DEIFIED HEROES: ETANA AND GILGAMESH
God and Heroes and the "Seven Sleepers"--Quests of Etana, Gilgamesh,
Hercules, &c.--The Plant of Birth--Eagle carries Etana to
Heaven--Indian Parallel--Flights of Nimrod, Alexander the Great, and
a Gaelic Hero--Eagle as a God--Indian Eagle identified with Gods of
Creation, Fire, Fertility, and Death--Eagle carries Roman Emperor's
Soul to Heaven--Fire and Agricultural Ceremonies--Nimrod of the
_Koran_ and John Barleycorn--Gilgamesh and the Eagle--Sargon-Tammuz
Garden Myth--Ea-bani compared to Pan, Bast, and
Nebuchadnezzar--Exploits of Gilgamesh and Ea-bani--Ishtar's
Vengeance--Gilgamesh journeys to Otherworld--Song of Sea Maiden and
"Lay of the Harper"--Babylonian Noah and the Plant of Life--Teutonic
Parallels--Alexander the Great as Gilgamesh--Water of Life in the
_Koran_--The Indian Gilgamesh and Hercules--The Mountain Tunnel in
various Mythologies--Widespread Cultural Influences.
One of the oldest forms of folk stories relates to the wanderings of
a hero in distant regions. He may set forth in search of a fair lady
who has been taken captive, or to obtain a magic herb or stone to
relieve a sufferer, to cure diseases, and to prolong life. Invariably
he is a slayer of dragons and other monsters. A friendly spirit, or a
group of spirits, may assist the hero, who acts according to the
advice given him by a "wise woman", a magician, or a god. The spirits
are usually wild beasts or birds--the "fates" of immemorial folk
belief--and they may either carry the hero on their backs, instruct
him from time to time, or come to his aid when called upon.
When a great national hero appealed by reason of his achievements to
the imagination of a people, all the floating legends of antiquity
were attached to his memory, and he became identified with gods and
giants and knight-errants "old in story". In Scotland, for instance,
the boulder-throwing giant of Eildon hills bears the name of Wallace,
the Edinburgh giant of Arthur's Seat is called after an ancient Celtic
king,[190] and Thomas the Rhymer takes the place, in an Inverness
fairy mound called Tom-na-hurich, of Finn (Fingal) as chief of the
"Seven Sleepers". Similarly Napoleon sleeps in France and Skobeleff in
Russia, as do also other heroes elsewhere. In Germany the myths of
Thunor (Thor) were mingled with hazy traditions of Theodoric the Goth
(Dietrich), while in Greece, Egypt, and Arabia, Alexander the Great
absorbed a mass of legendary matter of great antiquity, and displaced
in the memories of the people the heroes of other Ages, as those
heroes had previously displaced the humanized spirits of fertility and
growth who alternately battled fiercely against the demons of spring,
made love, gorged and drank deep and went to sleep--the sleep of
winter. Certain folk tales, and the folk beliefs on which they were
based, seem to have been of hoary antiquity before the close of the
Late Stone Age.
There are two great heroes of Babylonian fame who link with Perseus
and Hercules, Sigurd and Siegfried, Dietrich and Finn-mac-Coul. These
are Etana and Gilgamesh, two legendary kings who resemble Tammuz the
Patriarch referred to by Berosus, a form of Tammuz the Sleeper of the
Sumerian psalms. One journeys to the Nether World to obtain the Plant
of Birth and the other to obtain the Plant of Life. The floating
legends with which they were associated were utilized and developed by
the priests, when engaged in the process of systematizing and
symbolizing religious beliefs, with purpose to unfold the secrets of
creation and the Otherworld. Etana secures the assistance or a giant
eagle who is an enemy of serpents like the Indian Garuda, half giant,
half eagle. As Vishnu, the Indian god, rides on the back of Garuda, so
does Etana ride on the back of the Babylonian Eagle. In one
fragmentary legend which was preserved in the tablet-library of
Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian monarch, Etana obtained the assistance of
the Eagle to go in quest of the Plant of Birth. His wife was about to
become a mother, and was accordingly in need of magical aid. A similar
belief caused birth girdles of straw or serpent skins, and eagle
stones found in eagles' nests, to be used in ancient Britain and
elsewhere throughout Europe apparently from the earliest times.[191]
On this or another occasion Etana desired to ascend to highest heaven.
He asked the Eagle to assist him, and the bird assented, saying: "Be
glad, my friend. Let me bear thee to the highest heaven. Lay thy
breast on mine and thine arms on my wings, and let my body be as thy
body." Etana did as the great bird requested him, and together they
ascended towards the firmament. After a flight which extended over two
hours, the Eagle asked Etana to gaze downwards. He did so, and beheld
the ocean surrounding the earth, and the earth seemed like a
mountainous island. The Eagle resumed its flight, and when another two
hours had elapsed, it again asked Etana to look downwards. Then the
hero saw that the sea resembled a girdle which clasped the land. Two
hours later Etana found that he had been raised to a height from which
the sea appeared to be no larger than a pond. By this time he had
reached the heaven of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and found there rest and
shelter.
