{"id":30,"date":"2021-03-29T13:13:49","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T13:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=30"},"modified":"2024-05-20T00:24:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T00:24:01","slug":"2the-heroic-battle-pattern-in-the-ancient-near-east","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/chapter\/2the-heroic-battle-pattern-in-the-ancient-near-east\/","title":{"raw":"2. The Heroic Battle Narrative in the Ancient Near East","rendered":"2. The Heroic Battle Narrative in the Ancient Near East"},"content":{"raw":"The heroic battle narrative tells the story of a hero commissioned by a helpless leader to fight an enemy champion in single-combat. The foundation for this study was laid by Heda Jason, drawing on the work of A. Skaftymov<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> and also the model of V. Propp\u2019s for the heroic fairy tale.<a href=\"#_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> With Skaftymov\u2019s episodes as a basis, the plot can be summarized as follows:\r\n\r\n<strong>Beginning: Tension<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>A description of the hero and his impediment<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The enemy threatens \u201cour\u201d side<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cOur\u201d side reacts with fear.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>Middle: Development<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The enemy threat increases.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cOur\u201d side calls and commissions the hero.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>End: Resolution<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The hero defeats the enemy hero in single-handed combat.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The enemy army reacts with fear and flees.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cOur\u201d side pursues and destroys the enemy.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cOur\u201d side takes its plunder.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cOur\u201d side recognizes the hero.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIn addition to the traditional battle story, Jason cites several modern examples: \u201cthe detective story, television plays, wild west movies.\u201d Each would have its own conventions but would fit nonetheless under this larger umbrella. Joseph Campbell\u2019s famous book <em>A Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em> likewise points to the pervasive use of this generic plot which he sees as a monomyth with many manifestations.<a href=\"#_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> His emphasis on similarity and disregard for differences distorts the relationships. Without denying the common elements of the genre, I want to argue that we must respect the differences of each version. The generic allows us to discover and appreciate the uniqueness of each narrative.\r\n\r\nThe tradition then is not represented fully by any one story. Therefore, to discover the generic pattern in the ancient Near East, I want to look at six important battle narratives to explore how they use and expand upon the basic scenes outlined above.\r\n<h3><a id=\"2.1\"><\/a>2.1. Six Heroic Battle Narratives from the ancient Near East and Homer<\/h3>\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.1\"><\/a>2.1.1. Marduk and Tiamat in the En\u016bma eli\u0161 = Ee<a href=\"#_ftn4\"><strong>[4]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\r\nThe <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161, <\/em>the creation story of ancient Mesopotamia, begins with the first father, Apsu (freshwater), and the first mother, Tiamat (saltwater), giving birth to the first generation of deities. These young deities disturb Apsu, who decides to kill them, but Ea, son of Anshar and one of the good gods, kills Apsu, causing Tiamat to fly into an emotional rage. She gives the Tablet of Destinies to Qingu, one of the bad gods, and looks to kill the good gods. After failed attempts to find a hero, Anshar asks the young Marduk, son of Ea, to fight Tiamat. He agrees on the condition that they make him king before the battle, which they do. Marduk then meets Tiamat in single-combat and shoots an arrow into her belly and heart\u2014the internal organs representing her emotions. Splitting her in two, he creates heaven and earth, and from the blood of Qingu makes humanity. The story ends with the fifty names of Marduk which show him holding together both reason and emotion.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.2\"><\/a>2.1.2. Ninurta fights Anzu in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn5\"><strong>[5]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\r\nThe bird-like Anzu steals the Tablet of Destinies from Anu and flees disrupting the kingship and its ability to order all things. Anu calls three deities to be the hero, but each refuses. Ea asks the goddess Mami to send her son Ninurta. She agrees and commissions him. After mustering an army, he meets Anzu. Though the battle initially does not go well, Ea sends counsel, and Ninurta shoots an arrow into Anzu\u2019s heart. When the wind brings Anzu\u2019s feather, the gods realize what has happened and send a messenger to recognize the victory and bestow some fifteen names upon him, including \u201cBel\u201d or \u201clord\u201d in the later version.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.3\"><\/a>2.1.3. Gilgamesh and \u1e2aumbaba in the <em>Gilgamesh Epic <\/em>=<em> Gilg<\/em>.<\/h4>\r\nThe Gilgamesh Epic began as a series of stories during the earlier Sumerian culture and was handed on in the Akkadian language, particularly in an Old Babylonian form from the eighteenth century and a later standard version attributed to S\u00een-liqe-unnini in the late second millennium. Andrew George provides a translation and lucid introduction to the various manuscripts which make up this evolving corpus. This study will follow his presentations.<a href=\"#_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Because of the epic\u2019s fragmentary condition, the whole must be constructed by adding to the standard version tablets with the Old Babylonian version (OB), especially the Yale (Y) and Pennsylvania (P) tablets. The standard version is indicated by tablet in Roman numerals followed by lines.\r\n\r\nThe standard version opens with a description of the young Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who divides himself between contests with the young men and chasing the young women. To counteract this, the goddess Aruru creates a wild, primitive man, Enkidu, who will become the heroic friend. He is civilized by his sexual encounter with the woman Shamhat who tells him of the hero. Enkidu, now the equal of Gilgamesh, goes to fight him, and their wrestling match makes them fast friends.\r\n\r\nTo win glory, Gilgamesh proposes that they go and take trees from the forest of \u1e2aumbaba, whose \u201cbreath is death\u201d (Y 111). Enkidu objects because of \u1e2aumbaba\u2019s invincibility, but Gilgamesh persists because only the deities are immortal; therefore, he disdains death\u201d If I should fall, let me make my name\u201d (Y149). After forging weapons, Gilgamesh asks permission of the elders of Uruk. Enkidu again objects, and the elders counsel him: \u201cYou are young, borne along by emotion, \/ all that you talk of you don\u2019t understand\u201d (II 289-290), but Gilgamesh persists. The elders counsel him, \u201cDo not rely, O Gilgamesh, on your own strength alone\u201d (III 2) and then entrust him to Enkidu. The hero then applies to his mother, who prays to Shamash to protect her son; she then adopts Enkidu and entrusts her son to him. Then the young men of Uruk offer a final commission; again, they bid Gilgamesh not to trust in his \u201cown strength alone\u201d (III 216). After entrusting the hero to Enkidu, they offer a final blessing \u201cGo, Gilgamesh, let ....... \/ May your god go [before you!] \/ May [Shamash] let you attain [your goal!]\u201d (Y 284-286).\r\n\r\nAfter a long journey and several favorable dreams, they arrive at \u1e2aumbaba\u2019 forest (IV). Though Tablet IV is fragmentary at this point, Enkidu encourages the hero. Shamash then both encourages him and tells him not to let \u1e2aumbaba enter his forest. The tablet ends with Gilgamesh encouraging his friend: \u201cTake my hand, friend, and we shall go [on] together, \/ let your thoughts dwell on combat! \/ Forget death and [seek] life (IV 253-255)!\r\n\r\nThe hero meets with \u1e2aumbaba, who accuses Enkidu of treachery and, with false confidence, tells the hero that he will slit his throat. Gilgamesh finally feels his fear, but Enkidu encourages him. The sun god Shamash also comes to the hero\u2019s aid with thirteen winds to immobilize \u1e2aumbaba so that Gilgamesh\u2019s weapons can reach the enemy. \u1e2aumbaba then pleads for his life, but Enkidu tells him to press on and kill the enemy. \u1e2aumbaba then curses both with the wish that they do not reach old age. Gilgamesh then strikes the neck of \u1e2aumbaba and kills him. The heroic pair takes trees from the forest as spoils.