Blog 4: The Gods and Gilgamesh

Q: How does the Epic of Gilgamesh portray the gods and their relationship to humankind?

A: The gods and humankind are portrayed as quite similar in the Epic of Gilgamesh, where gods rule humankind, yet they share limited two-way interactions. The first example of this is seen in the creation of Gilgamesh. Instead of crediting Gilgamesh's parents for their great parenting or genetic backgrounds (which would be arguably strange considering genetics weren't truly understood at this time) the author credits various gods for Gilgamesh's many noble qualities. "Shamash, the glorious sun, endowed him with beauty, Adad, the god of the storm, endowed him with courage..."(Strayer, 2013, pg 93). As the text lists Gilgamesh's various attributes, creating a depiction of a powerful man, the text also illustrates the hands-on nature of the gods.

By "endowing" Gilgamesh with these qualities, the gods are also illustrated as having influence over humans. Not only do the gods create each human with a variety of intentions, but the gods rule mankind. In many cultures, gods are often philosophically considered to be creations of man, anthropomorphized beings set up by man to establish the morals of the community which shares the religion. Yet, in the Gilgamesh text, the gods are the writers of mankind. In participating in the creation of Gilgamesh, the gods are viewed as having ultimate domain over the mortals. Mortals are ultimately pawns for the gods to play with.

Even as things do not go as planned by the gods, the gods are the ultimate authority in Gilgamesh. "So the gods agreed to exterminate mankind" ( Strayer, 2013, pg 95). The gods hold all the power in this text. Not only can the gods influence the creation of each man, they can simply decide to wipe clean the slate of humanity. In many religions, god can be seen as ambivalent to the plight of man, yet here, the gods remain aware of the happenings of man and continue to demonstrate their will.

Ultimately, the gods and mankind are written in the Epic of Gilgamesh as having an intertwined existence, where the gods may rule, but humanity still expresses some sense of free will. With that in mind, the ultimate fate of man rests in the hands of the gods, according to this text.