Here the text becomes fragmentary. Further on it is gathered from the
narrative that Etana is being carried still higher by the Eagle
towards the heaven of Ishtar, "Queen of Heaven", the supreme mother
goddess. Three times, at intervals of two hours, the Eagle asks Etana
to look downwards towards the shrinking earth. Then some disaster
happens, for further onwards the broken tablet narrates that the Eagle
is falling. Down and down eagle and man fall together until they
strike the earth, and the Eagle's body is shattered.
The Indian Garuda eagle[192] never met with such a fate, but on one
occasion Vishnu overpowered it with his right arm, which was heavier
than the whole universe, and caused many feathers to fall _off_. In
the story of Rama's wanderings, however, as told in the _Ramayana_ and
the _Mahabharata_, there are interesting references in this connection
to Garuda's two "sons". One was mortally wounded by Ravana, the demon
king of Ceylon. The other bird related to Rama, who found it disabled:
"Once upon a time we two (brothers), with the desire of outstripping
each other, flew towards the sun. My wings were burnt, but those of my
brother were not.... I fell down on the top of this great mountain,
where I still am."[193]
Another version of the Etana story survives among the Arabian Moslems.
In the "Al Fatihat" chapter of the _Koran_ it is related that a
Babylonian king held a dispute with Abraham "concerning his Lord".
Commentators identify the monarch with Nimrod, who afterwards caused
the Hebrew patriarch to be cast into a fire from which he had
miraculous deliverance. Nimrod then built a tower so as to ascend to
heaven "to see Abraham's god", and make war against Him, but the tower
was overthrown. He, however, persisted in his design. The narrative
states that he was "carried to heaven in a chest borne by four
monstrous birds; but after wandering for some time through the air, he
fell down on a mountain with such a force that he made it shake". A
reference in the _Koran_ to "contrivances ... which make mountains
tremble" is believed to allude to Nimrod's vain attempt.[194]
Alexander the Great was also reputed to have ascended on the back of
an eagle. Among the myths attached to his memory in the Ethiopic
"history" is one which explains how "he knew and comprehended the
length and breadth of the earth", and how he obtained knowledge
regarding the seas and mountains he would have to cross. "He made
himself small and flew through the air on an eagle, and he arrived in
the heights of the heavens and he explored them." Another Alexandrian
version of the Etana myth resembles the Arabic legend of Nimrod. "In
the Country of Darkness" Alexander fed and tamed great birds which
were larger than eagles. Then he ordered four of his soldiers to mount
them. The men were carried to the "Country of the Living", and when
they returned they told Alexander "all that had happened and all that
they had seen".[195]
In a Gaelic story a hero is carried off by a Cromhineach, "a vast bird
like an eagle". He tells that it "sprang to the clouds with me, and I
was a while that I did not know which was heaven or earth for me". The
hero died, but, curiously enough, remained conscious of what was
happening. Apparently exhausted, the eagle flew to an island in the
midst of the ocean. It laid the hero on the sunny side. The hero
proceeds: "Sleep came upon herself (the eagle) and she slept. The sun
was enlivening me pretty well though I was dead." Afterwards the eagle
bathed in a healing well, and as it splashed in the water, drops fell
on the hero and he came to life. "I grew stronger and more active", he
adds, "than I had ever been before."[196]
The eagle figures in various mythologies, and appears to have been at
one time worshipped as the god or goddess of fertility, and storm and
lightning, as the bringer of children, and the deity who carried souls
to Hades. It was also the symbol of royalty, because the earthly ruler
represented the controlling deity. Nin-Girsu, the god of Lagash, who
was identified with Tammuz, was depicted as a lion-headed eagle. Zeus,
the Greek sky and air god, was attended by an eagle, and may, at one
time, have been simply an eagle. In Egypt the place of the eagle is
taken by Nekhebit, the vulture goddess whom the Greeks identified with
"Eileithyia, the goddess of birth; she was usually represented as a
vulture hovering over the king".[197]
The double-headed eagle of the Hittites, which figures in the royal
arms of Germany and Russia, appears to have symbolized the deity of
whom the king was an incarnation or son. In Indian mythology Garuda,
the eagle giant, which destroyed serpents like the Babylonian Etana
eagle, issued from its egg like a flame of fire; its eyes flashed the
lightning and its voice was the thunder. This bird is identified in a
hymn with Agni, god of fire, who has the attributes of Tammuz and
Mithra, with Brahma, the creator, with Indra, god of thunder and
fertility, and with Yama, god of the dead, who carries off souls to
Hades. It is also called "the steed-necked incarnation of Vishnu", the
"Preserver" of the Hindu trinity who rode on its back. The hymn
referred to lauds Garuda as "the bird of life, the presiding spirit of
the animate and inanimate universe ... destroyer of all, creator of
all". It burns all "as the sun in his anger burneth all
creatures".[198]
Birds were not only fates, from whose movements in flight omens were
drawn, but also spirits of fertility. When the childless Indian sage
Mandapala of the _Mahabharata_ was refused admittance to heaven until
a son was born to him, he "pondered deeply" and "came to know that of
all creatures birds alone were blest with fecundity"; so he became a
bird.
