The Heroic Exploits in Three Epics on the Creation - Essay Example

The Heroic Exploits in Three Epics on the Creation In this paper, we shall focus on three different versions of the Creation and try to point out similarities as well as differences among the exploits of Marduk in the Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh together with Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the God of Job in Bible history. Of the three epics, only the Book of Job is in prose; the other two are poems. All works were written in ancient times, circa the Great Flood. Both the Eden story and the Flood story have clear counter parts in the Gilgamesh epic, whose restless hero has his parallel in Odysseus of the Iliad, even as Gilgamesh fated friendship with Enkidu can be compared to that between Achilles and Patroclus. Gilgamesh’ father, Lugalhanda, was an earlier king of Uruk; his mother, the goddess Rimat Ninsun, “Lady Wild Cow”. Gilgamesh is two-thirds god and one-third human. He is depicted as being – “Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance, He is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild bull. He walks out in front, the leader, And walks at the rear, trusted by his companions. Mighty net, protector of his people.” (Lines 27-30, Tablet 1, The Epic of Gilgamesh) Marduk is our next hero from Enuma Elish: The Babylonian Creation Epic. Marduk was born in Apsu, the region of fresh water beneath the surface of the earth. Ea, one of the gods created him and Damkina, his lover bore him. He suckled the teats of goddesses; he was powerful from the start. When Anu, his father’s begetter beheld him, he rejoiced. He made his grandson so perfect that his godhead was doubled. For were his eyes, four were his ears. When his lips moved, fire blazed forth. His four ears were enormous and likewise, they eyes. They perceived everything. Highest among the gods, his form was outstanding. His limbs were very long, his height outstanding. “clothed in the radiant mantle of ten gods, Worn high above his head Five fearsome rays were clustered above him.” (Lines 103-104, Enuma Elish: The Babylonian Creation Epic) Our third hero is Jesus – God made man in The God of Job. In a mysterious manner, he is believed to b e whole god and whole man. His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived him through the power of the Holy Spirit of God the Father Almighty. All this happened to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The Virgin shall be with child and give birth through a son and they shall call him Emmanuel”, a name which means “God is with us” (Matthew, 1: 20-21) Psalm 99 describes this God of Job thus: “The Lord is king; the peoples tremble He is throned upon the cherubim and the earth quakes The Lord of Zion is great, he is high above all the peoples. Let them praise you great and awesome name, holy is he. The King in his might loves justice You have established equity. Justice and judgment to Jacob you have wrought!” Moses, Aaron and Samuel called upon his name and he answered them from a pillar of cloud. They heard his decrees and the law he gave them. “O Lord, our God, you answered them A forgiving God you were to them, Through requiting their misdeeds…” (Psalm 99) We can see by now that our three heroes of the Creation are all gods. But where as Jesus (Emanuel) is described as being kind and compassionate to his people, Marduk took advantage of his own, and the men of Uruk became anxious. “Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father; Is Gilgamesh the shepherd of Uruk-Haven, Bold, eminent, knowing, wise? Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her bethrothed! (lines 50-51; 55-56, Tablet 1, The Epic of Gilgamesh) On the other hand, Marduk, after he defeated Tiamat, “Marduk allowed them (her helpers) to come out and spared their lives, they were surrounded and could not flee.” (lines 17-18, Enima Elish: The Babylonian Creation Epic) The above lines show that the hero Marduk was merciful to his enemies. The dramatic action and dialogue of the Babylonian Creation Epic can be compared to epic writing from the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Homeric epics, which treat human conflicts against a background of divine violence. The introduction of Enkidu into the epic of Gilgamesh was for the purpose of taming Gilgamesh, who, conscious of his own power, was taking advantage of the people of Uruk. The valiant Enkidu, a human counterpart of Gilgamesh himself, served as some kind of a check-and –balance so that, as a team, both Gilgamesh and Enkidu were successful in battle and Uruk would find peace. This reminds us of the human armies in the Iliad. The outcome of the Trojan war was dependent on the outcome of the battle among the gods on Mt. Olympus. Even Marduk, champion of the Babylonian gods was looked upon with favor by the Gods: “When the gods, his fathers saw how effective his utterance was, They rejoiced, they proclaimed: “Marduk is King!” They invested him with scepter, throne and staff-of-office. They gave him an unfaceable weapon to crush the foe “Go, and cut off the life of Tiamat! Let the winds bear her blood to us as good news!” The help provided Marduk gave him success in war. In the case of the god of Job, there was no violence among the gods, since there was no other god besides Him. During his struggles on earth, Jesus, the son of god would go off by himself to commune with his Father and he would emerge stronger to face all the difficulties of life. Jesus who was identical with God the Father healed the sick, the blind, the lame and at the same time, spread the Word of God. What kind of enemies did the three heroes fight with? For the god of Job, the enemy was Satan who wanted to prove to God that Job was not the blameless, upright man that the Lord believed in. The war between Satan and the Lord was not one of physical force but one of ideas and belief. However, Job suffered immensely because of this. In the long run, the Lord lifted all Job’s suffering, but punished his three friends who showed him sympathy for they had not spoken of the Lord what is right as Job had. “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.. and after this, Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man and full of days.” (Job: 42) The enemy of Marduk was Tiamat – maker of the gods. Her children, the gods would meet together and disturb her and were very noisy. They stirred up Tiamat’s belly and annoyed her by playing – inside the dwelling of the gods. Their noise could not be quelled by their father, Apsu and even Tiamat remained silent. But when Apsu shouted at her, she became very angry. Tiamat and the evil gods continued to disturb the other gods in their dwelling. When Marduk was born and was ready to fight, he killed Tiamat. He restored peace to the land and was crowned king. The enemy of Gilgamesh was Humbaba. To protect the Cedar forest, Enlil assigned Humbaba as a terror to human beings with the aid of his friend Enkidu. The two allies were then able to chop down the towering Cedar to make into a door 72 cubits high and 24 cubits wide. The next enemy of Gilgamesh was the Princess Ishtar who wished to make Gilgamesh her husband, but he turned her down because she has had many lovers and she ruined their lives. She called out to her father to release the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. When the Bull was set free, it caused the death of many young men of Uruk, Gilgamesh with the aid of Enkidu killed the bull. After the Bull of heaven and Humbaba were slain, Enkidu became ill until he finally died. After the death of his beloved friend, Gilgamesh traveled the world over seeking eternal life. Utanapishkin the faraway gave him the answer which was a plant like boxthorn whose thorn would prick the hand of Gilgamesh like a thorn. If his hands reached the plant, Gilgamesh would become young again and return to his homeland with honor. Before Gilgamesh could eat of the plant, a snake carried it off and Gilgamesh wept, realizing that he was unworthy of immortality until he accomplished good deeds for others the story of Gilgamesh wept, realizing that he was unworthy of immortality until he accomplished good deeds for others. The story of Gilgamesh continued to live on in oral tradition and his awesome adventures remind us of Sinbad the Sailor in The Thousand and One Nights. After two thousand years, the recounting of the exploits and hardships undergone by the heroes of Job in Bible History, Marduk in the Babylonian Creation Epic and Gilgamesh in the Epic of Gilgamesh are now known to us. Their musicality, haunting images, the moving dialogue and the engrossing drama make the epics themselves compelling reading today. Read More