The Epic of Gilgamesh-Reading Blog Tablets VI-VII

The Epic of Gilgamesh has once again proved to me that it contains much more than what the perceiver expects, turning and running up and down through each page. The tablets 6 and 7 were ones of the longest, but also ones of the greatest. The story passes through the forest, and faces more issues that these two companions face. My prior questions regarding the 'forest adventure' remained unanswered except the one of the death of Huwawa. At the beginning of tablet six, it is said that Gilgamesh cleans his sword of blood, so the author implies that he cut the guardian up, thus taking his head off. This time, I can relate how Enkidu knows his end is near to a personal event of my family. Enkidu has been told by the gods and by various dreams that he has to die, because of the killing of Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven. In my case, my grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer and had been told she would not last. These two events show how by knowing their end is near, they start to decay and feel depressed. Enkidu was desperate as the days went by, and my grandma started caring less about life, instead of applying Carpe Diem to their last moments. The tablet seven finishes by making the reader anxious to continue, because it leaves us in a point where we are uncertain about Enkidu's life. Is he, or will he, be gone forever?

The Epic of Gilgamesh-Reading Blog Tablets IV-V

As I continue to read through this amazing 'rock book', I realize how the story processes, while I encounter many events that I never thought would happen. These two tablets answer most of the questions I firstly asked in the three previous ones, by leading us with the two main characters into the forest, to destroy Huwawa. It made very nervous, and therefore connected to the story. But, throughout this long chapter, I also asked myself many things. Whereas it was a small detail or a whole page, the questions stayed hanging on my mind. This caused me to be more into the book, just to figure out the answer to my interrogations. I asked myself, why would they ever go to sleep against the wind current? Is there any special thing or tradition that makes them want to sleep like this? Why, in the majority of cases, does the author tend to repeat the exact same thing over and over? Is there any writing technique that makes the author do this? How does Gilgamesh end up killing Huwawa? These are some of the questions I thought about as I continued lecturing myself with the words on the pages. Hopefully, most of them will be uncovered as I get deeper into the book.

Epic of Gilgamesh-Reading Blog Tablets I-III

The first three tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh set up a scenario of adventure, risk, and courage. Two men (Enkidu and Gilgamesh) set off into an unknown forest where they will risk their lives to find and fight Huwawa in the Cedar forest. This part of the book reminds me to the movie and book of The Hunger Games. When Katniss volunteers as a tribute to participate in the annual Hunger Games, reminds me of when everyone starts telling Gilgamesh that Enkidu should go first. In both situations, Katniss and Enkidu are being put into a deathly adventure. Also, the simple fact that these two brave men are going into an adventure with someone else they depend on, connects these two creations of art. Therefore, I become anxious of what will happen, where will they go, and if they will accomplish their mission as I did while I watched Hunger Games in the movies. I can also infer that the rest of the book will be about the adventures in the Cedar Forest as it did with the competition of the kids from different districts. I know that in The Hunger Games both Katniss and Peeta survived, but will these two kill Huwawa and be prideful forever? Let us continue reading and figure out!

                                           INFERRING ABOUT FAVORITE PICTURE

                           
     The picture presented above is of my idol, Michael Phelps. By observing this picture, we can see that the photographer intended to take a picture of the 'Baltimore Shark' as he won. I can infer he just became a champion because he is raising his hand up high. From personal knowledge, I can know that sometimes winners rise their hands as a sign of success. Also, I can see that he is a swimmer, because of the pool lanes. These red lanes are used in major championships, and there is also advertisement around the pool. By this signs, I can infer he is a competitive swimmer, maybe even a pro. Finally, by acknowledging his fit body, it is inferred he is not a newby in the pool, but has been training and exercising for a long time. He has also shaved his arm pitts and his beard, so it shows he is swimming an important meet. I can infer this because swimmers that are competing on serious meets shave themselves all over their body. They do to allow water pass through their body in a faster way, therefore gaining more speed. This may be just a picture, but  tells a lot about this swimmer.