Reading Response for Gilgamesh Tablet VI Tablet VI of The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem by an unknown author, begins with Gilgamesh cleaning himself after his defeat of Humbaba and the building of a door, from one of the cedar trees of Humbaba’s forest, with Enkidu. When Gilgamesh is finished cleaning, the princess Ishtar appreciates his beauty and entreats him to become her next husband or lover. Gilgamesh rejects Ishtar’s advances and proceeds to tell Ishtar all about her wrong doings to her previous lovers as explanation for his rejection. She becomes incensed and threatens to raise the dead unless her father, Anu, allows her to release the Bull of Heaven on Gilgamesh’s city, Uruk, to kill him; however, her plan fails because Enkidu helps…show more content… In Tablet VI Gilgamesh, is returning from a journey. Journeys usually symbolize change or reaching enlightenment. In further mythological fashion, in Tablet VI, Gilgamesh and Enkidu take part in a battle against the Bull of Heaven. Usually, battles are indicative of the ongoing fight of good versus evil. In this case, even though the Bull of Heaven is sent by a goddess, she is up to no good and the victors, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are successful in their (252 words) efforts to be good people. Gilgamesh can be characterized as the hero of the epic, despite his flaws and previous tyrannical reign, and a mythological story is not complete without gods. The gods in this epic serve major purposes throughout the story and lead Gilgamesh up to this point in Tablet VI where he faces off with Ishtar. Apart from the journeys and battles, Gilgamesh’s rejection of Ishtar could be symbolic of him becoming a better person and being molded into the true hero of the epic. Before meeting Enkidu and going on these journeys, Gilgamesh did not turn women down. As a matter of fact, he just took women, but the fact that Gilgamesh had the insight to reject Ishtar because of her previous treatment of men shows growth and maturity for Gilgamesh, an element not uncommon for
