European religious and secular tradition has long viewed the role of women in the ancient narratives as negative. Beginning with Eve who seduced Adam and thus caused the downfall of the entire mankind, Western literature conceived mythological women as evil or, at least, irrational creatures. However, this view is, to a great extent, a fruit of precisely Western tradition. In fact, it is difficult to trace a general trend in presentation of women in the ancient texts. In looking at the images of women in the Book of Genesis, in Chapters 2 and 3 of the Bible, and the story of Joseph the Dreamer, found in chapter 37 of Genesis (verses 39 46), the Gilgamesh epic, and the Egyptian Tale of the Two Brothers, one can discover that ancient texts could treat women both positively and negatively.
This is especially because Ancient authors had very different ideas of good and evil than we currently do. In fact, acts which may seem evil for us were explainable or even encouraged during the Antiquity. Additionally, ancient texts were authored by men, so their approach and their accounts are masculine, and thus we now have a one-sided view presented by those male-authors which does not reflect female view. Another result of male authorship is that ancient texts pay much less attention to women than they do to men.
Thus, every female character attracts much attention. When a male acts in an evil manner, he acts as one among many characters, but when a women acts in an evil manner, she acts in her feminine capacity. This aggravates all her vices and sins as those attributable to the entire womanhood. Nevertheless, there are numerous pieces in the ancient narratives demonstrating womens dignity and positive influence on the outcome of the story. Portrayals of female and male characters in each of these texts differ depending on the authors approach and our evaluation of the narrative. Each narrative reflects the development of males approach to women in the ancient societies.
Female Characters and Ancient Ideas of Good and Evil
The Ancient East was a much more primitive and harsher society than our modern Western society is or was. Correspondingly, its moral perceptions differed greatly from those we share now. Ancient Egypt, Israel, and Mesopotamia were patriarchal societies with strong male domination. In all of the concerned narratives women play a subordinated role being rather objects than subjects. Their characters reveal themselves only in interaction with males, and this interaction is not always pleasant for women. Thus, in the Tale of the Two Brothers the wife of the older brother does not even have a name. Her character reveals itself only in interaction with males. Ennead, the second female character does have a name however, she is a prisoner of men just as Anubiss wife is. The chirographist calls down blessings when he mentions the Pharaoh and his servants, since the will of the Pharaoh is divine.
Yet, the actions of the Pharaoh are far from divine, at least in our understanding. He simply took a women he desired, killing her husband as well as dozens of own servants. Ennead behaves strangely throughout the narrative. She swears fidelity to Bata, yet she becomes Pharaohs faithful wife and tells him where Batas heart is. At that, she, somehow, remains faithful to Bata by becoming pregnant from a splinter, which was a part of Batas new body. It appears impossible to judge this mythological story in the light of present ideas of good and evil. Probably, ancient Egyptians would consider cunning with the Pharaoh as a much greater sin than murder of her husband. Seemingly, the author makes no moral conclusion in the Tale of Two Brothers. Certain clues demonstrating the ancient Egyptian attitude towards both female characters are given through the development of the narrative. Anubis wifes death demonstrates condemnation while a happy conclusion of the story shows that Enneads actions were correct and virtuous. This makes The Tale of Two Brothers similar to behavioral guide which demonstrates the consequences of both virtuous and wicked behavior.
In the Gilgamesh epic female characters are portrayed in two extreme states either as goddesses or as prostitutes. Surprisingly for modern morality, there is hardly a difference between these two states.
Ritual prostitution was a usual practice for Babylon, so using a hurlot, a wanton from the temple of love to hunt Enkidu is a virtue rather than sin. After the wild and uncivilized Enkidu lays with a prostitute he is no longer innocent and no longer able to live in the wild. This brings Enkidu to civilization and enables him to establish a relationship with Gilgamesh, however, at the cost of losing his wild anarchic nature. This makes a complicated analogy between loss of innocence and development from the wild to civilization, which only becomes possible because of a woman. In Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature,, Harris emphasizes the Mesopotamian concept that norms of sexual behavior are an important part of civilized life It is not a mere chance that a prostitute initiates Enkidus new state. As an experienced woman, Shamhat is not simply a sexual partner, but a tutor for Enkidu. Once again, further development of the story makes the role of a prostitute positive or, at least, necessary, for otherwise Gilgamesh and Enkidu would never meet.