\r\n\r\nOn his return, the goddess Ishtar desires Gilgamesh, but he rejects her. After the heroic pair kill the Bull of Heaven, the spurned Ishtar stirs up the assembly of deities against them, and they demand the life of one as recompense. So the heroic friend Enkidu dies, leaving Gilgamesh alone. His earlier desire for fame now becomes a desire for immortality which takes him on a long journey to Utnapishtim, who survived the great flood, like Noah. Unlike the biblical figure, he receives eternal life as a reward. After a test, Utnapishtim gives Gilgamesh a miraculous plant that will keep him young, but a snake steals it on the return journey, and so he must die like all mortals.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.4\"><\/a>2.1.4. Baal and Yamm<a href=\"#_ftn7\"><strong>[7]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\r\nDuring a banquet held by El, the weak and old head of the Canaanite pantheon, the god Yamm, whose name means \u201csea,\u201d demands that Baal, whose name means \u201clord,\u201d become his vassal. The impotent El acquiesces, but Baal refuses. Unlike the other narratives in which the weak leader commissions the hero, El commissions the \u201cenemy champion\u201d who claims the kingship. When the text becomes clear again, Baal and Yamm are engaged in single combat with Baal on the verge of defeat, but the blacksmith deity fashions two clubs for him. With them, Baal triumphs over Yamm, who represents the chaotic waters. Athtart \u00a0recognizes his victory and announces that \u201cBaal shall be king.\u201d\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.5\"><\/a>2.1.5. Sinuhe and the Strong Man of Retenu in <em>Sinuhe<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn8\"><strong>[8]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\r\n<em>The Story of Sinuhe<\/em> is a masterpiece of Middle Egyptian literature.<a href=\"#_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> Unlike the other stories told by omniscient storytellers who know all and present themselves as authoritative and reliable narrators, Sinuhe tells his own story creating a more mimetic text and establishing a more intimate bond with the reader.\r\n\r\nSinuhe begins telling his story at the accession of Sesostris I to the throne in 1961 B.C. For some reason, he flees at the news of the new king, and his flight makes him seem a rebel. He continues his journey into Lebanon, eventually settling in Upper Retenu, a part of Palestine and Syria. There he becomes part of the king\u2019s court and marries the eldest daughter, and takes his place as a \u201cchief of a tribe of the finest in his land.\u201d\r\n\r\nAfter some years, \u201ca strong man of Retenu\u2026without equal\u201d challenges Sinuhe in order to take his wealth. Sinuhe meets the challenger and shoots him in the neck with an arrow. As a result, Sinuhe takes the strong man\u2019s possession as spoils and is renowned in the capital. Even so, Sinuhe is unhappy because he is an exile from Egypt. A report of his situation reaches the pharaoh, who issues a decree for his return. Though torn by his loyalty to the king of Retenu, Sinuhe hands over his property to his children and returns to Egypt.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.6\"><\/a>2.1.6. Achilles and Hector in the <em>Iliad<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn10\"><strong>[10]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\r\nHomer opens the Iliad by singing of the anger of Achilles. The hero is angry because Agamemnon has made him hand over the woman Briseis. Achilles had taken her in a raid with the idea of giving her to his friend Patroclus. The war against Troy began with Paris taking Helen from another man, and now Agamemnon has done the same to Achilles. With this, Homer throws into question the moral basis for this war. In anger, Achilles has withdrawn from the battle. He knows that he can return home and have a happy but hidden life with a wife and family, or he can stay and fight. The battle will bring him enduring glory, but he will also lose his life. Because of this offense and with nothing worthwhile to die for, Achilles has sworn not to fight. As a result, Hector, the Trojan hero, is able to rally his countrymen and threaten the Greek ships with fire. Though Achilles refuses to join the battle, his friend Patroclus returns to the fight in Achilles\u2019 armor. Though warned, Hector kills Patroclus, and Achilles, now with something worth fighting for, returns to avenge his friend. The Greek and Trojan heroes meet in single combat. Achilles kills Hector, the paragon of civil and familial virtue. Even so, his anger is not assuaged. He drags the body around the city of Troy and refuses to return the body for burial. Finally, the last book tells how Hermes casts a great sleep over all the forces and leads Priam, king, and father, through the lines to beg for the body of his son. Though Achilles\u2019 anger still rages, he sees in Priam his own father, who will one day weep of him. With this insight, he saves his humanity and returns the body of Hector to Priam, bringing the epic to an end.\r\n<h3><a id=\"2.2\"><\/a>2.2. Characters<\/h3>\r\nThe central character is, of course, the hero who defeats the enemy and rescues the helpless people and the helpless leader(s) of \u201cour\u201d side. The helpless leader, unable to meet the enemy threat himself, may first call and commission false heroes who either refuse the commission or cannot carry it out. The helpless leader, perhaps with the help of counselors, calls and commissions the hero; the hero\u2019s parent may also play some role in this. Likewise, the parent and\/or the leader often help the hero prepare for battle. The hero\u2019s friend may also fulfill the role of helper and assist in the battle along with the hero\u2019s army.<a href=\"#_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> In the stories with human heroes, deities may assume the roles of divine leader, divine parent, and divine friend.\r\n\r\nThe enemy side consists basically of the enemy leader, the enemy champion, and the enemy army; the roles of leader and champion may be combined in the enemy king.\r\n<h3><a id=\"2.3\"><\/a>2.3. The Beginning: The Description of the Hero, the Threat, and Helplessness<\/h3>\r\nThe story may open with a description of the hero, as does the <em>Anzu Myth,<\/em> which begins with a celebration of its hero, Ninurta.<a href=\"#_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> Marduk, the hero of the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, makes his appearance in a traditional birth episode at the end of the first story in which Ea slays Apsu.<a href=\"#_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> The birth makes Marduk the youngest of the gods, and this fact serves in the story as the hero\u2019s impediment, that is, the reason which keeps the hero from undertaking the fight immediately. Because of Marduk\u2019s youth, the gods do not immediately think of him as the hero. In other stories, the hero\u2019s impediment may be as simple as his absence from the place of encounter or as complex as Achilles\u2019 anger, announced in the epic\u2019s opening line. In the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>, the hero\u2019s disdain for death reveals his lack of maturity, but here the flaw spurs the hero to seek out the battle with \u1e2aumbaba.<a href=\"#_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> Sinuhe, in a momentary act of cowardice, fled from Egypt during the accession of Sesostris I (B 1\u201145); this act of cowardice colors his whole story. However developed, the motif serves to increase the dramatic tension while developing significant themes in the narrative.\r\n\r\nThe tension of the story arises with the enemy\u2019s threat and display of great power. The threat may take the form of \u201cattack,\u201d but in general, the motif unfolds in such a way that the threat, though imminent, remains only a threat so that \u201cour\u201d side has time to react. The siege of a city or the enemy's encampment provides a simple solution; likewise, the appearance of a messenger with outrageous demands, a challenge to fight, or the timely discovery of the enemy\u2019s plan may serve the purpose.<a href=\"#_ftn15\">[15]<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe enemy\u2019s power is always overwhelming whether in quantity, quality or both. The greater the power is the greater the fall, and, therefore, the greater the hero who achieves the victory. Finally, the enemy must have a motive, even a bad motive, for taking such drastic actions\u2014the more complex the motive, the greater its importance for the central themes of a specific story. Traditionally the enemy represents the antithesis of order, the threat of chaos, but the storyteller may explore this theme in many ways. The enemy champion embodies this theme as the concrete expression of the foreboding chaos, as opposed to the hero who represents the summary expression of the ideals of \u201cour\u201d side.