In August 2017, President Trump walked away from the Paris Climate Agreement talks, citing that the deal was not good for Americans. Russel Jones, the author of the book, “The Gilgamesh Gene,” likened Trump’s approach towards environmental issues at the Paris Climate talks to that of Gilgamesh in the epic poem by the same name. What then is it about Gilgamesh that makes his story relevant to today’s ecological discourse? The ecological message in Gilgamesh is about the prosperity of humanity at the expense of nature, and the consequences that follow.
Gilgamesh was a ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk. Like most modern civilizations, Uruk had exhausted its local resources and had no option but to expand through trading by its neighboring societies in items such as cedarwood and lapis lazuli. However, Uruk could not get enough cedarwood because within the massive cedar forest prowled Humbaba, a monstrous creature anointed to protect the forest from loggers. Gilgamesh and Enkidu, both strong in might and spirit, viewed Humbaba as a threat to Uruk’s prosperity and embarked on a journey to slay the monster; a quest in which they succeed.
After decapitating Humbaba, Gilgamesh keeps its head as a trophy and descends on senseless destruction of the cedar forest in the name of prosperity of his people; thus, introducing readers to the book’s first ecological themes. According to the poem, “the cedars shivered when Enkidu felled the watchers of the forest.” Not only is Gilgamesh and Enkidu one of the first loggers in history, but Gilgamesh is also the first trophy hunter.
In the epic poem, the slaying of Humbaba could be a representation of the psyches of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, who have to destroy nature for the prosperity of their nations instead of seeking harmonious balance for the existence of both. Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s arrogance towards the environment is an exact representation of the senseless destruction of nature that humanity has been responsible for in the last three centuries. For instance, the American manifest destiny; when humanity spread like a virus across the subcontinent and brought with it massive
ecological destruction.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh faced the consequences of their actions. While the gods sentenced Enkidu to die a horrible death, Gilgamesh embarked on a desperate search for immortality. Likewise, humanity is starting to reap the consequences of its actions in the form of global warming, rising sea levels, and extreme weather conditions.
Zac Viper 