While researching for another class, I stumbled upon
a little article claiming that Gilgamesh and Enkidu have a homosexual
relationship in The Epic of Gilgamesh.
I would think that what Ninsun says to
Gilgamesh about Enkidu “you will love him as a woman and he will never forsake
you” is probably their best evidence.
However, I would argue that this claim is quite a bit of a stretch. There are many stories of strong and passionate
brotherly love in other ancient
texts as well (a lot in the Bible). I do not think Eros (passionate love/intimate love) has
to be sexual in nature. Can’t brotherly (sisterly)
love be powerful?
Now, we might call
this type of relationship a “bromance”.
Just in case you don’t know what a “bromance” is I have added a video that
explains.
(\__/)
(='.'=) – “Can you feel my heart beat?”
(")_(")
(The
bunny is making an only slightly obscure Korean pop music reference)
Tell me/us a little bit more about the opinion concerning the homosexual oriented point of view that you read from another blog.
ReplyDeleteSo far I believe that the friend relationship between Enkidu and Gilgamesh is comparable to the story of David and Abner.
Edwin
By the way, your video explaining " Bromance" is hilarious except for the touching of hair and/or slurping of straw; at least in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteEdwin
So, I kind of explained this in class but I know more now. Originally, I had seen an article online straight up calling Gilgamesh gay.(pun intended) So this woman, Susan Ackerman,wrote a whole book on the subject. Though she never blatantly calls the relationship between them homosexual, she sure makes a lot of the scenes sexual with little evidence(in my opinion). I is a pretty good book if one needs to explore the relationship between either of the friendships you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteAckerman, Susan. When heroes love: the ambiguity of eros in the stories of Gilgamesh and David. New York. Columbia University Press. 2005.
Nathanael