Injustice Is Abound In Uruk!

Within the first eight tablets of The Epic of Gilgamesh, several key themes become apparent. In particular, events which question whether the notion of justice exists in Uruk are abundant throughout these sections. With our sense of justice being, naturally, a human notion, this matter is even further complicated because of the existence of gods and demigods. Is the will of the gods justice? What about when certain gods disagree on a matter, how can it be decided who is just? Although they are worshipped, do the gods and demigods ever err and act unjustly, to the detriment of others? As one gets further into the story, it becomes clear that justice does not exist in Uruk, primarily because of the existence of an unequal power dynamic between the gods, demigods, and humans.

            The most unfair of these relationships exists between the supernatural—the demigods and the gods—and the normal humans. At one point, Ishtaar sends down a Bull of destruction to ultimately kill Gilgamesh for failing to reciprocate her love. Yet, as one would presume a godly animal of destruction might act, the Bull wreaks havoc all around Uruk. Within a short few lines, the book nonchalantly includes that the Bull has created a number massive holes in the earth and killed hundreds of regular citizens on its path of doom. These humans had nothing to do with the already unjust punishment imposed by Ishtaar, yet their deaths are regarded as of little consequence to the storyteller or the gods. A similar display of how the infinitely unequal power dynamic between the gods and the humans ends poorly for the humans appears when Gilgamesh tells of Ishtaar’s past lovers. He recounts how many of the past humans she had loved, like her gardener, were cursed, killed, or crippled for arbitrary transgressions.

            These abusive relationships also exist between the demigods and the humans. Enkidu is originally created because Gilgamesh was such a tyrant to his people that they would pray to the gods asking for relief. Yet, because Gilgamesh was a demigod and they were merely human, they could not match his power or challenge his cruelty. Moreover, another section describes how Gilgamesh would come to weddings in Uruk and would rape the bride before she could spend the night with her groom.

            The abuse of a naturally unfair power dynamic is not exclusive to the relationships between the godly and the normal. This injustice is seen even in the interactions between the gods and the demigods. To refer to a previously mentioned example, Ishtaar decides on an emotionally-tainted whim to send a godly Bull to kill Gilgamesh. Moreover, when Gilgamesh and Enkidu go to kill Humbaba, instead of a fair battle between the two parties, a god intervenes and takes any element of fairness that could have existed out of the battle. The god blinds Humbaba with 13 winds and allows Gilgamesh to simply walk up to Humbaba and slaughter him. Finally, towards the end of this section, the gods decide to take advantage of their superiority and curse Enkidu with a fatal illness. All of these show how justice cannot exist between in Uruk because of the unequal power between the parties which inhabit the lands. However, it is interesting to note that in the last instance, the killing of Enkidu by the gods, he has been sentenced to death for his part in murdering Humbaba.

            Which brings the critical reader to a final unjust dynamic in Uruk, that between demigods of unequal strength or reputation. When Enkidu is struck down by a fatal curse, it is a punishment from the gods for his part in murdering Humbaba and the Bull. Yet, the reality is that murdering Humbaba was Gilgamesh’s idea and Enkidu actually tried to speak out against it and the Bull was sent solely for how Gilgamesh interacted with Ishtaar. In essence, the gods decided that Gilgamesh was more reputable or important and that they would instead condemn Enkidu to death for his actions. Moreover, both Humbaba and Gilgamesh were demigods, yet Gilgamesh was still able to unjustly killed Humbaba for glory because he had a better reputation in the eyes of the god who helped him blind Humbaba.

            Although the existence of the gods might suggest otherwise, injustice is prevalent through the lands of Uruk. The gods abuse the demigods and the humans. Meanwhile, the demigods abuse the humans, and in some situations where there is an inequality in godly reputation or strength, the demigods kill one another. The presence of this inherently unequal power dynamic between the groups is much to blame for why injustice exists and is not challenged.