It is of interest, therefore, to find the Etana eagle figuring as a
symbol of royalty at Rome. The deified Roman Emperor's waxen image was
burned on a pyre after his death, and an eagle was let loose from the
great pile to carry his soul to heaven.[199] This custom was probably
a relic of seasonal fire worship, which may have been introduced into
Northern and Western Syria and Asia Minor by the mysterious Mitanni
rulers, if it was not an archaic Babylonian custom[200] associated
with fire-and-water magical ceremonies, represented in the British
Isles by May-Day and Midsummer fire-and-water festivals. Sandan, the
mythical founder of Tarsus, was honoured each year at that city by
burning a great bonfire, and he was identified with Hercules. Probably
he was a form of Moloch and Melkarth.[201] Doves were burned to
Adonis. The burning of straw figures, representing gods of fertility,
on May-Day bonfires may have been a fertility rite, and perhaps
explains the use of straw birth-girdles.
According to the commentators of the _Koran_, Nimrod, the Babylonian
king, who cast victims in his annual bonfires at Cuthah, died on the
eighth day of the Tammuz month, which, according to the Syrian
calendar, fell on 13th July.[202] It is related that gnats entered
Nimrod's brain, causing the membrane to grow larger. He suffered great
pain, and to relieve it had his head beaten with a mallet. Although he
lived for several hundred years, like other agricultural patriarchs,
including the Tammuz of Berosus, it is possible that he was ultimately
sacrificed and burned. The beating of Nimrod recalls the beating of
the corn spirit of the agricultural legend utilized by Burns in his
ballad of "John Barleycorn", which gives a jocular account of
widespread ancient customs that are not yet quite extinct even in
Scotland:[203]
They laid him down upon his back
And cudgelled him full sore;
They hung him up before a storm
And turned him o'er and o'er.
They filled up a darksome pit
With water to the brim,
They heaved in John Barleycorn--
There let him sink or swim.
They wasted o'er a scorching flame
The marrow of his bones,
But the miller used him worst of all,
For he crushed him between two stones.
Hercules, after performing many mythical exploits, had himself burned
alive on the pyre which he built upon Mount Oeta, and was borne to
Olympus amidst peals of thunder.
Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, who links with Etana, Nimrod, and
Sandan, is associated with the eagle, which in India, as has been
shown, was identified with the gods of fertility, fire, and death.
According to a legend related by Aelian,[204] "the guards of the
citadel of Babylon threw down to the ground a child who had been
conceived and brought forth in secret, and who afterwards became known
as Gilgamos". This appears to be another version of the Sargon-Tammuz
myth, and may also refer to the sacrifice of children to Melkarth and
Moloch, who were burned or slain "in the valleys under the clefts of
the rocks"[205] to ensure fertility and feed the corn god. Gilgamesh,
however, did not perish. "A keen-eyed eagle saw the child falling, and
before it touched the ground the bird flew under it and received it on
its back, and carried it away to a garden and laid it down gently."
Here we have, it would appear, Tammuz among the flowers, and Sargon,
the gardener, in the "Garden of Adonis". Mimic Adonis gardens were
cultivated by women. Corn, &c., was forced in pots and baskets, and
thrown, with an image of the god, into streams. "Ignorant people",
writes Professor Frazer, "suppose that by mimicking the effect which
they desire to produce they actually help to produce it: thus by
sprinkling water they make rain, by lighting a fire they make
sunshine, and so on."[206] Evidently Gilgamesh was a heroic form of
the god Tammuz, the slayer of the demons of winter and storm, who
passed one part of the year in the world and another in Hades (Chapter
VI).
Like Hercules, Gilgamesh figured chiefly in legendary narrative as a
mighty hero. He was apparently of great antiquity, so that it is
impossible to identify him with any forerunner of Sargon of Akkad, or
Alexander the Great. His exploits were depicted on cylinder seals of
the Sumerian period, and he is shown wrestling with a lion as Hercules
wrestled with the monstrous lion in the valley of Nemea. The story of
his adventures was narrated on twelve clay tablets, which were
preserved in the library of Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian emperor. In
the first tablet, which is badly mutilated, Gilgamesh is referred to
as the man who beheld the world, and had great wisdom because he
peered into the mysteries. He travelled to distant places, and was
informed regarding the flood and the primitive race which the gods
destroyed; he also obtained the plant of life, which his enemy, the
earth-lion, in the form of a serpent or well demon, afterwards carried
away.
Gilgamesh was associated with Erech, where he reigned as "the lord".
There Ishtar had a great temple, but her worldly wealth had decreased.
