Spark Note Notes

Key Facts:
Beowulf was written between 700 and 1000 A. D. Takes place in Denmark and Greatland. The three main parts are defeating Grendel, defeating Grendel's mom and defeating the dragon after he is angered because someone took his treasure.
Plot Overview:
King Hrothgar rules over the Denmark. He built a mead hall called Heorot. The hall holds many parties and gatherings. These gatherings anger Grendel a monster living under the lake. He comes at night and eats the people in the mead hall. Beowulf hears of the great monster and decides to come and kill him. Hrothgar holds a big feast to celebrate the coming of Beowulf and that night Grendel comes and Beowulf is able to defeat him. He rips off the arm of Grendel right before he is able to escape. Hrothgar gives Beowulf lots of treasures and the next night Grendel's mother comes and kills one of Hrothgar's best soldiers. Beowulf goes to defeat Grendel's mother as well. He is able to cut off her head and kill her. He is given more treasures and decides to return to Greatland. He later becomes king and rules for 50 years. He is a good king and everyone likes him. Beowulf becomes old and a servant steals from a dragon. This angers the dragon and the dragon comes and burns down the town. Beowulf knows he has to stop it. He goes to fight the dragon and with the help from Wiglaf is able to slaughter the dragon but the dragon pierced Beowulf's skin and Beowulf dies. They burn Beowulf's body and make a huge building with all of his treasures where anyone can come and see it.
Characters:
Beowulf: defeats all the monsters
King Hrothgar: King of Denmark
Grendel: Monster killed by Beowulf
Grendel's Mother: wanted revenge on Beowulf but he killed her
The dragon: killed by Beowulf but also killed Beowulf.
Themes:
establishing identity
difference between good warrior and good king

Immorality

Presentation:
Gilgamesh searched for immortality because he wanted to bring back his companion and he wanted to live forever. This is similar to today because many people search for immortality because they are scared of dying. They wish to do more with their life or become someone else in another life.

One way to prolong life today is called cryonics. It is the process of preserving dead humans hoping that when more scientific research comes out scientists can restore your body to a healthy youth stage. Right now you can only preform this on a legally dead person and it has to be done fast. When you first die your cells stay alive and with this procedure they hope they can preserve your cells and not kill them. They use a mixture of chemicals that when these chemicals are brought to a cold temperature they harden like glass.
Its kind of like being a organ donor, you can become a patient for cryonics. This has been successful with worms and a rabbit kidney was "frozen" then thawed, then transplanted into another rabbit.
Gilgamesh probably would have been frozen if he had had the choice.

Themes

The Hero's companion:
Enkidu and Gilgamesh are always together after they meet. They are equals and are willing to do anything for the other one. Enkidu's role was to be their for Gilgamesh and keep him grounded and understanding of others. pg:24, 50
Love: They loved each other. They stayed together and loved each other. They were made for each other and were destined to be together.
Loss of Innocence: Enkidu when he loses his life when the prostitute comes and sleeps with him. He losses his innocence and becomes a man. pg:18,20
View of After Life: pessimistic of optimistic:
Utnapishtim believed that the afterlife was bad and shouldn't be allowed. Gilgamesh was in search of it the whole book. He wanted it so he could spend forever with the friend he loved. pg:80,57
Intervention of the Gods: gods relationship with the mortals:
The gods made Enkidu come to Gilgamesh, then they killed him. They made U a God against his will. pg:46,79
The common flood story:
Noah's Ark. teaching mortals a lesson. They are tired of mortals trying to become a god. pg:78
Legacy:
What you leave behind. the wall protected them from outsiders and he was glad that his city would be able to be protected. He also left behind names of others that had been lost. He remembers them and doesn't make others suffer by not saying the names of the dead. pg: book 4