In The Tale of the Two Brothers and the Gilgamesh epic, the authors seem to avoid ethical considerations. They are blind to moral simply telling a story without reference to a certain system of values. Readers can assume what the author deems to be good and what the author deems to be evil, although this is not directly mentioned. It can be reasonably suggested that the later text of the Bible demonstrates the growing interest to ethics and moral, which was not apparent in The Tale of the Two Brothers or the Gilgamesh epic. The Tale of the Two Brothers and the Gilgamesh epic are precisely tales told for entertainment. In contrast, Genesis is a later religious text, in which moralistic questions come to the fore.
Yet, even in Genesis, Adam and Eve are judged by God rather than the writer. It is Eve who is seduced by a serpent and it is Eve who gave a forbidden fruit to Adam. There is a passage in the Biblical text proving that Adam and Eve were equal before the Fall of Man, yet they receive different punishments as a result of being tempted. Talking to Eve God says I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children and thy desire to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. It thus follows, that male domination over women is a punishment imposed on Eve and entire womanhood. Adam also received a punishment however, he was never accused in the Western tradition, rather being viewed as a victim of Eves mindlessness. A question remains open what did the authors themselves think of the story
A comparison of Adam and story to other moralistic problems of the Bible does give some answer. For example, the story of the Fall reveals another tricky moral dilemma. God forbade Adam and Eve to eat a fruit, which would open their eyes and let them know good and evil. Apart from the question that God was not totally honest (Eve and Adam did not die after eating the forbidden fruit), one can ask how could they know that disobedience was evil since they did not know what evil was Without knowing the concept of evil, Adam and Eve have not actually committed something what is evil as such. Thus, they could not commit a conscious sin. Their sin is disobedience to divine will and violation of the supreme order. This is important for understanding female status in the ancient societies, in which women lost their equality with men and became subordinated. In such manner, the sin of disobedience became a typical female sin.
Relations of authority and hierarchy are a key to understanding the moral of ancient authors. Subordination to Supreme Will, whether it is the will of God, Pharaoh, or Gilgameshs mother stands in the center of their ethical considerations. Disobedience is a sin worthy of the harshest punishments. Women were viewed as unwise, weak and subjected creatures, so for a woman being good meant being obedient. Certain difference can be found between Babylonian and Egyptian society. In the Gilgamesh women like Ninsun occupy higher positions than the men do. In their capacity, these women can give orders to everyone, including men from the lower classes, so the obligation to obey follows not from gender, but from the social position of a character. In contrast, The Tale of the Two Brothers gives leading social roles to men, and thus an obligation to obey for the inferiors evolves into obligation to obey for women.
Approaches Towards Women by Male Authors
In Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature, Harris argues that in the Gilgamesh epic, in whatever version was composed by men for the edification and entertainment of presumably male audience who read or to whom the Epic was read. All of the concerned narratives share similar masculine approach to women. This approach combines admiration and fear of womens fertility. In ancient stories, women act as unwise creatures driven mostly by instincts (Anubiss wife, Ishtar) in contrast to rational males driven mostly by reason. More than that, in case women are unsatisfied in their desires, they take revenge using their falseness and cunning. The descriptions of women seducing men are so similar in all narratives that they could be written by one author.
