Australian Aboriginal Mythology: Poem Analysis

* The status of women in Mesopotamia was lower then men. Women enjoyed some protection and liberties, yet not as much as men.

The story about Mutjinga, a woman of spiritual and asomatous power, is a tale that seeks to explain the relationships between men and women in early Australian societies, while also tying these motifs and themes into the greater collective Dreamtime cosmology of the Aboriginals. This story suggests that women and men did not hold tantamount positions within their early societies - justifying the superiority of men, while also implying that there was a time when women had the upper hand, and may return to challenge male authority once again. To explain, the myth illustrates that in the Dreamtime land of the Murinbata people, a place existed where an old woman named Mutjinga, a woman of power, lived. Aboriginals believed that all the things in the world had both a palpable physical form as well as a spirit form, which was invisible. When living things passed away, it was regarded that their spirits went to a secret cave, of which Mutjinga was the caretaker; and only Mutjinga had the power to speak with these spirits. The tale insinuates, that women, such as Mutjinga, once had the power and authority over men, because they possessed abilities men did not have. As evidenced in “The Man-Eater: The Mutjinga Myth,” “Mutjinga could speak with the spirits. Because she had this power, she could do many things which men could not. [...] The men feared the power of Mutjinga and did not consort with her. They called upon her to lead their dances and teach them songs, but none came to

I chose a primary source found in the textbook, The Code of Hammurabi. On page 11 in the textbook you will find the document I am talking about. This document talks about the code of Hammurabi that was used from 1792-1750 B.C. The code was one of codes that came out of the Mesopotamian society. The king Hammurabi is one of the most well known kings of Mesopotamia. He destroyed the city of Mari and created a new kingdom that covered most of Mesopotamia. The king created a list of codes etched into a stone slab that consisted of 282 laws. The Codes talked about food, theft, work duties, marriage and everything in between. They were necessary to govern the people. They helped cut down on the unjust that was happening in the court system. Back then court cases would side with the people more liked, the ones that had more money and land. These codes also give historians a good description on how culture lived back in this time period.

The Epic of Gilgamesh chronicles the life of the great warrior and hero Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is not great hero because he is moral. In fact he is feared because "a goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, none can withstand his arms" (1). This phrase underlines the terrible power of femininity, in the view of the Mesopotamian culture that produced the text. On one hand, the female principle is responsible for creation. On the other hand, the female principle also has the ability to destroy: the epic takes a largely dim perspective of humanity, and often, by extension of women, because the source of all creation is a goddess, Aruru. Aruru creates but she also generates suffering.

Mesopotamians traded wool and food to get timber and metals. The men were the ones who did the trading. The men also did the farming and social status for the economy. They didn’t really think women could do their work so they didn’t let the women do it. Agriculturalists are the ones who collected the tribute and taxes. The people in Mesopotamia who were poor, paid their taxes with their land and their goods. Rich Mesopotamian people paid with just their goods or clay.

Gender roles in ancient Mesopotamia were clearly defined (teachmiddleeast.edu). Generally, men worked outside of the home and women stayed inside of the home while focusing on raising their children and keeping up with work that took place in the home. However, there were exceptions; we know of women who were “bartenders” and even women who were priestesses, but with limited responsibility. Due to the fact that some were from socially higher families and owned large amounts of property, those women were not allowed to marry. Women at the time were given much less freedom than men, however, women were more protected than men, which is seen in Hammurabi’s Code of Law, specifically in his 130th law:

The epic gives insight to the ways in which ancient Mesopotamians valued life. This becomes most obvious when Enkidu reveals to Gilgamesh his nightmare of the dark and enslaving afterlife as he is dying (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 2). This leaves Gilgamesh with extreme terror of death which provokes his desperate attempts to escape it. Giving death fearful and dark characteristics communicates that the afterlife is a harrowing experience and life is the individual’s harmonious experience. This serves to establish that ancient Mesopotamians sensed that life was something to be cherished and conceived of in a positive light. In addition, Mesopotamian life views are also illustrated when Gilgamesh must accept that he will not receive his requests for immortality from the gods (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 2). This suggests Mesopotamian society believed wise men should be grateful for their destiny and that he or she should not reach beyond what they are given. In doing so, this

