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What is the role of the women in the society implied through Epic of Gilgamesh?

Women play a complex role in the society portrayed by The Epic of Gilgamesh. On the one hand, they are treated as sex objects. At the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh rapes any woman he wants to, and the priestess/prostitute (depending on your translation) Shamhat is sent into the wilderness to have intercourse with Enkidu.


However, women also represented wisdom. Shamhat, for example, may have been used as a sex object, but the act of intercourse began the process of Enkidu's civilization from beast to man. Shamhat also taught Enkidu about clothing and human food, for instance. Another example of a woman representing wisdom is Siduri, the tavern keeper whom Gilgamesh asks about eternal life. Siduri tells Gilgamesh to stop focusing on immortality--an attribute of the gods--and instead focus on what it means to be human.


Let your stomach be full,
always be happy, night and day,
make every day a delight,
night and day play and dance.
Your clothes should be clean,
your head should be washed,
you should be bathe in water.
Look proudly on the little one holding your hand.
Let your mate be always blissful in your lions.
This, then, is the work of mankind (Tablet X).


It is telling that Siduri had the "proper" view of life, while Gilgamesh--a great king--did not.

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