Chapter 13 Lecture Two of Two The Quest for Eternal Life ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Chapter 13Lecture Two of Two

The Quest for Eternal Life

©2012 Pearson Education Inc.


• Gilgamesh’s quest• Utnapishtim

– = Ziusudra, Atrahasis, Noah

• Lions• Mashu• Scorpion Men• Siduri

– Your quest is hopeless



• Utnapishtim granted immortality– The story of the flood– Enlil interceded for him because of his service

during the flood

• The test of sleep• The herb• Went back to Uruk and engraved his tale on a

stone


THE HERO CAUGHT BETWEEN NATURE AND CULTURE


Between Nature and Culture

• The quest for knowledge about death could not be Egyptian– They knew the answers and didn’t fear death

• Natural versus culture– Understandable dichotomy in a culture where

“civilization” began– Enkidu, the natural man who falls because of a

sexual “sin” and becomes “wise”– Cf. Adam and Eve


Between Nature and Culture

• After his own quest, Gilgamesh dons once again the accoutrements of a civilized man


FOLKTALE MOTIFS AND HEROIC MYTHS


Folktale Motifs and Heroic Myths

• Factual (legendary) basis– There was a king of Uruk named Gilgamesh– His story over time acquires stock elements of

folktale and heroic myth– It sets a pattern for typical heroic myth



Partly divine birth

Miraculous birth and childhood

Great strength is a benefit and menace

A friend

Falls under enemy’s power of spell

Breaks a taboo

Is tempted

Responsible for friend’s death



The quest

Help from gods

Return home and is domesticated

Rewarded for his efforts

Great funeral


PERSPECTIVE 13Tolkien's Modern Hero in The Lord of the Rings


Lord of the Rings

• The central figure, Frodo, is a reluctant hero, but share many characteristics with classical heroes.


OBSERVATIONS: HEROIC NUDITY


Heroic Nudity

• The tradition of nudity starts after the Bronze Age– Homer’s heroes are not referred to nude, except

Odysseus, who’s ashamed• Perhaps associated with Greek athletics,

which was in the nude• Greek koroi were nude, unlike Egyptian

statues, which the Greek resemble in many ways


Heroic Nudity

• Female nudes are late – the Late Classical Period (400 BC – )

• Becomes Heroic Nudity and imitated even by Roman artists to show their patron’s “connection” the Greek heroic past.


Heroic Nudity

Fig 13.3 Fig. 13.4


National Archaeological Museum, Athens; Scala/Art Resource, New York

The Art Archive / Museo Nazionale Palazzo Altemps. Rome; Gianni Dagli Orti

End


Chapter 13 Lecture Two of Two The Quest for Eternal Life ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

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