GILGAMESH
For all his kinglyness
he had a bad habit which offended his people.
Duly, they complained to the gods
who strode the worlds in those days
our king is misbehaving,
appropriating our brides on their wedding night.
This was considered improper
and spoilt the balance,
in their city of civic order and fine, architectural town-planning.
But still, a king was a king
so above everyday law and besides,
he was handsome and a fine warrior
Such a thing was also not without
biological precedent
not to mention eugenic prerogative.
Definitely, you’d think, not a matter for everyday Wo and Man.
And indeed, in those days,
monsters, great and small roamed the land
and the various species sometimes got genetically confused
and bred among themselves;
resulting in feathered or hoofed anomalies with serpent heads,
goats with with fish-tails, horse-headed men etcetera…
…to the point that alien visitors passing by, might well have thought:
Wotta mess! This lot seems to have lost the plot.
And what are gods doing about it? Nowt!
Which was a challenge for the latter
who, however, were mostly consumed with their own affairs
and shenanigans:
Any kind of aberant monster-mix
could be seen as natural selection
and the fittest would survive.
Mortals need to evolve, afterall!
But at that time, Gilgamesh was destabilizing the status quo.
So, in the due process of hubris
he was confronted with his opposite, other, soul-mate, lost-brother-lovE
- Enkidu: a great hairy proto-alter-ego,
who ran wild with the antelopes
and knew nothing of the ways of civilized man.
This led to many epic adventures
and disasters by and between them
as well as meeting terrifying creatures, giants
and experiencing the horrors of flood and fire;
duly passed on in story and legend;
then recorded in cuneiform,
for posterity
- a kindof substitute notoriety
for the hero’s quest for immortality.
——
The clay tablets inscribed with these tales were eventually appropriated,
as was and still is the instinct and practice of imperial humanoid greed
and arrogance;
finally to be deciphered by smart and nosy folk - kept alive:
Gilgamesh glorified as he wished.
Oct.