<a href=\"#_ftn16\">[16]<\/a>\r\n\r\nAfter presenting the enemy threat and prowess, the reaction of helplessness by \u201cour\u201d side follows and provides the rationale for the middle section of the story with its commission of the hero. While fear is a common expression of helplessness, other imagery, such as weeping, drooping heads, retreat, or the like, may convey the sense of powerlessness.<a href=\"#_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> In the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, silence serves as the motif of helplessness in contrast with the enemy\u2019s power of speech derived from the possession of the Tablets of Destiny.<a href=\"#_ftn18\">[18]<\/a> While underlining the need for a hero, helplessness also has negative implications for the leadership of \u201cour\u201d side. It may foreshadow a change of leadership with the hero becoming the leader. Finally, both the motifs of the enemy\u2019s threat and the reaction of helplessness renew and heighten the tension.<a href=\"#_ftn19\">[19]<\/a>\r\n\r\nTo summarize, the opening section may introduce the hero with the reason why he cannot undertake the fight immediately. In any case, the opening presents the story\u2019s central tension: the enemy\u2019s threat and great power and the reaction of helplessness by \u201cour\u201d side further\r\n<h3><a id=\"2.4\"><\/a>2.4. The Middle: The Call and Commission of the Hero<\/h3>\r\nWhile typically raising the threat and reaction of fear, the middle section puts into place the means for resolving the tension. Basically, \u201cour\u201d side must find, recognize and commission a hero to meet the enemy. Since the traditional audience knows that the hero will arrive and resolve the threat, the storyteller must create obstacles to retard the story and increase both the tension and the interest. Often \u201cour\u201d side does not recognize the hero initially, and the hero\u2019s impediment may block the possibility of taking up the fight immediately.\r\n\r\nThe call and commission may consist of a simple request and acceptance, but the storyteller has several possible avenues, which I have divided into four parts.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>general call for a hero;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>call and commission of false heroes;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>call and commission of the hero;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>preparation for battle.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nIn the stories of human heroes, a divine commission may be added, i.e., the commission of a human hero by a deity.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.1\"><\/a>2.4.1. General call<\/h4>\r\nIf the hero is unknown or at least not apparent to the leader (s), the middle section may open with the council of leaders and a general call followed by the offer of a reward. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, the motifs of threat and helplessness bring about a council of the gods where Anu asks:\r\n\r\n[A]nu made ready to speak\r\nSaying to the gods his children:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>general call:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>\u201c[Which] one would slay Anzu?<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>reward<\/em>: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He shall make for himself the greatest name in [eve]ry habitation.<a href=\"#_ftn20\">[20]<\/a><\/p>\r\nThe general call designates no specific person but calls for volunteers or suggestions. The story of Jephthah provides a parallel; there, the elders of Gilead ask:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>general call<\/em>: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWho will begin the fight against the Ammonites?<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>reward<\/em>: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He shall be head over all the inhabi\u00adtants of Gilead\u201d (Judg 10:18).<\/p>\r\nThe general call is a stock motif used to open a scene of commission for non-warriors as well. In 1\u00a0Kgs 22: 20 the general call is found without the offer of a reward: \u201cThe Lord said, \u2018Who will entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead\u2019\u201d; so also in Isa 6:8. The hero\u2019s reward, of course, is a traditional motif and need not be tied to the general call. As found in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> and Judg 10:18, the two most common rewards are a great name and leadership, or more specifically, kingship.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.2\"><\/a>2.4.2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Call, commission, and failure of the false heroes<\/h4>\r\nThe call and commission of the false heroes follow the same patterns used for the hero, but they either refuse the commission or fail in the attempt.<a href=\"#_ftn21\">[21]<\/a> Though good and worthy warriors, the false heroes reveal by their failure the extraordinary qualities that the hero must possess. More pragmatically, their failure removes any of the hero\u2019s potential rivals, an important point in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> where the hero emerges as the head of the pantheon. Finally, the episode carries the fortunes of \u201cour\u201d side still lower and ends with a returning motif of helplessness.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.3\"><\/a>2.4.3. The call and commission of the hero<\/h4>\r\nBiblical scholars have widely discussed episodes of call and commission under the title of \u201ccall narrative.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn22\">[22]<\/a> With the exception of the warrior Gideon, the studies have concentrated upon material related to prophets in which an objection is raised to the call and commission by the Lord. The narrow focus of biblical scholarship has caused it to overlook the wider application of the form. The four patterns below apply equally to prophets, warrior-heroes, servants, messengers\u2014in short, to anyone commissioned to carry out a specific task. Even so, I shall cast my terminology in terms of the battle narrative, i.e., hero and leader.\r\n\r\nIn this study, the call refers to the element of request, and it may be initiated either by the leader or the hero; i.e., the leader may call the hero to receive the commission, or the hero may call for the commission from the leader. The commission, as N. Habel defines it, \u201cis regularly couched in terms of a direct personal imperative which embraces the essential goal of the assigned task.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn23\">[23]<\/a> The central call and commission in the heroic tradition take place between the hero and the leader of \u201cour\u201d side, the latter usually being a helpless leader. Others, especially by the hero\u2019s parent or a divine leader, may take this role. The type of leader has ramifications for the commission's content, which I shall take up shortly. There are four logical patterns.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>The leader calls and commissions the hero,\r\nand the hero accepts.<a href=\"#_ftn24\">[24]<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>The hero calls for the commission,\r\nand the leader commissions him.<a href=\"#_ftn25\">[25]<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nThese two patterns differ only in the person taking the initiative. Neither holds much dramatic tension; thus, an objection or, less dramatically, a question may be raised by one and answered by the other. This further complication yields two derivative patterns:\r\n<ol start=\"3\">\r\n \t<li>The leader calls and commissions the hero;\r\nthe hero raises an objection or question;\r\nthe leader answers this;\r\nand the hero accepts.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The hero calls for the commission;\r\nthe leader raises an objection or question;\r\nthe hero answers this;\r\nand the leader commissions the hero.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nThe third pattern corresponds to what biblical scholars have termed the \u201ccall narrative.\u201d A further example is found in the <em>Iliad,<\/em> which contains both question and objection (XVIII 170-216). Iris commands Achilles to rouse himself and help recover the body of the dead Patroclus (call and commission). Achilles questions the source of this commission, and Iris answers that Hera has sent her. Achilles then objects that he cannot carry out the commission because he has promised his mother Thetis not to enter the battle until she has brought new armor. Iris answers the objection by telling the hero that he need only mount the battlement, and with that, Achilles accepts and rouses himself. The pattern also appears in the commission of Jephthah (Judg 11:7-8) and of the false heroes in the <em>Anzu Myth, <\/em>where the leader withdraws the call from each false hero after he objects.