In the sixth tablet, the goddess Ishtar propositions Gilgamesh after his victorious return, and he refuses her, cataloguing the misfortunes of her past lovers. Enraged, Ishtar demands the Bull of Heaven from her father Anu and sends it against Uruk, where its snorting opens pits that swallow hundreds of men; Enkidu seizes the bull by the tail so that Gilgamesh can kill it, after which the two heroes offer its heart to the sun god Shamash, an act of defiance against Ishtar that sets up the gods' decision, in the following tablet, that one of the two friends must die for it.
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This source names Gilgamesh directly: "the goddess Ishtar propositions Gilgamesh after his victorious return, and he refuses her, cataloguing the misfortunes of her past lovers."
Source The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform TextsAndrew R. George
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Source Epic of Gilgamesh (Wikipedia)
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Source The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform TextsAndrew R. George
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1. The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts
Andrew R. George, Oxford University Press, 2003Tablet VI, Ishtar and the Bull of HeavenQuote, Tablet VI, Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven
The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: narrative epic recounting Ishtar's proposal and the Bull of Heaven episode.
Epic of Gilgamesh (Wikipedia)
Belongs to Tradition: Mesopotamian Religion, Lead states this is an epic from ancient MesopotamiaView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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