Name: Ma. Denice G. Angeles Yr.

& Course: BSIT 2-1

Prof. Rodrigo Dolorosa Activity #: 3

ACTIVITY 1

TITLE: The Epic of Gilgamesh

CHARACTERS AND THEIR ROLE (BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEIR CHARACTER ROLE)

Gilgamesh - The King of Uruk, the strongest of men, and the best representation of any human
being. Gilgamesh covers the town of Uruk with impressive walls, a courageous warrior, fair
judge, and ambitious builder, and erects the glorious ziggurats, or temple towers. Gilgamesh, a
two-third god and one-third mortal, is undone by sadness at the loss of his cherished friend
Enkidu, and by grief at the fear of his own mortality. In quest of solutions to the questions of life
and death, he journeys to the edge of the World.

Enkidu - Gilgamesh's friend and companion. Hairy-bodied and muscular, who was raised by
animals. He maintains much of his undomesticated qualities even as he enters the modern
world. Enkidu looks a lot like Gilgamesh and is almost his physical equivalent. He aspires to be
the opponent of Gilgamesh, but becomes his soul mate instead. Gilgamesh and Enkidu are
punished by the gods by offering a long, excruciating, glorious death to Enkidu for murdering the
Humbaba demon and the Bull of Heaven.

Shamhat - A temple prostitute who was sent to civilize Enkidu by Gilgamesh. Shamhat seduces
Enkidu, and for six days and seven nights, he sleeps with her. She takes him back with her to
Uruk, where he sees Gilgamesh for the first time.

Aruru - A goddess of creation who fashioned Enkidu from clay and her saliva.

Ninsun - Gilgamesh's mother and a goddess. She prays for Gilgamesh and Enkidu before they
embark to fight Humbaba in the cedar forest.

Humbaba/Huwawa – The terrified devil protecting the secret Cedar Forest of mortals. The
seven clothes of Humbaba create a sensation that paralyzes terror in anyone who would defy or
confront him. He's a perfect example of incredible natural strength and risk.
Anu - The father of the Sumerian Gods. Ishtar appeals to him for help after Gilgamesh spurns
her advances.

Siduri - The goddess of wine-making and brewing. Siduri is the veiled tavern keeper who
comforts Gilgamesh and who, though she knows his quest is unsuccessful, helps him on his
way to Utnapishtim.

Urshanabi - The boatman who takes Gilgamesh over the waters of the dead to see
Utnapishtim.

Enlil - God of earth, wind, and air. A superior god, Enlil is not very fond of humankind.

Utnapishtim - Ea was ordered to build a boat before the flood that devastated Shurrupak city.
For his function, Utnapishtim is granted immortality. After Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh finds him
out. Utnapishtim informs Gilgamesh of the flood and tells him where to locate an everlasting
magic herb.

Ishtar/Irnini - The goddess of love and fertility, as well as the goddess of war. Ishtar is
frequently called the Queen of Heaven. Though she can be unpredictable at times, she is a
nurturing mother figure, and other times she is spiteful and cruel. She is the patroness of Uruk,
where she has a temple.

The Bull of Heaven - Referred to in some translations as "Gugalanna," the Bull of Heaven was
sent to punish Gilgamesh for rejecting Ishtar's sexual advances. Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the
Bull of Heaven and insult Ishtar.

Lugalbanda - The father of Gilgamesh, a great hero king of Uruk.

Nergal - Lord of the underworld.

Ninurta - The god of war, chaos, and silence.

Shamash - The god of light and the sun, he aids Enkidu and Gilgamesh in their fight with
Humbaba.

Sin - The god of the moon.

Sumuqan -The god of cattle.

SUMMARY

Among many of the oldest known literary works is the Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic is a
long poem that tells the tale of heroes or gods that are mythical or inspirational. The first tales of
Gilgamesh started, as most epics, as oral stories passed down by word of mouth. The legends
were compiled and documented on clay tablets hundreds of years after the poets first spoke
about Gilgamesh.

