For the last day of #PrideMonth, #MythologyMonday's theme is #LGBTQ myths. There are many queer stories in mythology all over the world. Today I want to tell you about #Gilgamesh and #Enkidu. Gilgamesh is a hero in Mesopotamian mythology and the eponymous protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian ca. 2100–1200 BCE. Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing the people of Uruk, the Sumerian city-state.
1/?
Enkidu challenges Gilgamesh to a test of strength. #Gilgamesh, who is a demigod of superhuman strength, wins the contest and the two become friends. Together, they embark on many journeys, and eventually have to fight the Bull of Heaven after Gilgamesh rejects #Ishtar's offer to become her consort. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, insulting Ishtar in the process, after which the gods decide to sentence #Enkidu to death and kill him by giving him a fatal illness.
2/?
"Hear me, elders, hear me, young men,
my beloved friend is dead, he is dead,
my beloved brother is dead, I will mourn
as long as I breathe, I will sob for him
like a woman who has lost her only child."
But #Enkidu doesn't answer. #Gilgamesh touches his heart, but it does not beat.
Then he veils Enkidu’s face like a bride’s.
Distressed by Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh undertakes a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life.
3/4
Gilgamesh repeatedly fails the trials set before him and returns home to Uruk, realising that immortality is beyond his reach.
In the last part of the epic, the god Enki allows the shade of #Enkidu to rise and briefly reunite with #Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh says to Enkidu:
"[My friend, the] penis that you touched so your heart rejoiced,
grubs devour [it like an] old garment.
[My friend, the crotch that you] touched so your heart rejoiced,
it is filled with dust [like a crack in the ground.]"
4/4
Erotic Mythology 🌹