Reading #1: (11-17 up to “what he had listened to.”)
Vocab:
-Steppe (15)
-Tyrant (15)
-Birthright (15)
-Dexterity (16)
-Idleness (16)
-Livelihood (17)
Questions:
-What are the old stories that the narrator thinks can still be told? Why can old stories still be told? (11)
-Who is becoming human together? What does it mean to become “human together?” (15)
-How did Gilgamesh act as a tyrant? (15-16)
-How do the people react to Gilgamesh’s actions? Why?(16)
-How does Enkidu interact with the animals? Why?(16)
-How do the hunter and the hunter’s son react to Enkidu’s actions? Why? (16-17)
-How does Gilgamesh respond to this request? Why? (17)
-How is the opening of this story similar and different to any of the flood myths we have read? Why?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #2 Due: (17-22)
Vocab:
-Vast (18)
-Somber (19)
-Monotone (19)
-Forsake (19)
-Interpretation (19)
-Solitude (20)
Questions:
-How do the animals react to Enkidu after he sleeps with the prostitute? Why? (18)
-Describe Gilgamesh’s 1st dream – how does Ninsun interpret it? (19)
-How does Gilgamesh react to Ninsun’s interpretation of his 1st dream? (19)
-Describe Gilgamesh’s 2nd dream – how does Ninsun interpret it? (19-20)
-How does Gilgamesh react to Ninsun’s interpretation of his 2nd dream? (19)
-How do the people of Uruk respond to Enkidu when he first arrives? (21-22)
-What can we learn about this culture from the interpretation of these dreams? Why?
-How are the characters in this story similar and different to any of the flood myths we have read?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #3 Due: (23-24)
Vocab:
-Lunged (23)
-Bellowing (23)
-Billowed (23)
-Hovers (24)
-Clutched (24)
-Exaltation (24)
Questions:
-Why does Gilgamesh approach the “Family House?” (23)
-Why does Enkidu block his way? (23)
-How does Gilgamesh feel when he “listened to his people’s shouts of praise / For someone other than himself?” (23)
-Why does the writer describe Gilgamesh and Enkidu as “wolves” and as “bulls” and “horses?” (23)
-What causes Enkidu and Gilgamesh to stop fighting one another? (24)
-Why do they laugh and clutch each other at the end of this reading? (24)
-What does this fight teach us about the values of this culture? Explain.
-How is this fight similar and different to any of the other fights we have seen in the flood myths we have read?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #4 Due: (27-33)
Vocab:
-Vow (27)
-Forbidden (30)
-Quiver (31) [noun]
-Austere (31)
-Resolved (31)
-Abhor (33)
Questions:
-How does Gilgamesh want to spend their time together now that Enkidu and Gilgamesh are friends? Why? (27-29)
-How does Enkidu feel about Gilgamesh’s idea at first? Why? (28)
-How does Enkidu try to dissuade Gilgamesh? Why? (28-29)
-How do the elders respond to this plan? Why? (30-31)
-Who is chosen to lead the adventure? Why? (31)
-How does Ninsun say goodbye to Gilgamesh and Enkidu? What is the symbolic importance of her saying goodbye in this way? Explain. (32-33)
-What do the disagreements in this section teach us about this culture?
-How are the symbolic objects in this section similar and different to any of the symbolic objects from the flood myths we have read?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #5 Due: (34-41)
Vocab:
-Revitalized (35)
-Phosphorescent (37)
-Exorcise (37)
-Decreed (39)
-Contortion (40)
-Squall (40)
Questions:
-How do Gilgamesh and Enkidu respond to entering Humbaba’s forest and standing at the foot of his mountain? Why? (34-35)
-Describe Gilgamesh’s first dream – how does Enkidu interpret it? How is it similar and/or different to the earlier dreams Gilgamesh had that Ninsun interpreted? Why? (37)
-Describe Gilgamesh’s second dream – how does Enkidu interpret it? How is it similar and/or different to the earlier dreams Gilgamesh had that Ninsun interpreted? Why? (38)
-Describe Humbaba – why is he described in that manner? (39-40)
-Describe the fight between Humbaba and the two friends. Why is the fight described in this manner?(39-40)
-What are some of the important outcomes of this fight? Explain.(40-41)
-What does this fight teach us about the culture of the people who wrote this story?
-How is the setting of Humbaba’s forest similar and different to any of the settings we have seen in the flood myths?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #6 Due: (42-45)
Vocab:
-Patroness (42)
-Fruitfulness (42)
-Coyness (42)
-Naiveté (43)
-Bewildered (45)
-Mourned (45)
Questions:
-Why is Ishtar interested in Gilgamesh, at first? How does she express this interest? (42-43)
-How does Gilgamesh respond to Ishtar’s interest – why does he respond that way? (42-44)
-How does Ishtar respond to Gilgamesh’s rejection? What does she do in response to this rejection? Why does she respond in this manner? (44-45)
-How does she persuade her father to listen to her? (44)
-Describe the fight between the Bull of Heaven and the two friends. (45)
-How does Ishtar respond to the fight’s outcome? Why? (45)
-What does this interaction between Ishtar and Gilgamesh teach us about the culture of the people who wrote this story?