The fortifications of the city were crumbling, and for three years the
Elamites besieged it. The gods had turned to flies and the winged
bulls had become like mice. Men wailed like wild beasts and maidens
moaned like doves. Ultimately the people prayed to the goddess Aruru
to create a liberator. Bel, Shamash, and Ishtar also came to their
aid.
Aruru heard the cries of her worshippers. She dipped her hands in
water and then formed a warrior with clay. He was named Ea-bani, which
signifies "Ea is my creator". It is possible, therefore, that an
ancient myth of Eridu forms the basis of the narrative.
Ea-bani is depicted on the cylinder seals as a hairy man-monster
resembling the god Pan. He ate grass with the gazelles and drank water
with wild beasts, and he is compared to the corn god, which suggests
that he was an early form of Tammuz, and of character somewhat
resembling the Egyptian Bast, the half-bestial god of fertility. A
hunter was sent out from Erech to search for the man-monster, and
found him beside a stream in a savage place drinking with his
associates, the wild animals. The description of Ea-bani recalls that
of Nebuchadnezzar when he was stricken with madness. "He was driven
from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew
of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his
nails like birds' claws."[207]
The hunter had no desire to combat with Ea-bani, so he had him lured
from the wilds by a beautiful woman. Love broke the spell which kept
Ea-bani in his savage state, and the wild beasts fled from him. Then
the temptress pleaded with him to go with her to Erech, where Anu and
Ishtar had their temples, and the mighty Gilgamesh lived in his
palace. Ea-bani, deserted by his bestial companions, felt lonely and
desired human friendship. So he consented to accompany his bride.
Having heard of Gilgamesh from the hunter, he proposed to test his
strength in single combat, but Shamash, god of the sun, warned Ea-bani
that he was the protector of Gilgamesh, who had been endowed with
great knowledge by Bel and Anu and Ea. Gilgamesh was also counselled
in a vision of night to receive Ea-bani as an ally.
Ea-bani was not attracted by city life and desired to return to the
wilds, but Shamash prevailed upon him to remain as the friend of
Gilgamesh, promising that he would be greatly honoured and exalted to
high rank.
The two heroes became close friends, and when the narrative becomes
clear again, they are found to be setting forth to wage war against
Chumbaba,[208] the King of Elam. Their journey was long and perilous.
In time they entered a thick forest, and wondered greatly at the
numerous and lofty cedars. They saw the great road which the king had
caused to be made, the high mountain, and the temple of the god.
Beautiful were the trees about the mountain, and there were many shady
retreats that were fragrant and alluring.
At this point the narrative breaks off, for the tablet is mutilated.
When it is resumed a reference is made to "the head of Chumbaba", who
has apparently been slain by the heroes. Erech was thus freed from the
oppression of its fierce enemy.
Gilgamesh and Ea-bani appear to have become prosperous and happy. But
in the hour of triumph a shadow falls. Gilgamesh is robed in royal
splendour and wears his dazzling crown. He is admired by all men, but
suddenly it becomes known that the goddess Ishtar has been stricken
with love for him. She "loved him with that love which was his doom".
Those who are loved by celestials or demons become, in folk tales,
melancholy wanderers and "night wailers". The "wretched wight" in
Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is a typical example.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge is withered from the lake
And no birds sing.
* * * * *
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful--a faery's child;
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
* * * * *
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild and manna dew;
And sure in language strange she said,
"I love thee true".
Having kissed her lover to sleep, the fairy woman vanished. The
"knight" then saw in a dream the ghosts of knights and warriors, her
previous victims, who warned him of his fate.
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide;
And I awoke and found me here
On the cold hill's side.
The goddess Ishtar appeared as "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" before
Gilgamesh and addressed him tenderly, saying: "Come, O Gilgamesh, and
be my consort. Gift thy strength unto me. Be thou my husband and I
will be thy bride. Thou shalt have a chariot of gold and lapis lazuli
with golden wheels and gem-adorned. Thy steeds shall be fair and white
and powerful. Into my dwelling thou shalt come amidst the fragrant
cedars. Every king and every prince will bow down before thee, O
Gilgamesh, to kiss thy feet, and all people will become subject unto
thee."
Gilgamesh feared the fate which would attend him as the lover of
Ishtar, and made answer saying: "To what husband hast thou ever
remained faithful? Each year Tammuz, the lover of thy youth, is caused
by thee to weep. Thou didst love the Allala bird and then broke his
wings, and he moans in the woods crying, 'O my wings!' Thou didst love
the lion and then snared him. Thou didst love the horse, and then laid
harness on him and made him gallop half a hundred miles so that he
suffered great distress, and thou didst oppress his mother Silili.
Thou didst love a shepherd who sacrificed kids unto thee, and then
thou didst smite him so that he became a jackal (or leopard); his own
herd boy drove him away and his dogs rent him in pieces. Thou didst
love Ishullanu, the gardener of Anu, who made offerings unto thee, and
then smote him so that he was unable to move. Alas! if thou wouldst
love me, my fate would be like unto the fates of those on whom thou
hast laid affliction."
