The Role of Women in Gilgamesh and Burial at Thebes

"No woman here is going to be allowed to walk all over us. Otherwise, as men we'll be disgraced. We won't deserve the name" (Heaney, p. 42). Throughout history, women have been treated differently than men. Additionally, the standards to which women were held to also varied with different civilizations. This is very apparent in two early masterpieces of world literature; The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Burial at Thebes.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, women play a small role. We are introduced to Ishtar, the goddess of love, fertility, and war; Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh; Siduri, the goddess of wine; Aruru, the goddess of creation; the wife of Utnapishtim; and Shamhat, the temple prostitute. One can see that these six women have roles in the story, but it must be noted that none of these women are regular townspeople. When Enkidu dies, he has many mourners including a wife at the bottom of this list, but this is the only mention of her. The same goes for Gilgamesh and his wife.

Throughout the poem, women are seen as either gods, mortals with a higher status than most, or objects. Take for instance Shamhat, the temple prostitute. It is said that she can tame a wild man by her sexuality. She is told, "Now use your love-arts. Strip off your robe and lie here naked, with your legs apart. Stir up his lust when he approaches, touch him, excite him, take his breath with your kisses, show him what a woman is. The animals who knew him in the wilderness will be bewildered, and will leave him forever" (Mitchell, p. 78). But after the act is completed, she is just brushed aside and forgotten.

An example from Gilgamesh that demonstrates the point that common women were seen as objects by some can be found at the beginning of the story. "[He] takes the girl from her mother and uses her, the warrior's daughter, the young man's bride, he uses her" (Mitchell, p. 72). It should be noted that the only character to display such attitudes towards women seems to be King Gilgamesh, but nonetheless; it shows that this was an attitude or a mindset for men at this time.