Epic Of Gilgamesh Feminist Analysis

In the story of the Epic of Gilgamesh, there is a lot of feminist traits and gender criticism present. The female characters except for Ninsun are looked at to be vile and seductive beings. Shamhat and Ishtar, the goddess of love and fertility, were two characters that was overlooked and decided to be considered bad people based on actions they took. Shamhat is a prostitute that seduced Enkidu and became the reason he strayed away from his animal state. “There he is, Shamhat, open your embrace” (The Epic of Gilgamesh 42) He was superman and she became his kryptonite. Ishtar is the goddess of love and fertility. She did not have the best character and chose vengeance over the feeling of being neglected. Both of these characters are main females

Shamhat and Ishtar are seen to me based on the readings as the world’s desires, whether they are moral and unmoral, that get to people in rough times. Since Ishtar failed, Gilgamesh is seen to me as the good man who sees through lies and deceit. Shamhat passed in her goal, so Enkidu is seen has the man who falls for what life throws at you. Shamhat’s meaning was to open up Enkidu’s eyes to the world and so he could see what was going on more clearly through sexual acts. “For six days, seven nights Enkidu was aroused and flowed into Shamhat” (The Epic of Gilgamesh 45) Ishtar meaning was to make Gilgamesh marry her and use him for her selfish intentions. Both women went into their plan of seduction with different mindsets. Now, Ishtar and Shamhat also differ from the good and bad spectrum. Ishtar showed herself to be cruel and very vengeful because things didn’t go the way she wanted. She wanted to make Gilgamesh pay which evidentially led to him fighting the Bull of Heaven and Enkidu’s death. “Well then, Father pretty please, the Bull of Heaven, So I can kill Gilgamesh on his home ground” (The Epic of Gilgamesh 64) Shamhat showed that she was a prostitute, but still had feelings that eventually came out for Enkidu. She was shown to have a heart for Enkidu and began to care deeply about