Ishtar's heart was filled with wrath when she heard the words which
Gilgamesh had spoken, and she prevailed upon her father Anu to create
a fierce bull which she sent against the lord of Erech.
This monster, however, was slain by Gilgamesh[209] and Ea-bani, but
their triumph was shortlived. Ishtar cursed Gilgamesh. Ea-bani then
defied her and threatened to deal with her as he had dealt with the
bull, with the result that he was cursed by the goddess also.
Gilgamesh dedicated the horns of the bull to Shamash and returned with
his friend to Erech, where they were received with great rejoicings. A
festival was held, and afterwards the heroes lay down to sleep. Then
Ea-bani dreamt a dream of ill omen. He met his death soon afterwards,
apparently in a battle, and Gilgamesh lamented over him. From the
surviving fragments of the narrative it would appear that Gilgamesh
resolved to undertake a journey, for he had been stricken by disease.
He wept and cried out, "Oh! let me not die like Ea-bani, for death is
fearful. I will seek the aid of mine ancestor, Pir-napishtim"--the
Babylonian Noah, who was believed to be dwelling on an island which
corresponds to the Greek "Island of the Blessed". The Babylonian
island lay in the ocean of the Nether World.
It seems that Gilgamesh not only hoped to obtain the Water of Life and
the Plant of Life to cure his own disease, but also to restore to life
his dead friend, Ea-bani, whom he loved.
Gilgamesh set out on his journey and in time reached a mountain chasm.
Gazing on the rugged heights, he beheld fierce lions and his heart
trembled. Then he cried upon the moon god, who took pity upon him, and
under divine protection the hero pressed onward. He crossed the rocky
range and then found himself confronted by the tremendous mountain of
Mashi--"Sunset hill", which divided the land of the living from the
western land of the dead. The mountain peak rose to heaven, and its
foundations were in Aralu, the Underworld.[210] A dark tunnel pierced
it and could be entered through a door, but the door was shut and on
either side were two monsters of horrible aspect--the gigantic
"scorpion man" and his wife, whose heads reached to the clouds. When
Gilgamesh beheld them he swooned with terror. But they did him no
harm, perceiving that he was a son of a god and had a body like a god.
When Gilgamesh revived, he realized that the monsters regarded him
with eyes of sympathy. Addressing the scorpion giant, he told that he
desired to visit his ancestor, Pir-napishtim, who sat in the council
of the gods and had divine attributes. The giant warned him of the
dangers which he would encounter, saying that the mountain passage was
twelve miles long and beamless and black. Gilgamesh, however, resolved
to encounter any peril, for he was no longer afraid, and he was
allowed to go forward. So he entered through the monster-guarded
mountain door and plunged into thick unbroken darkness. For twice
twelve hours he groped blindly onward, until he saw a ray of light.
Quickening his steps, he then escaped from the dreadful tunnel and
once more rejoiced in the rays of the sun. He found himself in an
enchanted garden, and in the midst of it he saw a divine and beautiful
tree towards which he hastened. On its gleaming branches hung clusters
of precious stones and its leaves were of lapis lazuli. His eyes were
dazzled, but he did not linger there. Passing many other wonderful
trees, he came to a shoreland, and he knew that he was drawing nigh to
the Sea of Death. The country which he entered was ruled over by the
sea lady whose name was Sabitu. When she saw the pilgrim drawing nigh,
she entered her palace and shut the door.
Gilgamesh called out requesting that he should be allowed to enter,
and mingled his entreaties with threats to break open the door. In the
end Sabitu appeared and spoke, saying:
Gilgamesh, whither hurriest thou?
The life that thou seekest thou wilt not find.
When the gods created man
They fixed death for mankind.
Life they took in their own hand.
Thou, O Gilgamesh, let thy belly be filled!
Day and night be merry,
Daily celebrate a feast,
Day and night dance and make merry!
Clean be thy clothes,
Thy head be washed, bathe in water!
Look joyfully on the child that grasps thy hand,
Be happy with the wife in thine arms![211]
This is the philosophy of the Egyptian "Lay of the Harper". The
following quotations are from two separate versions:--
How rests this just prince!
The goodly destiny befalls,
The bodies pass away
Since the time of the god,
And generations come into their places.
* * * * *
(Make) it pleasant for thee to follow thy desire
While thou livest.
Put myrrh upon thy head,
And garments on thee of fine linen....
Celebrate the glad day,
Be not weary therein....
Thy sister (wife) who dwells in thy heart.
She sits at thy side.
