Women and Power in Gilgamesh, Ramayana and the Odyssey - Essay Sample

Introduction

Through history, women have had to fight hard to be respected and have equal rights to men. Many societies have and still portray women to be second class citizens and teach them how to be subservient to men. We have people who have worked tirelessly to ensure they break the traditional stereotypes and concepts. Although men are significant characters in Gilgamesh, Ramayana and the Odyssey women also play very significant roles in the three stories. In general, the stories portray women to be deceptive, overly sexual and have power over men. Women use sex as a powerful tool to deceive, confuse and have control over men.

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In the heroic poem of Gilgamesh, I was stormed by a specific character that to me seemed to be necessary for the entire narrative, but ho would be looked down by our society today. Shamhat the harlot or prostitute is a very excellent character. In this epic, Shamhat is the person who civilized Enkidu when she made love to him which makes him more willing to have interactions with human beings like Gilgamesh and less like an animal all thanks to Shamhat, a prostitute. I believe that prostitutes at the time had a better reputation as compared to the modern world. When the hunter discovers Enkidu, he brings the news to his father who decides to call Shamhat to fix Enkidu. Shamhat is given a lot of credit by this epic, and even the great Gilgamesh gives her a lot of recognition when he recommends her to fix Enkidu. Moreover, the prostitute makes her mark when she gets her lines in the epic. This shows how much prostitution was appreciated by the culture where this epic is born and was readily accepted by society.

It is evident though that Shamhat did not a high status as the men in the epic. Even Enkidu, who does not entirely become human has a higher status than her. This is seen when she compares Enkidu to a god meaning he has a higher status than her. Her low status is also observed when the hunter told her to "do for the man the work of a woman!"(First tablet, line 185).this is an implication that women have to work to satisfy men. At some point she does not seem smart enough like when she talks to Enkidu praising Gilgamesh and how great he is, how he is, "fair to manhood, charm graced and very dignified as an individual"(Tablet 1, line 235).this statement contradicts ho later Gilgamesh gets described as a remorseless autocrat.

The extreme behavior of Gilgamesh as exhibited at the beginning of the epic shows how he abuses his powers of a king which calls to the need for balance. To achieve balance, Goddess Anu creates a cultivated Enkidu where the king calls for the assistance of the harlot Shamhat to help. Yes, the hornet plays a critical role in her society. She is the most powerful man in her culture but the social setting at the time does not allow her to be more powerful than the men.

Gilgamesh in this epic fails to reach their goals of gaining immortality, but the women achieve their goals by using their sexuality. The women strengthen their main characters through sexuality where all women use their sexuality differently. In this story, women praise and honor their sexuality which does not happen in our generation. Cultures all over the world need to look at and appreciate sexuality and the powers behind an idea that is often ridiculed.

Works Cited

Heidel, Alexander. Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. Vol. 136. University of Chicago Press, 1949.