Through the pages of poetry describing Inanna’s ruthless demeanor towards her enemies, readers see many weapons in her arsenal. The main antagonist, Ebih, refuses to bow to the authority of Inanna, and rather than engage in battle with the weapons by her side, she exerts her force with none of them. To many, this disparity can make little sense when this goddess, executes her punishment in a manner that seems less forceful. Yet, Inanna forgoes the use of her weapons in the battle against Ebih, because when the time comes to raise arms, Inanna wishes to prove her godly authority through the power within herself, rather than through the power of her weapons. One of the crucial facets of Inanna’s responsibilities as the goddess of war, is to project …show more content…
After An refuses his assistance to Inanna, she approaches Ebih and says, “you ask for it / you want the heart of it / the gods / standing in their place” (98). Inanna refuses to allow Ebih to strong-arm the gods into giving up their place in the celestial world and will do anything in order to maintain her image for her followers. Ebih presents a great threat to the stability of the order in the universe, and Inanna is willing to take that burden on her own shoulders to protect her people and to protect the gods. Battle ensues after Inanna vents her rage at Ebih as, “bedlam [is] unleashed / she sends down a raging battle / hurling a storm from her wide arms” (99). This image of the battling Inanna ties back to the initial image of the goddess as presented in the first lines of the poem. The Lady of blazing dominion sends her might down upon the earth to scourge the insurgence of Ebih. With this show of force against the enemy of Inanna and her followers, Inanna is able to reclaim her rightful authority over the earth and war without the assistance of any