Put song and music before thee,
Behind thee all evil things,
And remember thou (only) joy.[212]
Jastrow contrasts the Babylonian poem with the following quotation
from Ecclesiastes:--
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with
a merry heart.... Let thy garments be always white; and
let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom
thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he [God]
hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for
that
is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest
under the sun.[213]
"The pious Hebrew mind", Jastrow adds, "found the corrective to this
view of life in the conception of a stern but just God, acting
according to self-imposed standards of right and wrong, whose rule
extends beyond the grave." The final words of the Preacher are, "Fear
God and keep his commandments".[214]
Gilgamesh did not accept the counsel of the fatalistic sea lady. He
asked her how he could reach Pir-napishtim, his ancestor, saying he
was prepared to cross the Sea of Death: if he could not cross it he
would die of grief.
Sabitu answered him, saying: "O Gilgamesh, no mortal is ferried over
this great sea. Who can pass over it save Shamash alone? The way is
full of peril. O Gilgamesh, how canst thou battle against the billows
of death?"
At length, however, the sea lady revealed to the pilgrim that he might
obtain the aid of the sailor, Arad Ea, who served his ancestor
Pir-napishtim.
Gilgamesh soon found where Arad Ea dwelt, and after a time prevailed
upon him to act as ferryman. Arad Ea required a helm for his boat, and
Gilgamesh hastened to fashion one from a tree. When it was fixed on,
the boat was launched and the voyage began. Terrible experiences were
passed through as they crossed the Sea of Death, but at length they
drew nigh to the "Island of the Blessed" on which dwelt Pir-napishtim
and his wife. Wearied by his exertions and wasted by disease,
Gilgamesh sat resting in the boat. He did not go ashore.
Pir-napishtim had perceived the vessel crossing the Sea of Death and
marvelled greatly.
The story is unfortunately interrupted again, but it appears that
Gilgamesh poured into the ears of his ancestor the tale of his
sufferings, adding that he feared death and desired to escape his
fate.
Pir-napishtim made answer, reminding the pilgrim that all men must
die. Men built houses, sealed contracts, disputed one with another,
and sowed seeds in the earth, but as long as they did so and the
rivers rose in flood, so long would their fate endure. Nor could any
man tell when his hour would come. The god of destiny measured out the
span of life: he fixed the day of death, but never revealed his
secrets.
Gilgamesh then asked Pir-napishtim how it chanced that he was still
alive. "Thou hast suffered no change," he said, "thou art even as I
am. Harden not thy heart against me, but reveal how thou hast obtained
divine life in the company of the gods."
Pir-napishtim thereupon related to his descendant the story of the
deluge, which is dealt with fully in the next chapter. The gods had
resolved to destroy the world, and Ea in a dream revealed unto
Pir-napishtim how he could escape. He built a ship which was tossed
about on the waters, and when the world had been destroyed, Bel
discovered him and transported him to that island in the midst of the
Sea of Death.
Gilgamesh sat in the boat listening to the words of his ancestor. When
the narrative was ended, Pir-napishtim spoke sympathetically and said:
"Who among the gods will restore thee to health, O Gilgamesh? Thou
hast knowledge of my life, and thou shalt be given the life thou dost
strive after. Take heed, therefore, to what I say unto thee. For six
days and seven nights thou shalt not lie down, but remain sitting like
one in the midst of grief."[215]
Gilgamesh sat in the ship, and sleep enveloped him like to a black
storm cloud.
Pir-napishtim spoke to his wife and said: "Behold the hero who
desireth to have life. Sleep envelops him like to a black storm
cloud."
To that lone man his wife made answer: "Lay thine hand upon him so
that he may have perfect health and be enabled to return to his own
land. Give him power to pass through the mighty door by which he
entered."
Then Pir-napishtim addressed his wife, saying: "His sufferings make me
sad. Prepare thou for him the magic food, and place it near his head."
On the day when Gilgamesh lay down, the food was prepared by seven
magic processes, and the woman administered it while yet he slept.
Then Pir-napishtim touched him, and he awoke full of life.
Gilgamesh spake unto Pir-napishtim and said: "I was suddenly overcome
by sleep.... But thou didst awaken me by touching me, even thou....
Lo! I am bewitched. What hast thou done unto thy servant?"
Then Pir-napishtim told Gilgamesh that he had been given to eat of the
magic food. Afterwards he caused Arad Ea to carry Gilgamesh to a
fountain of healing, where his disease-stricken body was cleansed. The
blemished skin fell from him, and he was made whole.
Thereafter Gilgamesh prepared to return to his own land. Ere he bade
farewell, however, Pir-napishtim revealed unto him the secret of a
magic plant which had power to renew life and give youth and strength
unto those who were old.
Arad Ea conducted the hero to the island where the plant grew, and
when Gilgamesh found it he rejoiced, and said that he would carry it
to Erech, his own city, where he would partake of it and restore his
youth.
So Gilgamesh and Arad Ea went on their way together, nor paused until
they came to a well of pure water. The hero stooped down to draw
water.[216] But while he was thus engaged that demon, the Earth Lion,
crept forth as a serpent, and, seizing the magic plant of life,
carried it away. Stricken with terror, Gilgamesh uttered a curse. Then
he sat down and wept bitterly, and the tears streamed over his face.