-How is the interaction between a god and a mortal in this story similar and different to any of the interactions between mortals and gods in any of the flood myths we have read?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #7 Due: (46-50)
Vocab:
-Devoid (47)
-Recluse (48)
-Recollect (48)
-Maimed (49)
-Wincing (49)
-Wretchedness (49)
Questions:
-What does Enkidu dream in his wound-induced fever? Why?(46)
-Why does Enkidu curse the hunter and the prostitute and the gate? (46-47)
-How does Gilgamesh feel as he watches his friend suffer? Why?(46-50)
-How does Gilgamesh try to “save his friend?” Why? (48)
-How does Enkidu feel about life as he is dying? Why? (48-50)
-Why does Gilgamesh reach out “to touch the friend whom he had lost?” (50)
-How does Enkidu’s death teach us about the culture of the people who wrote this story?
-How is the death of Enkidu similar and different to deaths in any of the flood myths we have read?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #8 Due: (53-58)
-Roamed (53)
-Convalescence (53)
-Converted (53)
-Debris (54)
-Effusions (57)
-Arduous (57)
Questions:
-How does the writer describe Gilgamesh’s grief? Why does he choose these images? (53-54)
-Why does Gilgamesh wander through the desert? How has he changed from the opening of the story? (54)
-Why does Gilgamesh put on “the skins of animals?” (55)
-Who are the Scorpion people – what do they guard? (56-57)
-Describe the conversation between Gilgamesh and the Scorpion people – why is the conversation important? (56-58)
-What does Gilgamesh persuade the Scorpion people to let him to do – how does he persuade them? (57-58)
-What does Gilgamesh’s grief teach us about the culture of the people who wrote this story?
-How is Gilgamesh’s journey similar and different to any of the journeys we have read about in the flood myths?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #9 Due: (59-68)
Vocab:
-Shrouded (59)
-Vividly (61)
-Half-crazed (62 and 63)
-Emaciated (63)
-Futility (64)
-Impetuous (65)
Questions:
-Describe the Road of the Sun – what is the danger of it – how does Gilgamesh deal with the danger? (59-60)
-When Gilgamesh is “gazing into the valley” and is “overcome with pain,” what kinds of figurative language does the writer use to describe the feelings Gilgamesh has for his dead friend? Why does the writer use these images? (60-61)
-What does Gilgamesh realize about his grief and the way that the rest of the world (“the valley”) feels about Enkidu’s death? (60-61)
-Who is Siduri – how does she react to Gilgamesh when she first sees him – how does she eventually react to him? (62-65)
-What does Siduri try and convince Gilgamesh to do after she helps him physically heal? (65-66)
-Who is Urshanabi, how is he described, how does he react to Gilgamesh when he first meets him? (66-67)
-What does the relationship between Siduri and Gilgamesh teach us about the culture of the people who wrote this story?
-How are the settings in this section similar and different to settings we have read about in the flood myths?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #10 Due: (69-75)
Vocab:
-Reverent (69)
-Serene (69)
-Prophetic (70)
-Vista (73)
-Perishing (74)
-Downcast (75)
Questions:
-Describe the conversation between Urshanabi and Gilgamesh –what is the result of their conversation? (69-71)
-Who is Utnapishtim? How is he described? (72)
-What kinds of questions does Gilgamesh have for Utnapishtim? (73)
-What kinds of answers does Utnapishtim give to Gilgamesh – how helpful do these answers seem? Why? (73-74)
-How comfortable do Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim seem in each other’s company? How does the writer show this degree of comfort? (75)
-What does Utnapishtim mean when he says “I did not come out of desire like you?” Why does he say this statement? (75)
-What does Gilgamesh’s interaction with Urshanabi teach us about the culture of the people who wrote this story?
-How is the character of Utnapishtim similar and different to other characters we have read about in the flood myths?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #11 Due: (76-85)
Vocab:
-Irony (77)
-Sterile (78)
-Compassionate (78)
-Yearn (79)
-Excursion (80)
-Contemplated (83)
Questions:
-Describe the story Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh – how does Utnapishtim seem to feel as he is telling the story? (76-79)
-How does Utnapishtim describe the way the gods feel about the flood they have caused? Why do the gods feel this way? (78)
-Does Utnapishtim want to help Gilgamesh? Why do you think so? (79-81)
-What role does Utnapishtim’s wife play in this scene? Why? (81-84)
-Why do they burn Gilgamesh’s animal skins? Explain. (83)
-What does Gilgamesh get by the end of this section? Why is this object important to him? (84-85)
-What does the interaction between Utnapishtim and his wife teach us about the culture of the people who created this story?
-How is the story Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh similar and different to other stories we have heard about in the flood myths?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.
Reading #12 Due: (86-92)
Vocab:
-Devoured (86)
-Slough (86)
-Glistening (87)
-Discarded (87)
-Awed (92)
-Achieved (92)
Questions:
-Why does Gilgamesh go swimming? (86)
-Why does he leave the plant unattended? (86-87)
-Why does he mourn the plant’s loss? (86-87)
-Why does Gilgamesh return to Uruk after losing the plant? (91-92)
-Why does he ask the blind man if he has heard of Enkidu? (91-92)
-What do the last lines of this epic mean? Explain. (91-92)
-What does the ending of this story teach us about the people who created this story?
-How is the ending of this story similar and different to the ending of other flood myths we have read?
-How similar and different is this section of the reading to our own culture? Explain.