<a href=\"#_ftn26\">[26]<\/a> In the <em>Iliad<\/em>, the leaders call, commission, and beg Achilles to fight, but because of his anger, he refuses.\r\n\r\nIn the fourth pattern, the hero\u2019s initiative is paramount. The leader\u2019s circumspection affords the hero a second speech in which he can reveal with greater resolve his determination to fight. The leader\u2019s objection deserves close attention, for it typically touches the hero\u2019s impediment and, therefore, a central theme. Such is the case in the <em>Gilgamesh Epic,<\/em> where the elders of Uruk object twice that the hero\u2019s youthful heart \u201cis bourne along by emotion.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn27\">[27]<\/a>\r\n\r\nIn addition to the call and commission, other traditional motifs appear in the speeches of these scenes. The leader may accompany his call with an appeal to duty<a href=\"#_ftn28\">[28]<\/a> and then add counsel, especially in the form of a battle plan.<a href=\"#_ftn29\">[29]<\/a> If the leader is human, he may invoke a blessing and call for divine presence and aid.<a href=\"#_ftn30\">[30]<\/a> In the case of divine commission, the content of the blessing becomes a statement, an assurance of divine presence and aid, as in the phrase, \u201cI am with you.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn31\">[31]<\/a> Commonly added to this is some form of encouragement, expressed most often by the phrase, \u201cDo not fear.\u201d This particular phrase has been studied especially by P.E. Dion, who argues that the phrase is not necessarily part of an oracle or limited to divine characters.<a href=\"#_ftn32\">[32]<\/a> While I concur, it is mainly a deity who can offer the assurance necessary to make the encouragement meaningful. The encouragement motif, however, is not limited to the negative \u201cDo not fear\u201d but may be expressed positively as in the scene where Apollo commissions the disheartened Hector to re-enter the battle (<em>Iliad<\/em> XV254-261); the whole speech is a fine example of the divine call and commission:\r\n\r\n<em>encouragement: <\/em>\r\n\u201cTake courage,\u201d\r\n\r\n<em>assurance:<\/em>\r\n\u201ca helper hath the son of Cronos sent \u2026 to stand by thy side and succor them, even me, Phoebus Apollo.\u201d\r\n\r\n<em>call &amp; commission:\r\n<\/em>\u201cBut come now, bid thy many charioteers drive against the hollow ships their swift horses.\u201d\r\n\r\n<em>assurance:\r\n<\/em>\u201cand I will go before and make smooth all the way for the chariots, and will turn in flight the Achaean warriors.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe hero\u2019s initiative in these scenes is typically triggered by his reaction of righteous indignation when informed of the enemy\u2019s threat. This anger contrasts with the reaction of helplessness by the others. The righteous indignation may carry into his call for the commission or color his response to the leader\u2019s call.<a href=\"#_ftn33\">[33]<\/a> Where the hero seizes the initiative, his call for the commission is more often an assertion that he will fight; still, he cannot do this without the leader\u2019s official consent. In his call for the commission, the hero may also take over the encouragement motif and bid the helpless not to fear.<a href=\"#_ftn34\">[34]<\/a>\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.4\"><\/a>2.4.4. Preparation for battle: the arming of the hero and muster of the army<\/h4>\r\nOnce the hero has received and accepted the commission to fight the enemy, the preparation for battle follows with the hero arming himself and mustering the army. The hero\u2019s weapons and armor, perhaps made especially for the occasion, reflect his greatness. Achilles\u2019 shield is the most famous example, but the clubs that Kothar makes for Baal become the focus for that story.<a href=\"#_ftn35\">[35]<\/a> Others, such as a leader, parent, or friend, may assist him.<a href=\"#_ftn36\">[36]<\/a> Sinuhe, for instance, spends the night preparing his bow, sharpening his dagger and polishing his weapons.<a href=\"#_ftn37\">[37]<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe army may be considered a collective hero. If necessary, it is mustered with as its own call and commission.<a href=\"#_ftn38\">[38]<\/a> The mounting of the chariot, drawn perhaps by named horses, leads to the transition from \u201cour\u201d camp to the place of battle.<a href=\"#_ftn39\">[39]<\/a>\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.5\"><\/a>2.4.5. Journey<\/h4>\r\nThough often abbreviated here, the journey can be a major scene where the distance is great, as in the story of Gilgamesh.,<a href=\"#_ftn40\">[40]<\/a> Along with the battle pattern, the journey can serve as a basic plot, as in the <em>Odyssey<\/em>.<a href=\"#_ftn41\">[41]<\/a> It confronts the hero with situations beyond the normal world of sedentary life (as if Penelope did not have her own problems). Like the battle narrative, the journey may become a complex narrative embracing the whole of traditional literature with episodes of hardship and hospitality, hostility and victory, and more. The journey may even take the hero into the fantastic world of the dream or the unknown world of death. Thus the journey may travel the length of human experience to try the hero\u2019s physical prowess, intellectual acumen, and moral strength.\r\n\r\nAs a compendium of human experience, the great journeys are symbols of passage: from youth to maturity (Telemachus), ignorance to wisdom and realism (Gilgamesh), alienation to reconciliation (Sinuhe), chaos to order (Aeneas), temptation and trial to victory (Odysseus), bondage to promise (the Exodus), punishment to forgiveness (the Exile and Return of Judah). The complexities of these classic journeys carry more than the basic themes outlined above. Still, these journeys attempt to reverse the most fundamental human transition: the movement from life to death. Each story solves this fundamental human problem differently. For Gilgamesh, the triumph comes in the acceptance of mortality as his lot. For Sinuhe, the reconciliation with the pharaoh brings the return to Egypt to prepare a tomb for the voyage of death. Aeneas carries the <em>penates<\/em> from the defeated Troy to The Eternal City, Rome. As Northrop Frye points out, the fundamental biblical journey begins with the expulsion from the Garden, which brings death. Abraham makes a journey to the promised land; his progeny journey to Egypt and return in the Exodus and later to Babylon and back. The New Testament tells of the journey to Jerusalem and then to Rome with the final journey ending with the New Jerusalem where \u201cdeath will be no more\u201d (Rev 21:4).<a href=\"#_ftn42\">[42]<\/a>\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.6\"><\/a>2.4.6. Variations on a single motif or pattern<\/h4>\r\nTo summarize: This section's major motifs are the call and commission, which the storyteller may unfold in many ways. The story may open with a general call for a hero. False heroes may then be called and commissioned only to fail. The hero\u2019s call and commission by the leader of \u201cour\u201d side may be preceded or followed by a similar scene with the hero\u2019s parent.<a href=\"#_ftn43\">[43]<\/a> Where the hero is human, he typically calls for a divine commission from his deity.<a href=\"#_ftn44\">[44]<\/a> Motifs of threat and helplessness from the opening section may appear even several times to raise the tension. The preparation for battle likewise may be divided into several scenes. These motifs, therefore, form interchangeable parts which can join together and form many configurations depending upon character, theme, and the storyteller\u2019s genius.\r\n\r\nIn the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, the initial reactions of helplessness give way to the call and commission of Ea and Anu. The failure of these false heroes provokes a renewed reaction of helplessness which this story characterizes, especially by sitting still and silent (II 53-87). The lesser deities join the triumvirate to form a new council in which Ea breaks the silence and names Marduk as the hero (II 88-95). The hero\u2019s father then calls, exhorts, and commissions Marduk to present himself to the leader Anshar (II 96-102). In the scene with the leader, Marduk seizes the initiative; he encourages the leader not to be \u201cmuted\u201d and calls for the commission which Anshar grants (<em>Ee\u00a0<\/em>139). Marduk then demands a reward of kingship <em>before<\/em> the battle has even begun. The hero\u2019s initiative concerning the reward demonstrates his total command of the situation. Anshar accepts this demand happily and convokes a larger council using a traditional messenger episode.<a href=\"#_ftn45\">[45]<\/a> The messenger reports the enemy\u2019s threat, bringing a further reaction of helplessness (III 1-128). The new council takes place within the context of a banquet, another traditional episode.