Whether it is Anubiss wife telling to Bata come, lets spend for ourselves an hour sleeping (together). Such will be to your advantage, for I will make you fine clothes. In Genesis, the masters wife caught Joseph by his garment, saying, Lie with me and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. In these texts, females appear to be driven by their irrational sexual desire, which they are eager to satisfy at all costs. This approach is most dramatically presented by goddess Ishtar, who prefers to kill Gilgamesh after he rejects her sexual advances. In the case of Bata and Joseph, the males reject womens proposals, thus making women vengeful. Their tool for revenge involves lies and cunning behavior. In the Tale of the Two Brothers and in the story of Joseph the Dreamer, angry women call upon other men alleging that their insulter beat or raped them, thus causing other men to punish the innocent. In Gilgamesh, Ishtar demonstrates aggressive sexual behavior attempting to kill Gilgamesh after he refuses to lay with her. Siduri serves as Gilgameshs guide to the underworld. Consequently, these are women who establish a mystical link between material and spiritual world. Although
Gilgamesh himself speaks to mountains and trees, he is himself unable to pry himself away from the material world. A goddess Anuru creates Enkidu to prevent Gilgamesh from further crimes, and a woman leads him to the underworld. Without womens influence Gilgamesh would remain a tyrant and never walk the way of spiritual self-development.
The image of women in all the concerned narratives is non-natural, as they oppose natural and social laws.. Men act in accordance with natural laws (like Adam, Joseph, Bata and Anubis) while women break these laws (like Ennead or Ninsun). This can be illustrated by the story of Eve. Although being equal to Adam, it is Eve who is seduced by a serpent. Tempted by their fleshly desires women are seat of the trouble in every ancient text. Temptation of brothers wife leads Bata to conflict with Anubis, and while temptation of masters wife causes Josephs trouble, Enkidus appearance makes Gilgamesh sorrowful.
Males do have carnal desires in every narrative. The Pharaoh desired to have Ennead as his wife, Adam agreed to eat the forbidden fruit and Gilgameshs lust leaves no virgin to her lover neither the warriors daughter nor the wife of the noble (13), and later Gilgamesh meets women like Ishtar seducing him. Thus, women are portrayed as tempting creatures while men agree to be seduced. In the light of this, women start playing an active role determining the future course of events. Nevertheless, the stories have strong male orientation point of view, so males are likely to ascribe their own character to women, so that the true character of mythological women remains unknown, at least because ancient texts give no evidence of females perception of the mythological situation and womens own actions.
The Importance of Female Characters in Ancient Narratives
As noticed above, women in the concerned narratives often act as initiators of certain events, or, more broadly, as fateful characters gravely influencing males further destiny. As observed by Harris, women are regarded positively only when the assist Gilgamesh (and Enkidu) in those heroes activities when they nurture and advice in material fashion. The adventures of the heroes preclude the primary role of women. After all, Bata fathers the future pharaoh after two women betray him. Driven by his fate he dies and resurrects as a ruler and later as pharaohs father.
Thanks to Ennead, The Tale of the Two Brothers concludes happily and successfully. It presents two female characters both using their natural foxery as cunning women. Anubiss wife is an example of a disobedient and thus evil woman, while Ennead manages to reach her goal preserving her female virtue and obedience. In the light of this, Ennead is, obviously, a positive character from the point of view of the ancient Egyptians or, at least, the authors and the audience of The Tale of Two Brothers (the upper classes of the Ancient Egyptian society). In the Gilgamesh epic women drive the protagonist in his destiny, and Enkidu is destiny itself. At the beginning of the narrative Gilgamesh is described as a ruler whom no one could withstand. Hearing the peoples laments gods asks Arunnu, the goddess of creation to make his own reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart.
This Gilgameshs reflection is a man, however, the narrative offers strong homosexual insights. Enkidu is a male, yet he may be playing a female role. His actions suggest that Enkidu often acts in a female capacity when Gilgamesh kisses and embarrasses him. Enkidu is not a female character, yet his relationship with Gilgamesh demonstrates the attitude of Mesopotamians towards women as sexual objects (prostitutes or bedmates), while a relationship can exist only between males. Traveling with his friend (and probable lover) Gilgamesh meets Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war. These two characters illustrate dualist perception of a woman by ancient Babylonians. Arunnus actions are, undoubtedly, positive, while Ishtar is not so much negative as fateful. A woman is a creator of life and simultaneously a destructor ruining able to ruin the characters life due to her disastrous hyper libidinousness. Gilgamesh blames Ishtar for her destructive love which ruins men
You loved the many-coloured roller, but still you struck and broke his wing...You have loved the lion tremendous in strength seven pits you dug for him, and seven. You have loved the stallion magnificent in battle, and for him you decreed the whip and spur and a thong ...You have loved the shepherd of the flock he made meal-cake for you day after day, he killed kids for your sake. You struck and turned him into a wolf now his own herd-boys chase him away, his own hounds worry his flanks.