The tale begins almost five thousand years ago. The ruler of the prosperous city of
Urduk was Gilgamesh. The king was strong and handsome, but he was ruthless as well.
Gilgamesh compelled the people of Urduk to build a massive palace for him. He had his people
live in perpetual terror as well. The residents of Urduk followed Enkidu to Urduk when they
called the gods for help. Enkidu was huge and powerful as well, but he was reckless and
unaware of civilized people's ways. Enkidu grew up in the forest where he lived with animals.
After Enkidu knew the brutality of Gilgamesh, the wild man asked to battle the mighty leader. As
the two strong men clashed, they discovered that they respected one another, so they became
inseparable friends instead of remaining rivals.

Urduk left the unlikely couple to go on several journeys. In the forbidden Cedar Forest
where the gods resided, Gilgamesh and Enkidu joined, but then they met a hideous creature
called Humbaba. The goddess Ishtar was displeased by Gilgamesh, so she sent the fearful Bull
of Heaven to wreck the Sumerian farmers' crops. The bull was defeated by Gilgamesh and
Enkidu. The gods were angered by this so they made Enkidu fall ill and die. Gilgamesh was
absolutely devastated about his friend's death. The king was still terrified that he would die one
day so Gilgamesh began looking for the secret of everlasting life.

One version of the epic portrays a severe flood several years before the era of
Gilgamesh that engulfed the world. On a long journey, Gilgamesh went to visit Utnapishtim, an
old man who survived the flood because he was warned by the gods of the imminent deluge.
Gilgamesh told Utnapishtim, "The life that you are seeking you will never find. When the gods
created man, they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping."

Gilgamesh came back home from his travels with Enkidu and Utnapishtim, overflowing
with knowledge. Gilgamesh was a benevolent king who did not mistreat the people of Urduk
anymore. Gilgamesh knew he was unable to survive death, but he was able to carry on in the
hearts of the ones he loves.

CONCLUSION

The greatest leader of all history was Gilgamesh. During his lifespan, he accomplished
great achievements including destroying Humbaba, became Uruk's fifth king, being the lead
character in the "Epic of Gilgamesh," and becoming humankind's first early hero. Gilgamesh
was indeed a man of no virtues and law at first but he knew how to be powerful and civil when
he encountered Enkidu. This reflects the positive attitude and desire of Gilgamesh to become
an important man and support humanity. Gilgamesh fought bravely for his troops during his term
and managed to influence his kingdom and the majority of his people positively. He was
recognized by later rulers of Uruk and modern-day Iraq after Gilgamesh's term for his leadership
abilities and as one of the kings of their great area. These qualities make Gilgamesh the
greatest king of all time!

PERSONAL REACTIONS/ LITERARY CRITIC

The tale is simple, people will have it telling us about how Gilgamesh made it and had to
be a myth, it is an illustration of Gilgamesh and Enkidu's friendship as well. The deeper
interpretation of the novel shows that in fact, Gilgamesh transitions from the start of the chapter
to the end, while some people would argue that Gilgamesh doesn't really change from the
beginning of the book, The Epic of Gilgamesh. For three different causes, the identity of
Gilgamesh moves. First in the novel, Gilgamesh shifts because of his insatiable appetite for
immortality after Enkidu's death. Following the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh seeks immortality.
Gil, secondly, Second, throughout the story, Gilgamesh changes because of Humbaba's death.
Gates and doors serve not only as actual portals to new spaces in the Epic of Gilgamesh, but
also as metaphysical ones. The entry of Enkidu into Uruk through the gates of the city
symbolizes his full transformation to civilized life, and Enkidu proposes that they create a door
with its wood after cutting down the great cedar tree. Similarly, at the beginning of his most
challenging journey, Gilgamesh meets the Scorpion-Men defending a great gate.

Atleast, I learned and understand the epic by not only as how Gilgamesh became an
epic, but as the remarkable fellowship within the tale between the two essential characters.
Gilgamesh was Uruk's king and he was a dictator at the beginning and left his subjects a part of
despair. This is why people started calling the deity to save them, and thus the divine decided to
make Enkidu a fighter to combat Gilgamesh. Yet fate didn't went as planned and make them
remarkably closed comrades. They controlled the city around each other, killed animals together
again creating an epic journey.

