Food for Thought Reading Assignment

Week 2: Thursday, September 12

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Please answer two of the following questions.

1) What exactly do Enkidu's creation and taming symbolize? In the end, does Enkidu regret his taming?

2) Throughout the epic, what does Gilgamesh seem to be looking for?

3) What answers does the epic provide to the questions Gilgamesh asks? What is Siduri's advice? What does Utnapishtim say?

4) How does the epic portray the gods (e.g. Anu, Aruru, Enlil, Ishtar, Shamash etc.)? What type of relationship do they have with each other and with the Mesopotamians?

5) How does the Mesopotamian flood myth differ from the biblical account of the flood? How are the two similar?