Literary Archetypes

Hero: Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh is the hero in this story. He is the king and is also part God. He tries to become more powerful by killing Humbaba. He tries to find immortality so that he will live forever. Even though he can be a mean or overpowering king he is still a good leader. He is intelligent and confident that he will come out on top. In the story he is always the sure one when they kill Humbaba. He keeps them going and doesn't lose himself when Humbaba is trying to save himself. He is not scared of dying for what he believes in. He goes after immortality because he believes that he will be able to get immortal life for Enkidu.
Antihero: Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh is also the antihero because he loses faith and hope a few times in the story. When they go to fight Humbaba he is very sure of himself until he realizes what this could mean if they lose. Enkidu has to take over for a few seconds while he gets his wits back with him. He loses courage for just a little bit. He then is able to take on Humbaba again. When he goes to search for immortality and is told by Utnapishtim that he cannot help for it is not good to be immortal. Although Gilgamesh fits the hero qualities, at times can lacks a few characteristics and that is what makes him the antihero.
The Wise Fool: Utnapishtim
Before the flood Utnapishtim was a normal man and he was one of the few that was not looking for an immortal life. He becomes immortal anyway and lives off with only his wife. He has what everyone else was searching for and what society wants. Although many people don't know this or are not able to get to him because of the great journey that they have to take to get to him.
The Devil Figure: Ishtar
Ishtar is the goddess of love and war. Most people would look at her from the outside and see the love part, but wherever she brings love she brings war. She tells Gilgamesh that she will give his city peace if he marries her. She even brings his robs and his crown. He refuses because all she has ever done is taken over and then destroyed. She turned her father's gardener into a mole because he liked her. "I am tired of your promises, tired as Ishullanu, who brought you dates, innocent until you pressed his hand against your breasts and turned him to a mole who lived beneath the surface of your earth, unable to dig out to air, feeling in the darkness for that same soft touch" (44).
The Outcast: Enkidu
At the beginning Enkidu is alienated by society because he was a wild man and lived like an animal. Then after the prostitute came and slept with him the animals alienated him. He was outcast because he became a man. He starts as an animal man, then becomes a human and then gets killed for not being part God. He becomes very alone in his last days of life. He wishes the prostitute hadn't come and slept with him. He wishes he was still a animal man.
The Double: Immorality
Some people see immorality as being a good thing. Gilgamesh believed that was the only way to save his friend and that was the only way to make no one suffer. He figured that if he and Enkidu were immortal they would never have to part. In this way immorality is a happy or exciting thought. They will never have to leave each other. Utnapishtim is the other side. He never wanted to be immortal but the Gods chose him and he became immortal against his wish. Usually when someone is forced to do something you don't like it. This is what Utnapishtim thought. He was lonely and wanted to die. He told Gilgamesh this but he was too caught up in keeping his friend alive that he never really thought about the other side.
The Scapegoat: Enkidu
The Gods say that one of the men must die. They say that Gilgamesh is part God so he must not die. Enkidu has no God in him and has done some mean things to this town by killing Humbaba and The Bull of Heaven. The Gods say the Enkidu must be destroyed because of what he has done and who he is. The society is not ready to except that they can both live. They need each other to live and be good people but nobody sees that until it is too late.
The Temptress: The Prostitute
The prostitute is the temptress because she is a very beautiful women and people think she is amazing. After you get though the mask you see that she is a destroyer. She makes the animals leave Enkidu and they will never have anything to do with him again. She tempted Enkidu and then in the end it led to his destruction.
The Good Mother: Ninsun
Ninsun is a goddess known for wisdom. She is Gilgamesh's mother and always gives him and Enkidu advice. She tells Gilgamesh what his dreams mean and gives him guidance that he may defeat all that he feels he needs to. She also adopts Enkidu and teats him like a son even though he is an animal man.

Gilgamesh Chap. 4

Finally when Gilgamesh can weep no more he returns to Uruk. He wonders if the people will share his sorrow or even remembers Enkidu. When he gets back he asks a blind man if he remembers Enkidu and the man only shrugs and turns away. He looks at the walls of the city and is awed by what he sees. The walls are built up and for a moment he can forget his loses.

Gilgamesh Chap. 3

Gilgamesh morns about Enkidu's death. He doesn't know what to do with his life and he wonders from place to place and has never felt more alone in his life. He wants to bring Enkidu back into his life. He is going to go see Utnapishtim, who survived the flood and is now immortal himself. He travels through the mountains of Mashu and meets the Scorpion people who guard the gate of the underworld. They tell him that any man that goes past here doesn't return, this is a place of death. Finally they let him through. He then travels on the Road of the Sun. All he can think about is Enkidu and how much he misses him. He comes to a valley and tells it of Enkidu and how they were so good for each other. When he is done weeping he realizes that the valley is deaf and cannot here or answer him.
Next he comes to the house of a barmaid named Siduri. He tells her of Enkidu and how they defeated many things but now he has suffered a great deal and is half crazy. She let him in and clothed him and gave him food and rubbed his legs and arms. She tried to help him forget what had happened. After some time she asks him to stay with her and not go to Utnapishtim. She wants him to start his life fresh with her. He becomes very angered by this and she lets him go and tells him to go find Urshanabi, the boat man. He will be able to get him across the river to find Utnapishtim. She tells him he will have stones to get him across. She also tells him that he is so blind with self love and of rage. He explodes and crushes everything in his path. He shatters the stones he need to get across the river. Urshanabi tells him that the only other way across is to cut down his own poles and to push himself across. One by one the poles are rotted by the sea of death and when Gilgamesh has just one pole left he uses his clothes and makes a sail to finish his journey.
Gilgamesh tells him of his journey and how he has had so many hard times. They walk and discus why Gilgamesh has come. Utnapishtim doesn't think that immortality is the best way to go, for he is a lonely man. He didn't chose to be a God but was chosen. He goes on to tell his story. In the town of Shurrupak men were seeking immortality and the Gods didn't like it. The told Utnapishtim to build and great ship and to put animals and people on it. They told him a great flood was coming and he would be saved if he made a boat. After 7 days of the great flood it was over and when Utnapishtim left the boat he wept. He wanted to bring everyone back to life but he was not able to do that. Ea chose him and his wife to become immortal. Ea touched his forehead and told him that he will live with his wife at the mouth of the river. He tells Gilgamesh that he envy's his freedom. Gilgamesh is devastated. This was not what he had come to hear.
They go back to Utnapishtim's house and Gilgamesh sleeps for 7 days. When he wakes U asks him how he will be able to live the life of a God if all he does is sleep. U tells the boat man to take him back across and burn his clothes. Let him start fresh again. Finally when Gilgamesh is ready to leave Utnapishtim tells him something that he has never told anyone before. He tells him of a plant in the river that will prick his fingers and it will give him new life. Gilgamesh is very grateful and hurries off to find the plant.
On his way home Gilgamesh is pleased and happier than he has been is a very long time. He stops to get a drink from a pool and takes a bath. He leaves the plant unguarded. A serpent smells the plant and comes over eats the plant. When Gilgamesh gets out of the pool he sees the serpent but no plant and sits down and weeps.

