Gilgamesh
The epic of Gllgamesh, which is translated from oral storytelling to narrative, is a biblical story about the flood in ancient Mesopotamia. There are many translated versions of the epic, but the ones that we view in the text are the Standard Version. This version tells about the prologue of Gilgamesh, his friendship with Endiku, his adventure in the Cedar Forest, and the search for immortality. The epic of Gilgamesh is especially interesting to read because Gilgamesh starts out as a bad ruler, but he acquires wisdom after encountering Endiku and journeying towards immortality.
As discussed in class, Gilgamesh is the ruler of Uruk who endows great strength, beauty, and courage from different Gods. Even though Gilgamesh has all the superior traits, I do not see him as a good ruler. He is brutal toward his people: he puts his men into hard labor and takes any women as he pleases. Gilgamesh is also arrogant to think that there is no other to match his strength. However, Endiku, the person who is godlike, is conditioned by a prostitute to be civilized challenges Gilgamesh’s strength. Eventually, Gilgamesh fights with Endiku and wins. From winning the fight Gilgamesh gains a new friend from the challenge. Their challenge seems crucial, but is other challenge such as fighting Humbaba in the forest necessary? Is it worth it for Glgamesh to kill Humbaba, an innocent creature, to gain fame among his people?
After many journeys with Gilgamesh, Endiku stashes with the Goddess of love, Ishtar. Endiku is cursed by the Gods to die a slow death from offending Ishtar. This makes me think that the Gods must be fickled and moody. Gilgamesh realizes that even a godlike person like Endiku cannot escape death. Consequently, Gilgamesh journeys to discover immortality from Utnapishtim. However, his journey turns out to be a failure.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Ancient Egyptian Love Poem
When I think of Ancient Egypt, words such as the Nile River, pharaoh, pyramid, afterlife, and civilization come into mind. However, there are not many words that I can describe what their everyday life by. What are people's attitudes toward life? But most important of all, how does people express their love in a relationship? I am surprised to see that the Egyptian poems express all sorts of love possibilities. The author's expressions are passionate, smooth, and erotic. From reading the Egyptian love poems I feel that love does not change at all over the years.
Today in class, I get a grasp of what Ancient Egyptian love poems are like. We read a text in class by George A. Barton from wikisource about several different poems. The poems include both male and female speakers. Even though the speakers have different poems, I am confused at first to classify which author is which. Every of their poem is well connected to each other. An example of a poem in the text is "Love of you is mixed deep in my vitals". (pg 52) The author describes love as, "Love of you is mixed deep in my vitals, like water stirred into flour for bread, Like simples compound in a sweet-tasting drug, like pastry and honey mixed to perfection." Can you classify if the author is a male or female from those verses? My guess is the author is a female speaking because the author uses food and pill to compare their love.
By reading the text, I see many similarities between Ancient Egyptian poem and modern American poem. Both types of poem use similes and metaphors. Another example of the poem that uses simile is in line 7-9 of part I: "For heaven makes your love
Like the advance of flames in straw, And its longing like the downward swoop of a hawk."
In this figure of speech, he is saying the love is quick and fast. In line 10-13 of part II show the use of metaphor. The lines are as followed: "Disturbed is the condition of my pool. The mouth of my sister is a rosebud. Her breast is a perfume." In line 10, "disturbed is the condition of my pool," the author is describing his state of mind for the women that he loves. He also uses metaphor to compare her figure. Overall, I thoroughly enjoy reading these love poems in class. Those poems provide different perspectives from male and female speakers and how the individual sees love.
Today in class, I get a grasp of what Ancient Egyptian love poems are like. We read a text in class by George A. Barton from wikisource about several different poems. The poems include both male and female speakers. Even though the speakers have different poems, I am confused at first to classify which author is which. Every of their poem is well connected to each other. An example of a poem in the text is "Love of you is mixed deep in my vitals". (pg 52) The author describes love as, "Love of you is mixed deep in my vitals, like water stirred into flour for bread, Like simples compound in a sweet-tasting drug, like pastry and honey mixed to perfection." Can you classify if the author is a male or female from those verses? My guess is the author is a female speaking because the author uses food and pill to compare their love.
By reading the text, I see many similarities between Ancient Egyptian poem and modern American poem. Both types of poem use similes and metaphors. Another example of the poem that uses simile is in line 7-9 of part I: "For heaven makes your love
Like the advance of flames in straw, And its longing like the downward swoop of a hawk."
In this figure of speech, he is saying the love is quick and fast. In line 10-13 of part II show the use of metaphor. The lines are as followed: "Disturbed is the condition of my pool. The mouth of my sister is a rosebud. Her breast is a perfume." In line 10, "disturbed is the condition of my pool," the author is describing his state of mind for the women that he loves. He also uses metaphor to compare her figure. Overall, I thoroughly enjoy reading these love poems in class. Those poems provide different perspectives from male and female speakers and how the individual sees love.
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