<a href=\"#_ftn46\">[46]<\/a> After the gods make Marduk king, they renew the commission and prepare him for battle with a gift of \u201cmatchless weapons\u201d (III 129 - IV 34). The hero then prepares for battle himself: he constructs a bow and net and then gathers meteorological forces, treated ambiguously as weapons and army. Finally, \u201cwrapped in an armor of terror,\u201d Marduk mounts his chariot, drawn by named winds, while the other deities remain worried and helpless until the end (IV 35-62).\r\n\r\nThe <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> adds an important twist with the hero demanding the reward of kingship before the battle. Even so, the storyteller builds these scenes from traditional motifs and patterns. The same is true of the other stories. Even the lengthy middle section of the <em>Iliad<\/em> (XVI-XIX) deals with a false hero, calls and commissions, preparation for battle, mixed with other traditional elements such as the reconciliation of hero and leader<a href=\"#_ftn47\">[47]<\/a> as well as the lament over a dead hero.<a href=\"#_ftn48\">[48]<\/a> Whatever the obstacles or complications, the hero emerges in the end with a commission confirmed by the whole society, represented by the leader.\r\n<h3><a id=\"2.5\"><\/a>2.5. The Resolution: Victory, Plunder, and Recognition<\/h3>\r\nThe story\u2019s major tension resolves with the hero\u2019s victory over the enemy champion, which allows \u201cour\u201d side to defeat and destroy the enemy army. The taking of plunder leads to the recognition of the hero, which rounds out the story and brings it to a close.\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.1\"><\/a>2.5.1. Single-combat<\/h4>\r\nThe single combat consists of the following traditional elements:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>the meeting of the warriors;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the verbal exchange between the two warriors:<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the enemy\u2019s false confidence;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the enemy\u2019s insults;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the hero\u2019s indictment of the foe and enemy.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the hero\u2019s initial failure<\/li>\r\n \t<li>help from other helpers<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the enemy\u2019s failure<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the hero\u2019s mortal blow with a missile<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the enemy\u2019s fall to the ground<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the hero\u2019s triumphal stance over the body<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the mutilation of the corpse with a hand weapon<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe meeting of the warriors may include motifs from the earlier section, such as the description of the enemy\u2019s great power. The verbal exchange typically contains major themes, found especially the hero\u2019s indictment of the enemy.<a href=\"#_ftn49\">[49]<\/a> The enemy\u2019s speech with its insults raises the audience's contempt and manifests the enemy's moral emptiness.<a href=\"#_ftn50\">[50]<\/a> The introduction of the enemy\u2019s false confidence, a motif also found elsewhere, adds dramatic irony to the story.<a href=\"#_ftn51\">[51]<\/a> The hero\u2019s initial failure creates a new tension and retards the climax.<a href=\"#_ftn52\">[52]<\/a> Furthermore, it shows his dependence upon outside help and brings a return to motifs of the middle section: new strategies for battle, new weapons, and perhaps new assurances or encouragement.<a href=\"#_ftn53\">[53]<\/a> The enemy\u2019s failure likewise retards the climax.<a href=\"#_ftn54\">[54]<\/a> Beyond this functional dimension, both motifs of failure may have thematic implications for our understanding of the story.\r\n\r\nThe hero\u2019s mortal blow to the enemy comes from some sort of missile: spear, arrow, stone, flying club. <a href=\"#_ftn55\">[55]<\/a> The enemy then falls to the ground,<a href=\"#_ftn56\">[56]<\/a> and the hero takes a triumphal stance over the body to represent the outcome visually. <a href=\"#_ftn57\">[57]<\/a> Finally, the mutilation of the corpse with a hand weapon provides a final symbolic gesture illustrating the complete destruction of the enemy champion. <a href=\"#_ftn58\">[58]<\/a>\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.2\"><\/a>2.5.2. The defeat of the enemy army<\/h4>\r\nAfter the defeat of the enemy hero, \u201cour\u201d side recognizes the hero\u2019s victory and completes it by defeating the enemy army. With this, the opening motifs of the story are reversed. \u201cOur\u201d side now poses the threat, and the enemy reacts with helplessness. The section unfolds as follows:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>enemy\u2019s recognition of defeat:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>the enemy\u2019s reaction of helplessness;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the enemy\u2019s flight.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>recognition of victory by \u201cour\u201d side:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>a shout<a href=\"#_ftn59\">[59]<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>the pursuit of the enemy<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the great or total destruction of the enemy.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe scene is a stable feature of the royal battle narratives,<a href=\"#_ftn60\">[60]<\/a> but in these six stories of single-combat, the enemy army appears only in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Iliad<\/em>. Homer tells the destruction of Troy only in the <em>Odyssey<\/em>. In the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, Marduk himself defeats Tiamat\u2019s army and takes the Tablet of Destinies from Qingu.<a href=\"#_ftn61\">[61]<\/a>\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.3\"><\/a>2.5.3. Plunder<\/h4>\r\nOnce the victory has been carried through, the plunder of the enemy takes place, for the spoils of war are also the trophies of victory. The hero typically receives a choice portion of the plunder, especially the slain\u2019s weapons and armor.<a href=\"#_ftn62\">[62]<\/a>\r\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.4\"><\/a>2.5.4. Recognition and reward of the hero<\/h4>\r\nThere follows the recognition of the hero by the leader and then by others, including the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 announcement of the defeat to \u201cour\u201d side.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>the reaction of joy and celebration<\/li>\r\n \t<li>recognition of the hero with reward and renown (name)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>victory hymn<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIf the main body of \u201cour\u201d side is distant from the battle, someone must bring the news, as in the <em>Myth of Anzu<\/em>.<a href=\"#_ftn63\">[63]<\/a>\r\n\r\nRecognition may take the form of gestures and speeches that promise imperishable renown and the great name. Kingship is the great reward for the hero, and it typically comes with other motifs: royal insignia, dynasty (wife and progeny), kingdom, a dwelling (temple or palace) in the capital (city or mountain) of the kingdom. The hero, who does not become king, still receives rewards, especially some part of the plunder symbolic of the battle. Finally, the human hero may recognize the role played by his deity in the victory, as in <em>Sinuhe,<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn64\">[64]<\/a> a motif more common in the royal battle narratives treated in the next chapter.\r\n\r\nVictory brings renown, yet the goal is not the fleeting fame of the moment but enduring renown. As Gregory Nagy argues, imperishable renown and glory, \u03ba\u03bb\u03ad\u03bf\u03c2\u2014<em>kleos<\/em> in Greek, serves as a primary motivating force in the <em>Iliad<\/em>; however, the pursuit of glory and immortality is inextricably bound up with death.<a href=\"#_ftn65\">[65]<\/a> Patroclus dies in the pursuit of glory (XVI 87-90), and Achilles knows in a revelation from his mother that if he fights, he will die young, but his \u201c<em>kleos<\/em> shall be imperishable\u201d (IX 410-416). When Odysseus meets the dead Achilles in Hades, he confirms the validity of the dead hero\u2019s choice: \u201cThus not even in death have you lost your name, but ever shall you have fair <em>kleos <\/em>among all men, Achilles\u201d (<em>Od<\/em>. XXIV 93-94).\r\n\r\nNoteworthy in Odysseus\u2019 statement is the parallel between <em>kleos\/\u201c<\/em>glory<em>\u201d<\/em> and the \u201cname,\u201d for, in the ancient Near East, the theme of renown is often expressed by the motif of the name, especially as the greatest or an everlasting\/enduring name. <a href=\"#_ftn66\">[66]<\/a> Significantly, the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> ends with the fifty names of Marduk, which describe his exalted power and responsibilities (VI 99 \u2013 VII 144). Likewise, the <em>Myth of Anzu<\/em> ends with the names of Ninurta.