Folklore Motifs in the Epic of Gilgamesh
By Vladimir a. Jakobson, Sl Petersburg
No exhaustive study of this poem from the point of view of folklore has
been undertaken so far, although it is clear that many interesting results are
to be expected. Such an investigation is a task for the future. As a first step
I should like to profxjse an examination of some episodes concemed with
one of the central characters of the poem, Enkidu. The larger part of the
First Tablet concems the creation of Enkidu and his meeting with civihsa¬
tion. The composition is well known, so there is no need for extensive
quotation. Let us only recall that the first report of Enkidu's appearance is
given by a hunter. The hunter's father, evidentiy a hunter himself, gives his
son the advice that he should ask Gilgamesh to provide a harlot who will
seduce Enkidu to make love to her. Consequently, "the beasts that have
grown up with him in the desert will abandon him". And that is what
happened.
It is quite clear that several motifs of folklore are present here, but which
ones? One of the most authoritative works of reference, the Standard
Dictionary of Folk-lore, Mythology and Legend (New York 1950, vol. II,
pp. 983 ssq.), says, "The famous Epic of Gilgamesh is really a repertoire,
rather then a single narrative; and the progressive adventures of the hero are
merely an artificial literary cadre. The constituent tales include such fami¬
liar but originally unrelated types as a) the Rivalry of the Two Culture
Heroes; b) the Fight against the Ogre of the Mountain; c) the Circe or
Loreley Legend; d) the Joumey to the Otherworld; e) the Primeval Deluge;
and f) Man's Loss of Immortality. Despite its heroic framework, therefore,
the Epic of Gilgamesh is, at bottom, a collection of popular Märchen
artificially clustered around a traditional figure of legend. The folklorist,
who recognizes its constituent types and composite nature can but look
askance at the conventional attempts to interpret it as an organic whole, e.g.
as representing the progressive joumey of the sun through the constalla-
tions of the zodiac!". I have to admit that I know nothing of this kind of
interpretation, at least in the modern literatijre. But this extensive quotation
reveals the essential distinction between the methods of studying folk-lore
and belles lettres. The students of belles lettres are inclined to examine the
Cornelia Wunsch (Hrsg.): XXV. Deutscher Orientalistentag, Vorträge, München 8.-13.4.1991
(ZDMG-Suppl. 10). - © 1994 Franz Steiner Veriag Stuttgart
50 VLADIMIR A. Jakobson
text as a single whole. At best some antecedent texts are pointed out This
manner of investigation leads to conclusions that are somewhat traditional
and "literary". So the above mentioned episode receives a predominantly
romantic interpretation: the love of a woman transforms an unintelligent
savage into a civilized man. The folklorist on the other hand picks the text
into small pieces, and having put each piece under an appropriate (in his
opinion) heading is greatiy satisfied with this. So the cited reference-book
refers the episode of Enkidu and the harlot to the type D.733.1 according
to the Stith TOMPSON'S Motif Index: "Hairy anchorite Beast-like man
seduced by beautiful woman becomes human and handsome".
This folklore pattem undoubtedly fits here, but not entirely. In accord¬
ance with the same book, such plots pertain to the lifting of spells. They are
really widespread - from the Tales of The Thousand and One Nights to the
Russian literary tale "The Little Crimson Flower". But Enkidu is not
under any spell; he is as he was created.
However, it is possible to point out another folk-lore motif evidently
linked with this episode. This is C 111 (Tabu: loss of chastity. Hero loses
power with loss of chastity). Compare the Epic (Assyrian version), I iv 26
sqq: "Enkidu jumped up. His muscles were feeble. His feet stopped. His
beasts were gone. Enkidu became meek. He could not ran as before ..."
This motif, too, is found in many tales and legends, including, for example,
the legends of the Knights of the Round Table. The famous story of
Simson and Delilah is related, evidentiy, to this type too. Only in this last
story, as in some others, the narrative is, so to speak, "rationalized": it re¬
ports the trick by which the woman took away from the Hero his strength.
Some vagueness remains nevertheless. Why the beasts have abandoned
Enkidu, how could this be predicted beforehand, and, finally, why was it
predicted by the hunter's father (evidentiy an old hunter himselO? In order
to answer tiiese questions one must mention yet another folklore motif - C
119.1.3 (Tabu: intercourse in the hunting season). Such tabus are found
among many primitive peoples that subsist by hunting and fishery. They
believe that beasts and fishes avoid the transgressors of this taboo:
On seeing Enkidu the gazelles fled.
The beasts of the steppe avoided his body.
But there is still one line:
But he himself became grown up and more profound in
understanding (I iv 29).
