1500-1800 words For the core of this assignment you will again choose three (3) of the texts we have read this semester and discuss how each text connects to your own experience. The texts which
Writing Assignment 1 Brittney Graves CLT 3378 [email protected] Summer 2022 Word Count: After delving into three different mythological texts, specifically Mesopotamian Mythology, I was able to in some shape or form connect with two of the three. The first text being Epic of Creation, this text although foreign for the most part, I was able to recognize that in both my culture and in theirs- the world began with two beings. More specifically, in my culture, Adam and Eve and in Mesopotamian cultures Apsu and Tiamat. In the second text, Inana’s Decent into the Underworld, I was able to connect the underworlds gatekeeper with a movie that I watched when I was younger. In the Mesopotamian culture they had Neti guarding the underworld, whereas in the movie Percy Jackson, they had Charon. Both required different items to passage into the underworld but similar concepts. However, the last text Song of Ullikummi, I was unable to find any small connection to my experiences. The text, Epic of Creation, was for the most part alien to me. This text explains the beginning of the Universe, starting with Apsu (God of freshwater) and Tiamat (God of saltwater). Apsu and Tiamat gave birth to the first generation of Gods, the oldest being Ea. Apsu becomes irritated by the younger Gods because of their noisiness, and plots against them. Tiamat chooses to warn Ea who in turn murders Apsu. Tiamat becomes enraged and eventually declares war on the younger Gods. However, Ea had a son, Marduk, who eventually becomes recognized as champion to the Anunnaki after viewing the threat that Tiamat, Qingu and their forces represented. I personally didn’t find too many connections in this story that intersect with my culture. However, one thing that I noticed to be similar is that in this text, it was said that the universe began with 2 Gods, Apsu and Tiamat. In my culture, God created Adam and Eve to be the first of mankind. The basic idea of everything starting from two individuals is something that seems to connect my life to the text Epic of Creation. However, there were a few details that were very foreign to me. The idea of a parental figure, Apsu and Tiamat, rising against their children was something that I couldn’t find anything to intersect in my experience. Not only this but also the concept of Ea turning to his son, Marduk, to go forward to calm Tiamat down from raging war against the younger Gods. Overall, this text was mostly foreign to me, other than the basic concept of mankind beginning with 2 individuals- whether they are a God or just man. The next text that I examined for familiarity was Inana’s Descent to the Underworld. In this text, Inana went to the underworld to claim more power. Inana claimed to be there for the funeral of her sisters’, Ereshikigala, husband. Before she was allowed to enter, Inana was forced to strip of her clothing as well as her powers. When she takes a seat at her sister’s throne attempting to claim in, the “judges” of the underworld kill her. Inana expected this to happen, and her contingency plan came through restoring her life and as she was leaving the underworld given her garments and powers back. However, she must find a substitute for her leaving the underworld. In this case, I found a few similarities that intersected with my culture. In the text, it talked about the doorman, Neti, of the underworld. This reminded me of the doorman in the Percy Jackson series, specifically the first one of the series, they referred to the doorman of the underworld as “Charon”. However, the part of Inana removing her garments/powers before entering the underworld was more of an alien experience to me, not familiar with it. Even though this piece was a still alien to me, there were more parts in it that I could roughly connect to my experiences within my culture. The last text that I examined was, Song of Ullikummi. Kumarabi had a son, the storm God Teshub. Kumarabi essentially wanted to stay in power, so he worked towards destroying his son Teshub. After being repeatedly defeated, Kumarabi created opponents to try and destroy his son. Ullikummi was created, a very large rock and was hidden in the underworld by Kumarabi. To protect him from Teshub. However, Ullikummi grew so rapidly that he came out from the underworld. Eventually Teshub is informed of this and is told in order to defeat Ullikimmi, he was to keep Ullikummi separated from the giant he stood on. This story is completely alien to me. Not only are the names foreign but also the basic ideas of the story. More specifically the part of Kumarabi having sex with a rock to create Ullikummi and proceeding to hide him in the underworld. I personally can’t think of anything in my culture that comes close to representing an idea like this one. Not only this but keeping Ullikummi separated from the rock giant is in order to keep him from defeating Teshub is also a foreign idea. For this text, I can’t seem to find anyway to give way into my experiences. For the first two texts that I dove deeper into, I feel like they have affected my experiences in some way. Although I don’t fully understand the stories being told, I can understand that every culture has their own stories for how the world began. The majority seems to me, that some cultures have similar basic ideas on how everything began. Regardless of the details of the “myths” told, it would seem that all cultures have come up with their own takes into mythology and the first years of life and creation. The last text on the other hand didn’t seem to create a new experience for me or affect my experiences. I feel like this may be more because I wasn’t able to think of something within my experiences that I could even remotely connect it to. What helped me more for the firsts texts is that I was able to find small similarities in the stories between their culture, mine, and others. However, in the last one I was not able to connect.