Special thanks to Kristen Grandfield, Yale - New Haven Teacher Institute
Tablets VII & VIII
Tablet Seven (p. 53 - 59)
Enkidu becomes ill and learns that he has been chosen to die by the gods because he killed Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. He is outraged that he was the one chosen and initially curses the trapper and the temple priestess who brought him out of the forest. Shamhash reminds Enkidu of his great friendship with Gilgamesh and how it is worth an untimely death (Foster, 56). He thanks her for this knowledge and dies twelve days later.'
FFW (5 min; 10 sentences minimum)
- What do you feel is the most important lesson that Enkidu has learned?
Tablet Eight (p. 60 - 65)
Hear me, O elders of [Uruk], listen to me!
I mourn my friend, Enkidu, I howl as bitterly as a professional keener.
(Foster, The Epic of Gilgamesh, p.61)
This tablet is essentially a lament for Enkidu by Gilgamesh and how Gilgamesh builds a monument for him in Uruk.
FFW (5 min; 10 sentences minimum)
- If your friend were writing a "lament" about you, what would you want included?- What do you feel is the most important line from this section? Why?
Reflection: main takeaways from today's lesson?
Student Demographics Survey (required of all students to receive Bard College credits)