<a href=\"#_ftn67\">[67]<\/a> In one of the earliest references from Mesopotamia, a hymn for \u0160ulgi, a Sumerian king, names him as \u201chero, lord, mighty one of the foreign lands, the \u2018champion\u2019 of Sumer,\u201d: \u201cLike Anshar, may your name be placed in the \u2018mouths\u2019 of all the lands!\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn68\">[68]<\/a> The tradition endures in 1\u00a0Macc 6:44, where Eleazar \u201cgave up his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn69\">[69]<\/a> Likewise, before her battle, Judith proclaims that her victory \u201cwill go down through all generations of our descendants\u201d (Jdt 8:32). By winning this name, the hero is able to establish for himself or herself a kind of immortality, sometimes symbolized also by the raising of a stele as a permanent monument.<a href=\"#_ftn70\">[70]<\/a>\r\n\r\nThe multiplication of names in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Myth of Anzu, <\/em>therefore, forms a fitting close to the epic and serves as a victory hymn. The response of Athtart to Baal\u2019s victory over Yamm has a similar function.<a href=\"#_ftn71\">[71]<\/a> The victory hymn proper appears in Exodus 15, Judges 5 and Judith 16:1-17 to celebrate the battle, the hero, and, where appropriate, the hero\u2019s kingship. Motifs are drawn from the battle narrative expand the hymn but not necessarily in a narrative sequence since the audience knows or knew the story. Again, every extant story of a victorious hero is a celebration of the hero\u2019s glory and fame and so of the hero\u2019s \u201cname.\u201d Where the story remains extant, the hero\u2019s glorious name remains imperishable.\r\n<h3><a id=\"2.6\"><\/a>2.6. Conclusion<\/h3>\r\nWhile the battle narrative may provide the framework for the whole story as in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, the pattern may be repeated to form a larger story or joined with other motifs and patterns. In the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161, <\/em>the fight between Marduk and Tiamat is preceded by a theogony and the first battle between Ea and Apsu; after the primary battle, the scene of recognition alternates with a cosmogony. The whole of the <em>Iliad<\/em> presents a constant return of battle motifs and patterns. Still, in both stories, the single-combat stands at the heart of the story. In the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em> and <em>Sinuhe<\/em>, the battle narrative combines with other traditional elements and patterns. <em>The<\/em> fight against \u1e2aumbaba belongs to Gilgamesh\u2019s youthful adventures before the reality of death confronts the hero; the battle ironically underlines the hero\u2019s immature understanding of death. This epic ends not with a battle but with a journey in search of immortal life. In <em>Sinuhe, <\/em>the fight forces the hero who once fled to \u201cdecide once more whether to flee or to stay and confront his personal difficulty.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn72\">[72]<\/a> As such, the battle marks the transition from alienation to reconciliation, and the battle plays a vital role in this transition as a demonstration of the hero\u2019s courage, as opposed to his youthful cowardice, which brought about his exile.\r\n\r\nThe larger context must be considered in assessing the significance of these stories as well as the internal factors: narrative world, characterization, particular thematic concerns. All of these factors contribute to the unique shape of each story. In short, there is a reciprocal relationship between form and content. Often this relationship is traditional, but the tradition does not account for everything, especially where the storyteller is of Homer\u2019s caliber. Homer creates new horizons for the tradition, especially in his treatment of Hector. The <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> offers a basic example of the tradition, for there the lines between good and evil, hero and enemy are clearly drawn. The battle narrative is a story of triumph, the triumph of the hero over the enemy, and the triumph of good over evil.\r\n<h3><a id=\"2.7\"><\/a>2.7. Footnotes for Chapter 2<\/h3>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> H. Jason describes A. Skaftymov\u2019s work, <em>Poetika I genesis bylin <\/em>[Poetics and origin of Russian epic songs] (1924) in \u201cPrecursors of Propp: Formalist Theories in Early Russian Ethnopoetics,\u201d <em>Journal<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Poetics<\/em> <em>and Theory of Literature<\/em> 3 (1977) 471-516. For V. Propp\u2019s work, cf. his <em>Morphology<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>the<\/em> <em>Folktale<\/em>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> H. Jason, \u201cDavid and Goliath: A Folk Epic\u201d? <em>Biblica<\/em> 60 (1979) 36-70. Also her \u201cilja of Muron and Tzar Kalin: A Proposal for a Model for the Narrative Structure of an Epic Struggle,\u201d <em>Slavica Hierosolymitana<\/em> 5-6 (1981) 47-55.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a> Joseph Campbell, <em>A Hero with a Thousand Faces, <\/em>Bollingen Series 17 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949, 1968)\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> Benjamin R. Foster, <em>Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature<\/em>, 2 vol. (Bethesda MD: CDL Press, 1996), I 350-409. Other translations include that of E.A. Speiser and A.K. Grayson in <em>ANET3<\/em> 60-72<em> = Ancient Near Eastern Texts, <\/em>edited by James B. Pritchard (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 3rd edition,1978). Stephanie Dalley has another in \u201cThe Epic of Creation\u201d in <em>Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, revised edition, 2000), 228-277. On Marduk as a divine warrior, cf. Sa-Moon Kang, <em>Divine War in the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East<\/em> (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1989), pp. 37-38.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> There are two texts of the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>: a partial Old Babylonian (OB) text which calls the hero Ningirsu, and a more complete Standard Babylonian or Later Version (LV) in four tablets from Middle and Late Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian manuscripts. The citations here follow Benjamin R. Foster, <em>Before the Muses,<\/em> I, 458-481 with both an Old Babylonian (OB) text and a Later Version (LV). See also Stephanie Dalley\u2019s translation in <em>Myths from Mesopotamia, <\/em>the SB text (203-221), and the OB text (222-227). For Tablet I of the LV, see W.W. Hallo and W. L. Moran, \u201cThe First Tablet of the SB Recension of the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>,\u201d <em>Journal of Cuneiform Studies<\/em> 31(1979) 65-115.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> <em>The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian<\/em>, translated with an introduction by Andrew George (London: Penguin Books, 1999), esp. xxi-xxx. He has also produced a critical edition: <em>The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts<\/em>, 2 Volumes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). There are many other translations including Dalley\u2019s in <em>Myths from Mesopotamia<\/em>, 39-153.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a> The fight between <em>Baal and Yamm<\/em> is found in KTU 1.2.I and 1.2.IV as given by Mark S. Smith in <em>The Ugaritic Baal Cycle: Introduction with the Text, Translation and Commentary of KTU 1.1-2, <\/em>Vetus Testamentum Supplement 55 (Leiden: Brill, 1994). Cf. also the translations in <em>Stories from Ancient Canaan, <\/em>edited and translated by Michael D. Coogan and Mark S. Smith (Louisville KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012) 96-153; J.C.L. Gibson\u2019s <em>Canaanite<\/em> <em>Myths<\/em> <em>and<\/em> <em>Legends<\/em> (Edinburgh: Clark, 21978) <em>CTA<\/em> 2 i and iv<em>. <\/em>Cf. also the translation of Dennis Pardee, \u201cUgaritic Myths\u201d in <em>Context of Scripture<\/em>, edited by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, vol. 1, pp. 241-282, esp. 245-249. Leiden: Brill, 2003.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a> See W.K. Simpson\u2019s translation in <em>The<\/em> <em>Literature<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Ancient<\/em> <em>Egypt<\/em>, edited by W.K. Simpson (New Haven: Yale University Press, 3rd edition, 2003) 54\u201166. He includes an extensive bibliography and for the standard text points to Roland Koch, <em>Die Erz\u00e4hlung des Sinuhe <\/em>(Brussels: Fondation \u00e9gyptologique Reine Elisabeth, 1990). Also the translation by Miriam Lichtheim, \u201cSinuhe\u201d in <em>Context of Scripture<\/em>, edited by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, vol. 1, pp. 77-82. Leiden: Brill, 2003.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a> See, for instance, the literary interpretation of Vincent A. Tobin, \u201cThe Secret of Sinuhe,\u201d <em>Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt<\/em>, 32 (1995) 161-178.