Folklore Motifs in the Epic of Gilgamesh 51
So there appears still another folklore motif: Obtaining maturity and
wisdom by the intimacy with a woman (compare some initiation rites and
the tantric doctrines having their roots in most ancient mythology).
Before his death, Enkidu curses the hunter and the harlot. It is interest¬
ing, that Shamash does not object to the curses against the hunter, but
forbids Enkidu to curse the woman. And Enkidu substitutes his curses by
benedicdons. So Shamash, the god of jusUce, reckons the harlot's deed
meritorious, even if she has eventually led Enkidu to destmction. Does this
mean that before his "fall" Enkidu was immortal, or rather that he did not
understand that death is an inevitable destiny of man and of every living
being? If this assumption is correct these lines contain a profound
philosophic idea: reason and understanding are of great value by them¬
selves even if they are a source of suffering.
Thus in a comparatively small episode of the poem are found not one
but several folklore motifs. But exacUy this shows that the author or the
composer of this poem acted not as a narrator of tales, but as a real man of
letters. He daringly unites any motifs which he finds suitable. He is not
perplexed by discords (for example, the hunter is no more guilty than the
harlot). And he achieved his end by making a single and harmonious
whole, which, like any good literary work, is much broader than any of its
interpretations.
Gedanken zur Klassifizierung der semitischen Sprachen
Von JOACHIM Oelsner, Jena/Leipzig
Die Ansichten über die Ghederung des semidschen Sprachgebiets ge¬
hen nach wie vor beträchthch auseinander. Deshalb dürfte es nicht abwe¬
gig erscheinen, einige Überlegungen dazu zur Diskussion zu stellen,
nachdem wir uns bereits vor zwanzig Jahren an einer nicht ganz leicht zu¬
gänglichen Stelle zur Themadk geäußert hatten.' Es geht dabei nicht
darum, den zahlreichen Lösungsvorschlägen einen weiteren hinzuzufügen.
Vielmehr soll an einige methodische Probleme erinnert werden, die unse¬
res Erachtens noch immer strittig sind.
Betrachtet man die Äußerungen zur Sache, so fällt auf daß bis in die
Gegenwart die im 19. Jh. entstandene Gliederung der semitischen Spra¬
chen nach ihrer geographischen Verteilung - oder besser Bezeugung - in
Vorderasien noch immer vorherrscht. Termini wie Ostsemitisch, West¬
semitisch - genauer Nordwest- und Südwestsemidsch - bzw. Südsemi¬
tisch sind üblich, in jüngster Zeit noch ergänzt durch Nordsemitisch, ange¬
regt durch die Sprache des syrischen Ebla im 3. Jahrtausend^, eine Spra¬
che, die eine Herausfordemng an die Semitistik darstellt, soweit diese sich
als sprachwissenschafüiche Disziplin versteht.
Eine ähnliche, letzdich ebenfalls geographische Gliedemng liegt auch in
der Unterscheidung von zentralem und peripherem Semitisch vor, wie sie
u.a. von LM. DJAKONOFF in seiner anregenden Darstellung der als
semito-hamitisch oder afiro-asiatisch zusammengefaßten Sprachen^ vorge¬
nommen wird: Northem Peripheral (= Ost- bzw. Nordostsem., d.h. Ak-
' J. OELSNER: Zur Problematik der Klassifikation der semidschen Sprachen. In:
VostoCnaä Filologia 2 (Tiflis 1972), S. 241-247 (mil georg. Resume S. 247-249); ins
Arabische übersetzt von ARAFA MUSTAFA in: Baina '1-Nahrain 2 (Mosul 1979), S.
379-392.
2 W. VON SODEN: Das Nordsemitische in Babylonien und in Syrien. In: L. CAGNI
(Hrsg.): La lingua di Ebla. Atti del Convegno Intemazionale (Napoli, 21-23 aprile 1980). Neapel 1981, S. 355-361. - Zur grammatischen Erschließung liegt inzwischen eine Reihe von Studien vor. S. auch u. Anm. 25.
^ I.M. DIAKONOFF: Semito-Hamitic Languages. Mosicau 1965 (auch in russisch);
ders.: Afrasian Languages. Moskau 1988 (das hier gebrauchte "Afrasisch" isl u.E. min¬
destens für deutsche Ohren vom Sprachlichen her eine schreckliche Bildung, vergleichbar nur mit "indeuropisch", was statt das üblichen "Indoeuropäisch" allerdings im Italieni¬
schen bezeugt ist).
Cornelia Wunsch (Hrsg.): XXV. Deutscher Orientalistentag, Vorträge, München 8.-13.4.1991
(ZDMG-Suppl. 10). - © 1994 Franz Steiner Veriag Stuttgart
