Mytho-logical
Let me start this blog post by saying that I do not advocate zoophilia in any way. Tigers are meant to lie with tigers and as such, they should remain unmolested. Please, if you’re contemplating a lifestyle that involves tiger rape, I urge you to reconsider. For your sake and the tiger’s.
This is a comic strip about the incredible epic tale of Gilgamesh, mighty warrior-king and all around badass. My brother picked me up a wonderfully translated version of it for Christmas and so far it is absolutely enthralling. This week’s strips are both about it and they don’t even cover the majority of the sort of nonsense Gilgamesh gets up to! This thing is a comic gold mine, I tell you!
While today’s strip sort of gets off track rather quickly, the poem it was spawned from opens up with a description of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and tells of the city he inhabits. We are invited in by the author and told to imagine all the wonders great walled Uruk has to offer. We are then invited to reflect on the power and fame of its king. Soon after, we are informed that while Gilgamesh is a powerful and intimidating specimen of a man, he is also a tyrant and a threat to his own people, that he “tramples his people as the wild bull” and so on. Right from the opening of the poem we know that something has to change in Uruk.
Enter Enkidu. Created by the gods as a balance to the power and tyranny of Gilgamesh, Enkidu roams the wild mountains, running with animals and enjoying a rather simple existence as one of them. When Gilgamesh hears of this savage hairy man, he sends forth a priestess belonging to a strange order that sleeps with any man that wishes it to tame Enkidu. This woman, Shamhat, goes into the wild, engages in sexual activity with Enkidu for seven days (yikes) and then watches as he tries to return to his animal friends. To his dismay, the animals run from him and will not take him back. On the other hand, he feels his mind expanded and the speech of men understood for the first time.
The whole thing is a rather clever metaphor for entering civilization and, specifically, becoming a man. Mesopotamian culture was a great deal less conservative with regards to human sexual activity than many cultures today. The epic of Gilgamesh clearly shows us that sex was something given great importance in the civilization itself and that, without it, a man was not a man. Enkidu, having literally lost his innocence, joins society and sees the injustices Gilgamesh has laid on Uruk’s citizens and vows to destroy him.
It’s amazing what a little sex can do.
Sorry for all these late strips. I’ve just been trying to work on other projects and write comics I’m happy with. All this free time is actually a little difficult to deal with! I’m used to being crushed by hours of homework on a nightly basis!
I’m currently working on writing a sort of pilot comic that will be about 40-50 pages. As I work on it a little more, I might post some links here to gauge peoples’ reactions to it…
Discussion (18) ¬
“Mesopotamian culture was a great deal less conservative with regards to human sexual activity than many cultures today. The epic of Gilgamesh clearly shows us that sex was something given great importance in the civilization itself”
I say we go back to those times hahaha
what translation did you receive?
I’m actually quite curious, what translation did your brother get you? I am only aware of the Penguin translation, and have used it for quite some time.
I’ve got a version published in 2004 by Free Press. It’s retold by Stephen Mitchell and apparently pulls together a bunch of different versions of the story to try to get a more complete picture. I haven’t read another version yet, but I plan to read some and see what sort of differences there are. So far this one has been very accessible and seems faithful to the original story.
It’s still amazing what a little sex can do for a man.
Looking forward to getting a peek at your big project. Your comics are good. I imagine a longer one would be even better.
You’re not the only one having difficulties dealing with hours of free time. I am too.
SLIGHTLY NSFW (Cartoonish nudity): http://kinokofry.com/archive/diary-035-happy-new-year/
I find it humorous that I’ve read two comics in the same week regarding sex with tigers. This had better become a meme.
hahaha My favourite part is that we both included a disclaimer not to get sexual with tigers…
People seriously need this warning. You’ve deterred 8 of the ten people who got the idea to have sex with a tiger from your comic.
The other two will be receiving Darwin awards, I’m certain. haha
I find it really interesting, in Sumer, they had a tendency to cross name numerous things. Such as a city, a planet, a person, all would have the same attributes and abilities. Enkidu is also the name of the first City on earth. It was built by Enki (lord of earth), my also have been Gilgamesh’s dad, or uncle. I forget.
I prefer sex like an animal over sex with an animal… but hey, I shouldn’t knock it til I’ve tried it, right. Open-mindedness is key.
As my understanding of Gilgamesh and Mesopotamian culture goes, I remember Shamhat being a priestess of Ishtar, who was the goddess of both love and war. As an interesting aspect of that, rather than being chaste, the priestesses basically acted as holy prostitutes and also took in orphaned children and breastfed them. I’m not quite sure what their overall social standing was, but from what I’ve read they were treated with a certain amount of respect for devoting themselves to providing pleasures of the flesh to society. It’s kind of a fascinating thing, considering how prostitution is in the majority seen as a shameful profession, and how many sex workers are forced into the business by various ways and considered part of the lowest rung of society.
Stephen Mitchell talks about this in the copy I’m reading right now. I love it, but it was a bit too complicated to get into in the blog post. In the introduction to the book, he discusses how the Priestesses of Ishtar were actually admired and seen as vital parts of their Society. Judging by the story of Gilgamesh, it’s pretty easy to see. Without Shamhat and her erotic arts, Enkidu would have remained ignorant and almost inhuman for the rest of his days. It’s only through her lovemaking that he becomes a man and joins society. Pretty intriguing stuff!
Another great comic strip. 😀
I find it appalling that there is no mention of li-lis and ti-tis in this forum post.
Color me disgusted, sir.
What’s interesting is that I have a friend that looks EXACTLY like Dude-with-dark-brown-hair. What’s even more interesting is we ended up (for one reason or another) talking about what would happen if someone were to f*** a tiger….10 minutes before I saw this. Oh, universe, you so funny.
I recommend The Abominable Charles Christopher, for those who haven’t already read it and are interested in Enkidu. It’s an all-ages webcomic, so we won’t be getting the sex, but it does feature Gilgamesh as a shouty ten-year-old.