giving in” to Gilgamesh, this is an act of courage more than anything else and shows just

how important Ninsun is to Gilgamesh’s life. She put her own worries of her son’s life behind

her in order to bless him and give him what he wanted – the blessing to slay Humbaba. Not only

does this show Ninsun’s courage, but also how selfless she was as a mother. Maybe without

Ninsun’s blessing they would have decided to go after Humbaba anyways, however it is hard not

to question whether or not they would have been successful had they not been given her prayers.

Ishtar – the goddess of love, fertility, and war… Also the goddess who released the bull

of heaven in the hopes that it would slaughter Gilgamesh in return for his denying her attempt to

seduce her. While she is known to be beautiful and extremely convincing when it comes to man,

she is also known to be selfish and “man eater” of some type. It can be assumed that Ishtar’s

sudden impulse to seduce Gilgamesh was due to his slaying of Humbaba – she was extremely

attracted to just how much power he had. As Tzvi Abusch states in Male and Female in the Epic

of Gilgamesh : Encounters, Literary History, and Interpretation, “Ishtar is struck by his

attractiveness and begins to desire him” (13). Gilgamesh, thankfully, saw right through her,

scorning her for her past behavior towards men and how she uses them. While Ishtar’s role in

Gilgamesh is not exactly applauded, it once again sets up the epic to show just how powerful

Gilgamesh is. When Ishtar is rejected, she is instantly angry and embarrassed. Instead of

accepting that Gilgamesh does not want to be with her, she results to asking her father, Anu, to

allow her to release the bull of heaven to get back at Gilgamesh. While Anu knows that

everything Gilgamesh claims is true, he agrees – on the one condition that she guarantees him

that the city of Uruk is prepared for the famine that this release will bring. While she guarantees

that she has prepared them, readers actually have no way of knowing for sure. Though Ishtar is

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extremely important in Gilgamesh, her character as a whole is not great – this is proven as she is

willing to bring famine to an entire city for the exchange of getting back at one man who simply

does not wish to be with her. Not only is she selfish, but also in general does not like to “lose”.

Once again, this is proven when Gilgamesh slays the bull. Ishtar's anger is demonstrated by her

curse, "woe unto Gilgamesh who slandered me and killed the Bull of Heaven” (Mitchell

152-153). Ishtar makes it very clear that even though she indeed brought this upon herself and is

the sole reason the bull is released, she still clings onto the hope that people will view Gilgamesh

as some type of villain and feel sorry for her in lieu of her rejection.

When Gilgamesh loses his dear friend, Enkidu, he begins to fear for the loss of his own

life. This leads him to wanting something that is very rarely “given out” to people – immortality.

This important part of Gilgamesh’s life is highlighted in Theodore Ziolkowski’s Gilgamesh

Among Us: Modern Encounters with the Ancient Epic, as he states “In search for his eternal life,

to be sure, Gilgamesh fails, but that simply strengthens one in the feeling of the necessity of his

undertaking” (38). He begins to completely “rid of” any positive thoughts about his life and truly

forgets how to live. He believes that immortality will fix all of this. Amongst his journey to seek

everlasting life, he encounters Siduri, an inn keeper. He asks for her guidance towards seeking

everlasting life, however it is clear from the beginning that Siduri is extremely hesitant about

giving Gilgamesh any type of help that will lead him towards immortality. She makes it clear

that she does not support his quest, and introduces him to the idea of perhaps realizing all of the

good things about his life and living his life – really living it. She believes that he is seeking after

something that he cannot obtain and by doing that, is simply wasting time that he could be

spending appreciating the number of days in his life that he does have, or simply living life to the

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fullest. However, much like Gilgamesh’s mother, Siduri puts her owns beliefs and doubts behind

her to help Gilgamesh obtain what he wants. Once again, proving another selfless character. In

reality, Siduri has no obligation to help Gilgamesh at all and could have just as easily denied him

and left him to seek advice from someone else. This shows that Siduri, which she does not even

know Gilgamesh, cares about his journey and what he hopes to obtain from it.

While Aruru’s role in Gilgamesh is very small, it is not any less important than any of the

other women’s’ roles. Realistically, if it weren’t for Aruru, Gilgamesh’s epic would not have

occurred, not the way that it did regarding Enkidu. And it is very possible that the city of Uruk

would have continued to go on unhappy with Gilgamesh as their king. Aruru is considered a

mother goddess of life and death. In the beginning of Gilgamesh, readers are introduced to a very

unhappy city of Uruk. Not only is their unhappiness made evident, but also their anger with

Gilgamesh and his methods of ruling Uruk. When the people of Uruk go to Anu, begging him for

relief from all of the catastrophe Gilgamesh seems to be causing, Anu turns to Aruru and gives

her the task of fixing this issue. Aruru is tasked to "create a double for Gilgamesh" a man who

"equals his stormy heart" (Mitchell 74). In this life-giving act, Aururu "pinched off some clay"

and "threw it into the wilderness, kneaded it, shaped it to her idea, and fashioned

a ...hero" (Mitchell 74). As a result, Aruru creates Enkidu, with the plan of him to befriend

Gilgamesh and ultimately soften him. In this way, Aururu functions in the creator role, as a

mother.

The five women I have mentioned above are so extremely vital to the story of Gilgamesh

that many have come to known and learn from. It is because of their strength, courage, and care

that Gilgamesh’s epic was made possible. While he would lived, it was made clear that the

creation of Enkidu would not have been possible – there for the city of Uruk would have

continued to live in despair, unhappy with their ruler. Because of these women, Gilgamesh found

what it meant to be truly loved by another human being and what friendship was. While Enkidu

did ultimately meet his fate due to the choices that Gilgamesh and he made, he taught Gilgamesh

how to soften as a person and care for others.

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Works Cited

Abusch, Tzvi. Male And Female In The Epic Of Gilgamesh : Encounters, Literary History, And Interpretation. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2015. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). 12 Sept. 2016.

Mitchell, Stephen. Gilgamesh: A New English Version. New York: Free Press, 2004.

Ziolkowski, Theodore. Gilgamesh Among Us : Modern Encounters With The Ancient Epic. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 19 Sept. 2016.