Gilgamesh Study Guide

Humans

• Gilgamesh - youthful and bullish king of Uruk
• Enkidu -  nature boy
• Shamhat - the "harlot" who "civilizes" Enkidu
• Utnapishtim -'The Faraway'; given immortality by the gods
• Mrs. Utnapishtim - baker of bread
• Siduri - bartender at the edge of the world
• Urshanabi - the ferryman of Utnapishtim

Gods and Monsters

• Humbaba - monster who guards the Cedar Forest
• Ishtar - goddess of beauty and love
• Bull of Heaven - Sphinxy symbol of drought (sort of)
• Anu - king of the Sumerian gods
• Shamash - sun god
• Scorpion-Man - guardian of the gates at Mount Mashu

Places

• Uruk - city in Mesopotamia ruled by Gilgamesh
• Cedar Forest - probably Lebanon
• Mount Mashu - symbolic division between the setting and rising of the sun
• Dilmun - the faraway land in the garden of the sun, where Utnapishtim lives

Principal stories

• The civilizing of Enkidu
• How Enkidu and Gilgamesh became friends
• Journey to the Cedar Forest and the killing of Humbaba
• Ishtar, Gilgamesh, and the Bull of Heaven
• The death of Enkidu
• Gilgamesh's journey to Utnapishtim
• The flood