This episode is something of a climax for the adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. We will see exactly why Ishtar is the goddess of both love and war when she hits on our hero and finds herself rejected. We will see a great battle with the bull of heaven and then follow a globe spanning adventure (or I guess plane spanning adventure, since they appear to have believed the world was flat) driven by grief and terror. All in all a fantastic romp until we get to meet Utnapishtim at the far edge of the world.
Quick programming note: starting today episodes will go up once per week, on Wednesday noon at my local time, or whenever the app decides to post it. I have been posting just as soon as they get done to get the show started, but once a week is a good, sustainable pace. In any case, no one is listening yet, so the change won’t affect very many of you.
Not so many show notes today, the story is pretty straight forward and self evident. I happen to enjoy this chapter, for the action and for the picture it paints of the world, but it does lack for subtlety except for the shift I mentioned in the show from Gil’s grief over his friend’s death to his very unmanly fear of mortality in general.
So here is a picture of a very happy looking naked Gilgames standing over the slain bull of heaven, courtesy of wikipedia as always. The anthropologists tell me not to judge ancient art, that they were just as “good” as modern artists, just working in a different style. That said, I still haven’t found a picture or scupture from the old times that I would be happy hanging on my wall as art for its own sake.
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