ACTIVITY 2

THE DEBATE BETWEEN SHEEP AND GRAIN

When, upon the hill of heaven and earth,

An created the Anuna (Annunaki) gods,
since he neither spawned nor created Grain (Asnan) with them,
and since in the Land he neither fashioned the yarn of Uttu (the goddess of weaving) nor
pegged out the loom for Uttu —
with no Sheep(Lahar) appearing, there were no numerous lambs, and with no goats,
there were no numerous kids,
the sheep did not give birth to her twin lambs,
and the goat did not give birth to her triplet kids;
the Annunaki, the great gods, did not even know the names Ezina-kusu (Grain/Asnan) or
Sheep(Lahar).
There was no grain of thirty days;
there was no grain of forty days;
there was no grain of fifty days;
there was no small grain, grain from the mountains or grain from the holy habitations.
There was no cloth to wear; Uttu had not been born;
Lord, the precious lord, had not been born; The Sakkan (Sumugan) had not gone out into the
barren lands.
The people of those days did not know about eating bread.
They did not know about wearing clothes; they went about with naked limbs in the Land.
Like sheep they ate grass with their mouths and drank water from the ditches.
At that time, at the place of gods' formation, in their own home, on the Holy Mound,
they created Sheep and Grain (Asnan and Lahar).
Having gathered them in the divine banqueting chamber,
the Anuna gods of the Holy Mound partook of the bounty of Sheep and Grain but were not
sated;
the Anuna gods of the Holy Mound partook of the sweet milk of their holy sheepfold but were
 not sated.
For their own well-being in the holy sheepfold, they gave them to mankind as sustenance.

REACTION

The debate between grain and sheep, the debate between bird and fist, the debate
between winter and summer; those three debates came many centuries after writing and
created in Sumerian Mesopotamia. The discussions are metaphysical and tackle the role of
mankind in the universe. As I can observe, Sumerians wrote any subject in the poetic form.
They don't usually use rhymes too much. Instead of rhymes, they gave them a type of poetry by
using repetitions, analogy, metaphor, and simile. Another thing I observed was, Sumerians were
motivated by heaven deities, nature, plants, animals and human abilities and enhanced their
literary outputs with simile. Usually, the competition is between two important natural events,
animals, or tools in humanity: weather, bird and fish, sheep and grain, tree and reed, date palm
and tamarisk, silver and copper, hoe and plough. Each seeks to convince the audience or their
reader that the certain thing is more valuable than the other.

The argument regarding Sheep and Grain seems to be of additional relevance since it
starts with a brief informal story of creation that describes a time before humans encountered
sheep and grain, so when gods resided on the Holy Mound, a magical place; where heavens
and the earth were still not divided from each other; Humanity, seems resided at the foot of the
Mound, and later on, the gods also ended up giving them sheep and grain. After drinking wine
and beer, the personifications of Sheep and Grain begin quarrelling. For Sheep, they highlighted
its meat, dairy, fur, and stomach, and its fur can be made into leather waterskins and sandals.
Its oil can be used for the production of scents. So apparently, it is beneficial to humans For the
Grain, it provides wheat that can be turn into bread as well as the mash used to brew beer, and
it is also used for sheep feeding. Finally, the god Enki suggests to the god Enlil that Grain
should really be considered the winner, suggesting possibly that without farm animals, not
without some food, humanity will survive. The quality of claims from both sides, however is
reasonably fair.

Not only animals are the images of nature in here, sheep and goat; they are the images
of growth, development and differences. They are connected to God's creation (Sumugan) and
the Goddess (Lahar). For enlightenment and truth. Anunnakis did not know how to eat bread
until the food goddess, the wise Asnan (who granulated grain and rendered bread). The
scenario of Anunnakis (major gods), before providing their strengths, they are similar to the
prehistoric people as it was during their first time. Anunnakis eat grass with their mouths, the
same as sheep, and drink water from the pit. They do not even know how to dress or even eat
bread, like barbaric people.