I can relate the style of this book to The Iliad, it uses classic and literary language, it is not ordinary or casual. It's kind of poetic and it is divided in a way we are not used to.
There is also allot of participation of gods like in the Iliad. (Auru, Ninruta and others)
Another thing I noticed is that there are some things that they repeat with the exact same wording, like when they are sending a message:
On pages 6 and 7
The hunter tells his father that he saw Enkidu
"I saw a hairy-bodied man today at the watering place, powerful as Ninurta the god of war; he visits the watering places with the beasts..."
Then when he tells Gilgamesh, he repeats the message; with the exact same wording. This happens allot in The Iliad.
Gilgamesh could also be considered "demigod" (the word for people that are half god half human in the Iliad). Gilgamesh is 2/3 god and 1/3 human
There is also allot desire for women. This is one of the main topics of the Iliad since the war is in part because of Helena and Achilles is mad at the king because he took her women away. In this book, Enkidu is seduced by Shamhat, he is kind of hypnotized and wants to go to the city Uruk with her. Gilgamesh is also doing a really bad thing with women; he rapes them before they get married.
The interpretation of Gilgamesh's dream can also be connected to The Iliad because we also see allot of dreams and interpretations in Greek mythology.
You can also find many similes and other literary devices in both books:
"...he looked as beautiful as a bridegroom" (page 13)
I liked Gilgamesh better because there are allot less characters that I have to remember and it is easier to understand.
Tablets IV and V - Vocabulary
I think this words are important to define even though I know what they mean. They are a really important part of these tablets.
Dream: images, thoughts, or emotions that pass through the mind while sleeping.
Fortunate: receiving good form unexpected sources
Mortal: subject to death
Immortal: not liable to death
Words that I didn't know:
Quench: to satisfy
Oblivion: the state of being forgotten or unknown
Tablets VI - VII - Questions
- What is the goddess Ishtar goddess of? (the I figured out she was the goddess of love)
- If a demigod has a child with a god will it be god or demigod?
- Why does Gilgamesh say that Ishtar is bad (you are the house that falls down, you are the door through which the cold gets in)?
- Why are bridegrooms so important? they always compare them to good things and mention that word allot.
- Why is the story in divided into weird paragraphs like the stanzas on a poem?
- Why did Gilgamesh insult Ishtar, everyone knows you can't disrespect a god or goddess?
- What is the Bull of Heaven?
- Where did the idea of heaven and underworld come from? This is an idea that many religions share...where did it come from?
- Does Uruk really exist?
- Why doesn't she try another revenge that only involves Gilgamesh and not all the Earth?
- Why do they give more importance to Gilgamesh than to Enkidu if Enkidu has helped him defeat the Bull, and Huwawa shouldn't they be equal?
- Did Gilgamesh and Enkidu exist and the narrator put some magic into the story or is everything made up?
- Like Enkidu's question, why are the gods meeting in council? (I found out it was because the killed the Bull and Huwawa, the gods are mad and they want to get to a decision.)
- Which one are the gods going to kill? Are they going to succeed?
- What is the importance of the rock lapis lazuli to them?