Historians are willing to articulate uncertain interpretations of these ancient sources, because they want to gain a clear understanding of our past. For instance, the Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument with unknown purposes. The Stonehenge is thought to be used for several purposes. They, historians and archeologists, believe the monument was made either for astronomical observations, rituals, or burial grounds. This is because they use the evidence that they have with them because this is the only way to gather information, based on prior knowledge and new knowledge. The Lascaux paintings are cave paintings made in the Paleolithic era and archaeologists aren’t confident of the motives. In the text, it voices, “It may be wrong to think of

Though these concepts of life, death and afterlife are not specifically debated or contested within the Epic of Gilgamesh it is clear to see that the hero battles these beliefs though action vice thought. Certain realizations through the story, such as his belief that Enkidu, his brother and friend, could be brought back to life simply by the magnitude of Gilgamesh’s weeping, illustrate and act as a symbol for society the concept that death was

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gods and man had a rather straightforward relationship, where the gods rule over the humans, but were not all powerful, and where the humans worshiped the gods, but didn’t fully fear them. The gods are very similar to humans in how they behave and by their appearances, the primary difference is god have more power than the humans do and that the gods are immortal. In like any form of religion, the humans feel gods are all powerful, that the gods should use their power to protect and guide them, and that in return the humans would provide sacrifices to whichever god helped them or that they worship.

The concept of an Aboriginal Literature Review may seem like a contradiction in terms! Aboriginal peoples traditionally passed most of their worldview. Aboriginal culture is an oral culture and for forty thousand years or more, it has been passed down from generation to generation. Aboriginal Mythology was expressed through legends and stories that visualize people’s concept of the metaphysical world and give explanation to the differences found in shaping the landscape. In Aboriginal beliefs, every object and every creature on this earth has its own wisdom, spirit and language, whether it has life or not. Every object in this life is like a human being; it has its own conscious and its existing shape. They see this as an assured fact, not subjected to any controversy, and a realistic necessity in all their legends. Present review explores selected information regarding the Fable, Folktale, Myth In Australian Aboriginal Literature.

Our culture makes us who we are. It sets the tone of our way of life and gives us guidelines on how we should live. Culture doesn’t just sprout out of the ground or appear out of the blue like a magic trick. It is cultivated and nourished after many years of hard work and protection from this tough world. The art of survival is a key skill to making a culture last. In our day of age barriers between cultures have been broken down and mixed up. Some people like this idea while others see it as the destruction of what they hold most dear. This can be seen in the Native American culture. It was once so beautiful, but hard times have struck home and now the very essence of their culture is pawned away

The epic of Gilgamesh demonstrates how the good and the humans work together. this ancient poem broadens the reader knowledge on the use of word and how it is being used as a song. Gilgamesh was 2/3 god and 1/3 human. In the epic poem, the gods intervene in the lives and action of humans. The gods represent people and physical place in which they act like patrons or masters. Anu the god of heavens is the caretaker of the Uruk town. The importance of the relationship between the gods and human can be seen in page () “The gods were frightened by the Flood, and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu. The gods were cowering like dogs, crouching by the outer wall.” (Norton). It can be inferred that when Enlil causes the flood in Uruk, Ea the

The Mesopotamian society lived a long life which included the writings, “Epic of Gilgamesh” in the beginning and led to the “Code of Hammurabi”. Although these significant texts have been written centuries apart, they have quite a few similarities and differences. I am going to discuss them each separately, explain how their leaderships compare and contrast, and how change came over time. These texts are basically led by the rulers of that time. In Uruk it is King Gilgamesh who rules, while in Babylon it is King Hammurabi; they are the ones who govern the laws that are included in each text.

The Epic of Gilgamesh allows us to see how the Sumerian people viewed the world. It shows us that even early humans were interested in the beginning and end of life. They were not only interested in and gave explanations to how the world began but how we died to. It was important that they pointed out how the distinction between humans and gods is that we are mortal while they are