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Tag Archives: Gilgamesh
Living and Dying with Purpose and Heroism: Christopher Hitchens and Enkidu
In a recent interview with Hugh Hewitt, Christopher Hitchens contrasts dying in a heroic cause with dying from a terminal disease (which, via Hitchens’s esophageal cancer, he may be doing): But it [dying in a good cause] avoids the boring thought that one is … Continue reading
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Tagged Christopher Hitchens, crows, eagles, Enkidu, existentialism, Gilgamesh, life, literature, meaning, philosophy, predators, scavengers
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“The Lord Bless Thee, and Keep Thee”: Did Leo Tolstoy, in 1902, Stumble Upon the Reason We Bless People Before Sending Them Off to War?
In Part 2 of the Gilgamesh Epic, the elders of the Mesopotamian city of Uruk send Gilgamesh on a journey to the Land of Cedars with this blessing: May Shamash [the sun god] give you your heart’s desire, may he let you see with … Continue reading
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Tagged blessings, Darwin, evolution, Gilgamesh, Iraq war, Leo Tolstoy, literature, postitive thinking, prayer, psychology, Santi Tafarella, war
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Mesopotamia’s Hillary Clinton: Bold and Cunning Ninsun, Gilgamesh’s Strong-Willed Mother, Argued with Her God, Manipulated Enkidu, Protected Her Son in His Going to War, and Got What She Wanted
How did ancient Mesopotamian women deal with their boys going off to war? Part 2 of the Gilgamesh Epic may give us some clues. Here we are introduced to Ninsun, Gilgamesh’s strong-willed mother. Ninsun systematically, and with a great deal of … Continue reading
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Tagged feminism, Gilgamesh, Iraq, literature, patriotism, poetry, Santi Tafarella, travel, war, women's rights, writing
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Determined or Free?: Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s Mother, Amadeus’s Salieri, and Sartre’s Orestes
In two places in Part 2 of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Shamash, the Sun God, and father of the Mesopotamian pantheon of gods, is described as one who puts desires in the hearts of men and women. Here is Gilgamesh, … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, Christianity, film, Gilgamesh, literature, Mozart, philosophy, poetry, Santi Tafarella, Sartre, Yeats
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Howard Roark Laughed—and So Did Gilgamesh: Nietzschean Creators v. Advice from the Herd
In William Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” on plate 9, there is this aphorism: The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow, nor the lion, the horse, how he shall take his prey. In other … Continue reading
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Tagged Ayn Rand, funny, Gilgamesh, literature, Nietzsche, philosophy, poetry, quotes, Santi Tafarella, The Fountainhead, William Blake
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To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before: Gilgamesh’s Inner Call to Create and Move
Toward the beginning of Part 2 of the Gilgamesh Epic, Gilgamesh desires to go away from his Mesopotamian city of Uruk, to the far-off forested “Land of Cedars,” guarded by the fierce dragon Humbaba. This going out to the Land of Cedars … Continue reading
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Tagged Abraham, art, Bible, Gilgamesh, Harold Bloom, literature, Mesopotamia, poetry, prayer, religion, Santi Tafarella, travel
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In the California Summer, Van Gogh Meets General Motors
On an evening walk with my camara I saw a vintage, baby blue truck with a baby blue “Starry Night” sunscreen. It’s an odd combination: high art mass produced for casual visual consumption, and perhaps purchased at a museum store, contrasted … Continue reading
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Tagged Apollo, Apollonian, art, baby blue, California, calm, camara, capitalism, cars, classic cars, Detroit, Dionysian, Dionysus, Enkidu, General Motors, Gilgamesh, high art, Jacob, Jacob wrestling the angel, mass production, meditation, meditator, night, nostalgia, religion, Starry Night, trucks, Van Gogh, Van Gogh's Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh, yoga
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