It is difficult to conclude that a goddess of fertility can be a purely negative character however, Gilgamesh avoids contacting her fearing consequences of her love. In the light of this, there is little difference between Ishtar and Anubiss wife. A free and uncontrolled woman could give pleasure to men, but the requital for this pleasure would be death and ruination.
The overall idea of females in the ancient texts demonstrates that they were treated as otherworldly creatures living in the material dimension and linking nonexistence to existence. They are neither good nor bad, they are just different in their manner of thinking and behavior. It follows, that the importance of female characters in the Gilgamesh epic cannot be overemphasized, since females are alpha and omega of the narrative. This reflects the general idea shared by ancient Babylonians apportioning women with esoteric talents.
Fearful of their supernatural powers males preferred to use women, but never establish a relationship with a woman. In the case when it is impossible to rule over a woman (like Ishtar) men prefer to avoid them. As noted above, the Bible offers a different approach towards creation. Fertility is no longer a merit, it is rather taken for granted, and so sexual intentions of women are deemed as expressly undesirable. Although God tells Adam and Eve to be be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth, these words do not expressly refer to sexual intercourses between man and woman.
Eve is viewed as Adams equal before Fall and Adams subject after the Fall, but obedience and lower social standing is the price paid by a woman for violation of divine prescriptions. Following this idea, the Bible further presents women in the negative light. However, this presentation is, largely, a result of authors appraisals. In fact, both Eve and Adam sinned, and it was a serpent (a male character) who seduced Eve. Yet, the burden of guilt for the Fall is born by Eve and her heiresses. This can be illustrated already by the story of Joseph, which presents a woman as temptress driving the protagonist from righteous way. Such behavior was normal for Ishtar, condemned for Anubiss wife and sinful for Biblical women.
The Gilgamesh epic, The Tale of the Two Brothers, and the Book of Genesis taken together demonstrate the development of approach towards women in ancient societies. The Gilgamesh includes strong traces of matriarchy. The women in the narrative possess strong supernatural qualities connected to their sexuality and fertility. A female goddess creates Enkidu, an earthly prostitute makes Enkidu civilized and another female goddess acts as a symbol of ruination. The writer (and probably the audience) is alerted with unconceivable female power and thus males in the Gilgamesh prefer to act in defensive by limiting their relationships with women.
The Tale of the Two Brothers offers a consumptive approach to a woman as a sexual object and as mother. Although women in the narrative dramatically affect the males destiny, males are now in offensive making women kneel before their physical strength and rationalism. The latter quality enables men to unravel womens artfulness and impose their will on women.
The least attention is paid to women in the Genesis. Only Eve is a notable female character and only due to the fact that she causes the Fall of Man. A woman seducing Joseph is an object rather than subject of the narrative.
Obvious moral appraisal of women can be found only in the Genesis, while The Tale of the Two Brothers and Gilgamesh offer little moral considerations. Both suggest that the valuable female qualities were obedience and modesty. However, these qualities result rather from a position of a woman as a subjected creature than from their gender. Superior females (like goddesses) are not bound by subjection. Obligation to obey born by earthly women is a result of their subjection. They are defeated by males strength and reason and thus become subjected as any creature lacking reason. From this point of view, the position of a woman in the narratives has little difference with the position of children or even cattle. Authors of the Gilgamesh epic, The Tale of the Two Brothers and Genesis are far from understanding womans different reason, sensuality and character, so they prefer to rule over them, but not to communicate with them.
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