To Arad Ea he spake, saying: "Why has my health been restored to me?
Why should I rejoice because that I live? The benefit which I should
have derived for myself has now fallen to the Earth Lion."
The two travellers then resumed their journey, performing religious
acts from time to time; chanting dirges and holding feasts for the
dead, and at length Gilgamesh returned to Erech. He found that the
city walls were crumbling, and he spake regarding the ceremonies which
had been performed while yet he was in a far-distant country.
During the days which followed Gilgamesh sorrowed for his lost friend
Ea-bani, whose spirit was in the Underworld, the captive of the
spirits of death. "Thou canst not draw thy bow now," he cried, "nor
raise the battle shout. Thou canst not kiss the woman thou hast loved;
thou canst not kiss the child thou hast loved, nor canst thou smite
those whom thou hast hated."
In vain Gilgamesh appealed to his mother goddess to restore Ea-bani to
him. Then he turned to the gods, and Ea heard him. Thereafter Nergal,
god of death, caused the grave to yawn, and the spirit of Ea-bani
arose like a wind gust.
Gilgamesh, still dreading death, spoke to the ghost of his friend,
saying: "Tell me, my friend, O tell me regarding the land in which
thou dost dwell."
Ea-bani made answer sorrowfully: "Alas! I cannot tell thee, my friend.
If I were to tell thee all, thou wouldst sit down and weep."
Said Gilgamesh: "Let me sit down and weep, but tell me regarding the
land of spirits."
The text is mutilated here, but it can be gathered that Ea-bani
described the land where ill-doers were punished, where the young were
like the old, where the worm devoured, and dust covered all. But the
state of the warrior who had been given burial was better than that of
the man who had not been buried, and had no one to lament or care for
him. "He who hath been slain in battle," the ghost said, "reposeth on
a couch drinking pure water--one slain in battle as thou hast seen and
I have seen. His head is supported by his parents: beside him sits his
wife. His spirit doth not haunt the earth. But the spirit of that man
whose corpse has been left unburied and uncared for, rests not, but
prowls through the streets eating scraps of food, the leavings of the
feast, and drinking the dregs of vessels."
So ends the story of Gilgamesh in the form which survives to us.
The journey of Gilgamesh to the Island of the Blessed recalls the
journeys made by Odin, Hermod, Svipdag, Hotherus and others to the
Germanic Hela. When Hermod went to search for Balder, as the Prose
Edda relates, he rode through thick darkness for nine days and nine
nights ere he crossed the mountains. As Gilgamesh met Sabitu, Hermod
met Modgudur, "the maiden who kept the bridge" over the river Gjõll.
Svipdag, according to a Norse poem, was guided like the Babylonian
hero by the moon god, Gevar, who instructed him what way he should
take to find the irresistible sword. Saxo's Hother, who is instructed
by "King Gewar", crosses dismal mountains "beset with extraordinary
cold".[217] Thorkill crosses a stormy ocean to the region of perpetual
darkness, where the ghosts of the dead are confined in loathsome and
dusty caves. At the main entrance "the door posts were begrimed with
the soot of ages".[218] In the _Elder Edda_ Svipdag is charmed against
the perils he will be confronted by as he fares "o'er seas mightier
than men do know", or is overtaken by night "wandering on the misty
way ".[219] When Odin "downward rode into Misty Hel" he sang spells at
a "witch's grave", and the ghost rose up to answer his questions
regarding Balder. "Tell me tidings of Hel", he addressed her, as
Gilgamesh addressed the ghost of Ea-bani.
In the mythical histories of Alexander the Great, the hero searches
for the Water of Life, and is confronted by a great mountain called
Musas (Mashti). A demon stops him and says; "O king, thou art not able
to march through this mountain, for in it dwelleth a mighty god who is
like unto a monster serpent, and he preventeth everyone who would go
unto him." In another part of the narrative Alexander and his army
arrive at a place of darkness "where the blackness is not like the
darkness of night, but is like unto the mists and clouds which descend
at the break of day". A servant uses a shining jewel stone, which Adam
had brought from Paradise, to guide him, and found the well. He drank
of the "waters of life" and bathed in them, with the result that he
was strengthened and felt neither hunger nor thirst. When he came out
of the well "all the flesh of his body became bluish-green and his
garments likewise bluish-green". Apparently he assumed the colour of
supernatural beings. Rama of India was blue, and certain of his monkey
allies were green, like the fairies of England and Scotland. This
fortunate man kept his secret. His name was Matun, but he was
afterwards nicknamed "'El-Khidr', that is to say, 'Green'". What
explanation he offered for his sudden change of appearance has not
been recorded.[220] It is related that when Matun reached the Well of
Life a dried fish which he dipped in the water was restored to life
and swam away. In the _Koran_ a similar story is told regarding Moses
and Joshua, who travelled "for a long space of time" to a place where
two seas met. "They forgot their fish which they had taken with them,
and the fish took its way freely to the sea." The Arabian commentators
explain that Moses once agreed to the suggestion that he was the
wisest of men. In a dream he was directed to visit Al Khedr, who was
"more knowing than he", and to take a fish with him in a basket. On
the seashore Moses fell asleep, and the fish, which had been roasted,
leapt out of the basket into the sea. Another version sets forth that
Joshua, "making the ablution at the fountain of life", some of the
water happened to be sprinkled on the fish, which immediately leapt
up.[221]
The Well of Life is found in Fingalian legends. When Diarmid was
mortally wounded by the boar, he called upon Finn to carry water to
him from the well:
Give me a draught from thy palms, O Finn,
Son of my king for my succour,
For my life and my dwelling.
