Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I — The Tyranny of Gilgamish and the Creation of Enkidu · 5 of 6 · tr. R. Campbell Thompson
Tablet I, Section 1e
[whatever] there be, that would I know." "Enkidu, come (then) to [Erech], the high-wall’d, [where] people [array] them [Gorgeous] in festal attire, (and) each day the day is a revel, 10.
[Eunuch]-priests [clashing] (their) cymbals, and [dancing]-girls .
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flown with their wantoning, gleeful, and keeping the nobles Out of their beds !
(Nay), Enkidu, [joy] in thy life (to its fullest) [Thou shalt] taste—(forsooth) will I shew thee a man who is happy, 15.
Gilgamish!
View him, O look on his face, (how) comely his manhood!
Dower’d with lustiness is he, the whole of his body with power Brimming, [his] vigour is stronger than thine, (all) day and night restless!
20.
Enkidu, temper thine arrogance—Gilgamish, loveth him Shamash, Anu, (and) Enlil , and Ea have dower’d his wisdom with largesse.
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(Sooth), or ever from out of thy mountains thou camest, in Erech 25.
Gilgamish thee had beheld in a dream; so, Gilgamish coming Spake to his mother, the dream to reveal.
'O my mother, a vision Which I beheld in my night-time.
(Behold), there were stars of the heavens, When something like unto Anu's own self fell down on my shoulders, 30.
(Ah, though) I heaved him, he was o’erstrong for me, (and though) his grapple Loosed I, I was unable to shake him (from off me): (and now, all the meanwhile), People from Erech were standing about [him , the] artisans [pressing].
35.
On [him behind], (while) throng’d him [the heroes]; my (very) companions Kissing [his] feet; [I, I to my breast] like a woman did hold him, (Then) [I] presented him low at [thy] feet, [that] as mine own equal.
[Thou] might’st account him.' [She] who knoweth all wisdom (thus) to her Seigneur she answer’d, 40.
[She] who knoweth all wisdom, to Gilgamish (thus) did she answer: '(Lo), by the stars of the heavens are represented thy [comrades], [That which was like unto] Anu's [own self], which fell on thy shoulders, [Which thou didst heave, but he was, o’erstrong for thee, [(aye), though his grapple Thou didst unloose], but to shake him from off thee thou wert [un] able, 45.
[So didst present] him low at my feet, [that] as thine own equal [I might] account him—[and thou to thy breast like a woman] didst hold him: [This is a stoutheart, a] friend, one ready to stand by [a comrade], One whose strength [is the greatest, (the length and breadth) of the country], [Like to a double of Anu's own self his] strength is enormous.
[(Now), since thou] to thy breast didst hold him [the way of a woman], 5.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The passage depicts gods with human emotions and actions (Shamash loveth him, Anu/Enlil/Ea dower'd wisdom) and describes the hero Gilgamesh in detailed physical human terms.
All passages →Divine Providencetheology
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The dream narrative reveals that the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is pre-ordained and ordered by the divine will before it occurs.
All passages →Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The deities are portrayed as active, personal agents who intervene in human affairs and bestow favor upon Gilgamesh.
All passages →Related passages · 8 parallels
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“Section 16 16.
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