In a way, the gods brought this on themselves. You shouldn't create a demi-god if you can't control him and he doesn't respect you. All because Inanna wanted a king for her people, they got this uncontrollable person. All because they took his friend, he wants to be a full god.
Ancient myths often work that way. It's sometimes easier to think of the gods involved as more like flawed superheroes (or supervillains) than like what we would think of as a god.
The really odd thing in the original epic is that the writer praises Gilgamesh even as he screws up over and over. This makes me think that the epic is it has come down to us is a composite product rather than the work of one person. Or perhaps it had a long history of oral tradition before being written down. That's true of many ancient epics.
Nice cliffhanger at the end! Gilgamesh, what a bumbler.
In a way, the gods brought this on themselves. You shouldn't create a demi-god if you can't control him and he doesn't respect you. All because Inanna wanted a king for her people, they got this uncontrollable person. All because they took his friend, he wants to be a full god.
Ancient myths often work that way. It's sometimes easier to think of the gods involved as more like flawed superheroes (or supervillains) than like what we would think of as a god.
The really odd thing in the original epic is that the writer praises Gilgamesh even as he screws up over and over. This makes me think that the epic is it has come down to us is a composite product rather than the work of one person. Or perhaps it had a long history of oral tradition before being written down. That's true of many ancient epics.