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a> My considerations are confined mainly to the last books of the <em>Iliad<\/em> beginning with Apollo\u2019s call and commission of Hector in XV 237. For the text and translation of the <em>Iliad<\/em>, I have used that of A.T. Murray (Loeb Classical Library 170, 171; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1924, 1971).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a> By hero\u2019s friend, I mean anyone, human or divine, who helps the hero carry out his mission by serving as a messenger, supplying weapons, etc.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth, <\/em>LV I 1\u201114.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> I 79\u2011104. The Samson tradition also begins with a birth episode (Judg 13). A further example can be found in the Hittite battle narrative <em>The Song<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Ullikummis<\/em>, <em>ANET3<\/em>, 121\u2011125; however in this story the episode is transferred to the enemy champion; because of its fragmentary condition, I have not used it as a primary reference point. The \u201ctraditional birth episode\u201d is not a unique feature of the battle narrative; it has been studied in depth by D. Irvin in <em>Mytharion<\/em>, Traditional Episode Tablet, Sheet 1. The episode includes eight motifs; only three are found in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>: the conception, the birth and the father\u2019s reaction; Irvin does not list it in her examples presumably because of this brevity.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a> Compare Gilgamesh\u2019s approach to death in <em>Gilg. <\/em>Y 140-150, 189-192 to that found in Tablets VIII\u2011X, Gilgamesh embarks on a journey in search of eternal life.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> XV: the Trojan threat takes the form of a direct attack. <em>Ee<\/em> I 108 \u2011 II 3: Tiamat, the bad gods push Tiamat into action, and she gives birth to a demonic army. KTU 1.2.I.11\u201119, 31\u201135: Yamm sends messengers with the outrageous demand that Baal be handed over as a slave. Typically this motif is followed by a provisional capitulation; here the helpless El agrees to the demand (i 36\u201138). Often these two motifs accompany the siege of a city. See an example of the siege in the following: the Sumerian narrative <em>Gilgamesh<\/em> <em>and<\/em> <em>Agga<\/em> also with outrageous demands in <em>ANET3<\/em>, 44\u201147 and in W.\u00a0R\u00f6mer\u2019s <em>Das<\/em> <em>sumerische<\/em> <em>Kurzepos<\/em> \u201c<em>Bilgame\u0161<\/em> <em>und<\/em> <em>Akka<\/em>\u201d (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 209\/1; Neukirchen: Butzon &amp; Bereker, 1980); Josh 10:5; 1 Sam 11:1\u20113 with outrageous demands; 1 Kgs 20:1\u201112 with outrageous demands; 2 Kgs 6:24; 16:5; 18:13\u201137 (outrageous demands); Jdt 7:19\u201132 (provisional capitulation). The most famous siege is that of the Greeks against Troy, i.e. by \u201cour\u201d side against the enemy; the reversal here is perhaps one indication of the ambiguity of this war. In <em>Sinuhe<\/em> B 110, the Strong Man of Retenu, \u201ca champion without equal\u201d delivers a challenge, here directly to the hero; cf. also 1\u00a0Sam 17:8\u201110. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV I 58-85, the motif is cast in cultural terms; the mythic bird Anzu steals the Tablets of Destiny which control the order and fate of the \u201cworld,\u201d and then he flees to his mountain.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a> The fight between Baal and Yamm for kingship takes fertility as its major theme which is expressed in the identity of the two gods: the god of the storm against the god of the sea. <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, though similar, contrasts the emotional and erratic Tiamat with the rational and measured Marduk, thus a contrast between anarchy and law. In <em>Sinuhe<\/em> the Strong Man is motivated by greed and jealousy, the latter touching on the hero\u2019s alien origin; but the enemy\u2019s motive is related only tangentially to the major theme of the story. Mindless greed for power motivates the mythic bird in the <em>Anzu Myth,<\/em> which is thematically less complex than the other stories, the most complex being the <em>Iliad<\/em>. Homer presents a war in which right and wrong are not divided into two opposing camps, and the enemy champion, Hector, far from being the symbol of evil, is in many ways the most sympathetic character in the story. To this extent, Homer moves beyond the tradition.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a> In <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.I 23\u201124, the gods lower their heads to their knees when they see the messengers of Yamm. The <em>Iliad<\/em> includes a number of images to convey a sense of helplessness and to punctuate the mounting Trojan attack: fear in XV 279\u2011305; a desperate prayer in XV 367\u2011378; the continual retreat of the Greek forces; and finally the weeping of Patroclus XV 390\u2011404, XVI 1\u20114.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref18\">[18]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> II 4\u20116, 49\u201152, 121-122; <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV I 83-84: \u201cAwful silence spread; deadly stillness reigned. \/ Their father and counselor Enlil was speechless\u201d; also OB II 1\u20115.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref19\">[19]<\/a> The description of Tiamat giving birth to the demonic army is repeated word for word four times in <em>Ee<\/em> I 129-161; II 11-48; III 15-52, 73-110; a reaction of helplessness follows. Homer, rather than repeat the same description, builds the enemy attack so that it reaches higher pitches as the story progresses.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref20\">[20]<\/a> Anzu I 87-90. Dalley reads \u201cour name\u201d in her Standard Babylonian text but \u201chis name\u201d in the OB II 7-10. Foster as well as Hallo and Moran read \u201chis name\u201d which would be more traditional: Hallo and Moran, \u201cThe First Tablet of the SB <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>,\u201d 82-83.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref21\">[21]<\/a> In <em>Ee<\/em> II 49\u2011119, Anshar calls first Ea and then Anu to deal with the threat of Tiamat. Ea is unsuccessful though the broken text makes it difficult to ascertain whether he refuses or is unable to complete the task. Anu accepts but is unable to approach Tiamat. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV I 91-158 || OB II 11\u201130, three false heroes are called and commissioned; but the false heroes object that the task is impossible, and the leader withdraws the commission. In the <em>Iliad<\/em>, Patroclus calls for the commission to drive the Trojans from the Greek camp, and Achilles grants the commission. Although Patroclus carries out this commission, he continues the battle and takes it to the walls of Troy against the command of Achilles; there the false hero dies\u2014typically the fate of the heroic friend.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref22\">[22]<\/a> Old Testament scholarship has dealt with this genre primarily in terms of the prophetic call narrative with Norman Habel providing the foundation: \u201cThe Form and Significance of the Call Narrative,\u201d <em>ZAW<\/em> 77 (1965) 297\u2011323. Much scholarship has flowed from this down through at least Hava Shalom-Guy, \u201cThe Call Narratives of Gideon and Moses: Literary Convention or More?\u201d <em>Journal of Hebrew Scriptures<\/em> 11 (2011) 1-19. This line of scholarship tends to see the \u201ccall narrative\u201d as an isolated biblical genre rather than a standard scene with various possibilities depending on the characters. What biblical scholars designate as the \u201ccall narrative,\u201d I would classify as \u201ca divine call and commission,\u201d i.e. by a deity to a human character. As a result, these important biblical examples are a mixture of the call pattern with elements from the pattern of theophany as B.O. Long has observed; \u201cProphetic Call Traditions and Reports of Visions,\u201d <em>ZAW<\/em> 84 (1972) 494\u2011500. The sign, considered a special feature of the biblical tradition, often corresponds to the preparation for battle which includes the arming of the hero. Thus Moses is given tricks, and the Lord puts his words into Jeremiah\u2019s mouth. These biblical \u201ccall narratives\u201d thus fit into a much larger genre. I have recently explored this in my article, \u201cBasic Plots in the Bible: A Literary Approach to Genre,\u201d <em>Biblical Theology Bulletin<\/em> 49 (2019) 198\u2013213, esp. 201-202.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref23\">[23]<\/a> Habel, \u201cCall Narrative,\u201d 318.