Gilgamesh Chap. 2

In chap. 2 Gilgamesh tells Enkidu that they must go and kill the Humbaba. They must prove themselves as powerful. Enkidu is scared he tells Gilgamesh that this will lead the death. Gilgamesh tells him that he must not be afraid. They go to the Elders of Uruk and ask what they should do. They know they cannot stop Gilgamesh so they tell his to go on. They get the blessing of the town and wisdom from his mother. She told Enkidu that she adopted him and hoped for the same protection that she gave her son.
After 3 days walking in the forest they came to the gate where Humbaba lived. Enkidu toughed the gate and his hand went numb. He almost went down and didn't know what had happened to him. Gilgamesh told him it would pass soon. That night they camped out and both found it almost impossible to sleep. Enkidu started hallucinating; he saw his life before the prostitute and how the animals his life. Gilgamesh had many dreams, Enkidu said that he would win over Humbaba tomorrow.
The next day Gilgamesh cuts down a cedar tree and Humbaba comes. Humbaba starts beating up Enkidu and Gilgamesh thinks he is dead. As Gilgamesh lifts his ax to kill him, Humbaba tries to talk him out of it and says he is the one that builds all the houses. Enkidu cries out not to trust him and Gilgamesh strikes the ax into Humbaba's neck. They leave with Humbaba's head swinging from a tree.
The next morning when they get ready to return home Ishtar, goddess of love and war comes. She brings robes and crowns. She tells them that the Gods are a bit angry about the death of Humbaba. She tells Gilgamesh that if he marries her she can talk to her father, Father of Gods -Anu, to make peace. Gilgamesh is angered and refuses her offer. He tells her that all she brings is war and she is a mean evil women. She is enraged and goes to tell her father. She tells Anu that he must send the Bull of Heaven to destroy this man. He sends it and it first kills over 300 men. It comes for Gilgamesh next and Enkidu grabs its tail and then stabs it between its horns. Ishtar curses and is really angry at Enkidu. He tears off the thigh of the Bull and chucks it at her saying that he will do the same to her if he catches her.
That night Enkidu dreams that the Gods were talking and they said one of them must die because they killed Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Enlil a God says that Enkidu must die because Gilgamesh is part God. The Gods decided to kill Enkidu. Gilgamesh tells him that it is just the fever. As Enkidu begins to fade away he talks about his life and his animal friends. He wonders why this has to happen to him and what is to happen to Gilgamesh when he leaves.

Gilgamesh Chap. 1

In chap. 1 they introduce the characters, Gilgamesh is king of Uruk. Gilgamesh is a mean king. He has the right to sleep with any bridesmaid before they are married and before their husband can. He pushes people way to hard and makes them rebuild walls and then he lets them fall over with no explanation. People longed for change and were tired of his old ways. Gilgamesh was 2/3 God and 1/3 man.
Enkidu grew up with the animals, he was part animal. He drank and ate like animals. He let the animals go that were held in traps. One day a hunter's son saw Enkidu opening a trap. The hunter's son told his father. They requested that Gilgamesh send a prostitute to Enkidu and then the animals would be ashamed of him. Gilgamesh agreed to send a prostitute but didn't do anything more about this wild man. The hunter left the prostitute by the river. Enkidu came and saw this creature he had never seen before. She had hair only on her head and between her legs. The prostitute slept with Enkidu and all the animals ran away.
That night Gilgamesh dreams that a star fell from the sky and when he tries to pick it up he fails. His mother Ninsun tells him that a man will come and Gilgamesh will never want to leave him.
The next night he dreams that he can not lift an ax. Ninsun tells him that the ax is the man. An equal to Gilgamesh.
The prostitute sleeps with Enkidu until he doesn't want to be an animal anymore. She tells him that he is a man now and they will go see Gilgamesh in Uruk. She tells him that he will see himself in Gilgamesh. The prostitute takes him and cloths him. She cuts the hair off his body and he becomes a man. People said that he looked like Gilgamesh. They say he is equal to their king.
When they meet for the first time they fight and the people scream. But when all was still and they looked at each other they saw that they were very similar. People laughed and rejoiced.