_Campbell's West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, 80.
The quest of the plant, flower, or fruit of life is referred to in
many folk tales. In the _Mahabharata_, Bhima, the Indian Gilgamesh or
Hercules, journeys to north-eastern Celestial regions to find the lake
of the god Kuvera (Kubera), on which grow the "most beautiful and
unearthly lotuses", which restore health and give strength to the
weary. As Gilgamesh meets with Pir-napishtim, who relates the story of
the Deluge which destroyed the "elder race", Bhima meets with Hanuman,
who informs him regarding the Ages of the Universe and the races which
were periodically destroyed by deluges. When Bhima reaches the lotus
lake he fights with demons. To heal his wounds and recover strength he
plunges into the lake. "As he drank of the waters, like unto nectar,
his energy and strength were again fully restored."[222]
Hercules similarly sets out to search for the golden apples which grow
in
those Hesperian gardens famed of old,
Fortunate fields, and groves and flowery vales.
As Bhima slew Yakshas which guarded the lotuses, Hercules slew Ladon,
the guardian of the apples. Other heroes kill treasure-protecting
dragons of various kinds.
There is a remarkable resemblance between the Babylonian account of
Gilgamesh's journey through the mountain tunnel to the garden and
seashore, and the Indian story of the demigod Hanuman passing through
the long cavern to the shoreland palace of the female ascetic, when he
was engaged searching for Sita, the wife of Rama, who had been carried
away by Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon. In the version of the latter
narrative which is given in the _Mahabharata_, Hanuman says: "I bring
thee good news, O Rama; for Janaka's daughter hath been seen by me.
Having searched the southern region with all its hills, forests, and
mines for some time, we became very weary. At length we beheld a great
cavern. And having beheld it, we entered that cavern which extended
over many _yojanas_. It was dark and deep, and overgrown with trees
and infested by worms. And having gone a great way through it, we came
upon sunshine and beheld a beautiful palace. It was the abode of the
Daitya (sea demon) Maya. And there we beheld a female ascetic named
Parbhàvati engaged in ascetic austerities. And she gave us food and
drink of various kinds. And having refreshed ourselves therewith and
regained our strength, we proceeded along the way shown by her. At
last we came out of the cavern and beheld the briny sea, and on its
shores, the _Sahya_, the _Malaya_, and the great _Dardura_ mountains.
And ascending the mountains of _Malaya_, we beheld before us the vast
ocean (or, "the abode of Varuna"). And beholding it, we felt sorely
grieved in mind.... We despaired of returning with our lives.... We
then sat together, resolved to die there of starvation."
Hanuman and his friends, having had, so far, experiences similar to
those of Gilgamesh, next discovered the eagle giant which had burned
its wings when endeavouring to soar to the sun. This great bird, which
resembles the Etana eagle, expressed the opinion that Sita was in
Lanka (Ceylon), whither she must have been carried by Ravana. But no
one dared to cross the dangerous ocean. Hanuman at length, however,
obtained the assistance of Vayu, the wind god, his divine father, and
leapt over the sea, slaying monsters as he went. He discovered where
the fair lady was concealed by the king of demons.[223]
The dark tunnel is met with in many British stories of daring heroes
who set out to explore it, but never return. In the Scottish versions
the adventurers are invariably pipers who are accompanied by dogs. The
sound of the pipes is heard for a time; then the music ceases
suddenly, and shortly afterwards the dog returns without a hair upon
its body. It has evidently been in conflict with demons.
The tunnel may run from a castle to the seashore, from a cave on one
side of a hill to a cave on the other, or from a seashore cave to a
distant island.
It is possible that these widespread tunnel stories had origin among
the cave dwellers of the Palaeolithic Age, who believed that deep
caverns were the doors of the underground retreats of dragons and
giants and other supernatural enemies of mankind.
In Babylonia, as elsewhere, the priests utilized the floating material
from which all mythologies were framed, and impressed upon it the
stamp of their doctrines. The symbolized stories were afterwards
distributed far and wide, as were those attached to the memory of
Alexander the Great at a later period. Thus in many countries may be
found at the present day different versions of immemorial folk tales,
which represent various stages of culture, and direct and indirect
contact at different periods with civilizations that have stirred the
ocean of human thought, and sent their ideas rippling in widening
circles to far-distant shores.