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref24\">[24]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 31\u201173; LV I 161- SB I iii 99 \u2013 iv 13, II 1\u201128: Ea first asks the mother of the hero, Mami, for permission to send her son, and then she calls her son before the assembled deities and commissions him. His response is recorded in just one line: \u201cThe warrior heeded his mother\u2019s word\u201d (OB II 73; LV II 28). <em>Ee<\/em> II 130-162: Ea\u2019s call and commission of Marduk to go to the leader Anshar and the hero\u2019s response. The <em>Iliad<\/em> XV 254\u2011263 relates the divine call and commission of the disheartened Hector by Apollo to fight against the Greeks.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref25\">[25]<\/a> The pattern is little used in the heroic narratives, but it is common for the king to call for a commission from the deity in the royal tradition discussed below. Still, the pattern is found in <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 5\u2011274: Patroclus calls on Achilles to send him against the Trojans, and the friend\u2019s request is granted without objection although Patroclus expected Achilles to object.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref26\">[26]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 11\u201130; SB I 91-160.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref27\">[27]<\/a> <em>Gilg.<\/em> Y 172\u2011215, esp., 192-193 and Y245-271, esp. 249-250. The pattern also shapes the scene in which Enkidu objects to the hero\u2019s proposed fight against \u1e2auwawa: Y 104-160. In the <em>Iliad<\/em>, the pattern shapes the meeting between Achilles and his mother (XVI 5\u2011274). In 1\u00a0Kgs 22:19\u201122 the grand pattern is condensed into four verses: general call (22:19\u201120a); false heroes (22:20b); call for commission (22:21); leader\u2019s question (22:22a); answer (22:22b); commission (22:22c). Cf. also 1\u00a0Sam 17:32\u201137. In <em>Baal<\/em> <em>and<\/em> <em>Yamm<\/em>, the hero calls for the commission, but the leader ignores the call <em>(<\/em>KTU 1.2.I 24\u201128).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref28\">[28]<\/a> The hero\u2019s parent in both the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> adds the exhortation to duty to their call and commission of the hero; <em>Ee<\/em> II 130-134; <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 44\u201172; LV I 198-210; II 1-28. After meeting with the elders, Gilgamesh goes to his mother, the goddess Ninsun, who adopts Enkidu, entrusts her son to him and prays to Shamash for a safe journey; <em>Gilg.<\/em> III 19-106.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref29\">[29]<\/a> A battle plan is given in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 43\u201172, LV II 5-25; cf. Josh 6:2\u20115; 8:1\u20112, 3\u20118 (ambush). The elders of Uruk bless Gilgamesh and give him advice; <em>Gilg.<\/em> Y 247-271.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref30\">[30]<\/a> A blessing by the elders is found in <em>Gilg.<\/em> Y 213-215 and by the young men in Y247-260, and 285-286 which reads: \u201cMay your God go [before you] \/ May [Shamash] permit you to win [your victory!]\u201d Cf. also 1\u00a0Sam 17:37b. Ninsun also prays for Gilgamesh and Enkidu; III 63-75, 88-106.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref31\">[31]<\/a> The major example of the divine commission, delivered directly by a god, is found in <em>Iliad<\/em> XV 254\u2011261, discussed below. The divine commission with these assurances is a typical feature of the royal battle narratives discussed below. For the biblical tradition, cf. for example Josh 1:5,9; Judg 6:14; 2 Kgs 6:16. The motif of the blessing or the assurance is not confined to the battle narrative; cf. H.D. Preuss, \u201c... ich werde mit dir sein,\u201d <em>ZAW<\/em> 80 (1968) 139\u2011173.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref32\">[32]<\/a> M. Nissinen, \u201cFear Not: A Study on an Ancient Near Eastern Phrase,\u201d in <em>The Changing Face of Form Criticism for the Twenty-First Century, <\/em>edited by M.A. Sweeney and E.B. Zvi (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003) 122-61.P.E. Dion, \u201cThe \u2018Fear Not\u2019 Formula and Holy War,\u201d <em>Catholic Biblical Quarterly<\/em> 32 (1970) 565\u2011570, esp. 566; also H.M. (=P.E.) Dion, \u201cThe Patriarchal Traditions and Literary Form of the \u2018Oracles of Salvation,\u2019\u201d <i>Catholic Biblical Quarterly <\/i>29 (1967) 198\u2011206. Also M. Weippert, \u201c\u2018Heiliger Krieg\u2019 in Israel und Assyrien: Kritische Anmerku<span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">hampion, but strangely weeps (helplessness) when he sees the foe. Cf. 1\u00a0Sam 11:6 for Saul\u2019s anger. <\/span><em style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Sinuhe<\/em><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"> 113\u2011127: the text does not refer to anger, but the hero\u2019s speech is characterized by his righteous indignation; also 1 Sam 17:26. In both cases, the rhetorical question helps convey the hero\u2019s indignation. Cf. also Judg 10:16; then, perhaps, Exod 3:7.<\/span>\r\n\r\n[33] <em>KTU<\/em> 1.2.I 38,43: Baal reacts with anger when El capitulates (helplessness) to the outrageous demand of Yamm (threat). The <em>Iliad<\/em>, of course, is constructed around the motif of righteous indignation, and specifically the image of anger which is the opening line of the <em>Iliad<\/em>. <em>Ullikummis<\/em> II\u2011a: the storm god becomes angry when told of the enemy champion, but strangely weeps (helplessness) when he sees the foe. Cf. 1\u00a0Sam 11:6 for Saul\u2019s anger. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 113\u2011127: the text does not refer to anger, but the hero\u2019s speech is characterized by his righteous indignation; also 1\u00a0Sam 17:26. In both cases the rhetorical question helps convey the hero\u2019s indignation. Cf. also Judg 10:16; then, perhaps, Exod 3:7.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref34\">[34]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> II 106\u2011115; <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.I 24\u201128; 1\u00a0Sam 17:32.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref35\">[35]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> 18.478-608. In <em>Baal and Yamm<\/em>, Kothar wa-\u1e2aasis fabricates clubs during the fight with the first-named Yagarrish and the second Ayyamarri; KTU I.2.IV 11-20. Mark S. Smith, <em>Poetic Heroes: Literary Commemorations of Warriors and Warrior Culture in the Early Biblical World (Grand Rapids, MI: Willliam B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014) <\/em><em>163-164. <\/em>Also Bowra, <em>Heroic<\/em> <em>Poetry<\/em>, 149\u2011154.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref36\">[36]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 30, 35\u201158: both heroes and leaders take part in the preparation which includes the weapons, armor, chariot, and muster of the army. <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 130\u2011220,257\u2011271: after Patroclus has received the commission from Achilles, the preparation of all four elements follows; XVIII 127\u2011137: after Achilles answers his mother\u2019s objection, Thetis agrees to her son\u2019s going to battle but makes him promise not to enter the fight until she returns with new armor; XVIII 203\u2011218: in the next scene Achilles is commissioned to mount the battlement in order to turn the Trojans back; Athena clothes the hero with the sunset in place of armor, and she adds her voice to his so that his shouting becomes a weapon and turns the Trojans back; XIX 357\u2011424: Achilles\u2019 meeting with the Greek leaders ends with a preparation which contains all four major elements; in addition, the gods strengthen the fasting hero with ambrosia and nectar while the Greek forces eat (XIX 338\u2011356). See also Kang, <em>Divine War<\/em>, 28-29.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref37\">[37]<\/a> <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 127-129. Hans Goedicke reads <em>Sinuhe<\/em> B 134 (R 159) to B139 (R 166) to mean that \u201chis opponent came with the full battle gear customary in the Levant at the time. Sinuhe, however, mindful of his \u2018Egyptian' upbringing, opts for a bow and dagger as weapons to carry out the fateful duel. Thus he rejects the Retenu-hero's battle gear and insists that it be taken away. Only after it is laid down is Sinuhe ready to commence the actual duel\u201d; \u201cSinuhe\u2019s Duel,\u201d <em>Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt<\/em>, 21 (1984) 197-201, esp. 199. This would emphasize Sinuhe\u2019s Egyptian heritage which is a major theme in the story.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref38\">[38]<\/a> Cf. the call of the Myrmidons in <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 200\u2011209, 269\u2011274; Ramesses tries to call his army back into battle, but they do not come but leave him to fight the enemy army single-handedly; <em>Battle of Kadesh<\/em> P 115.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref39\">[39]<\/a> Though the hero\u2019s mother harnesses the seven whirlwinds in the <em>Anzu<\/em> <em>Myth<\/em>, OB II 75-78, Ninurta does these things for himself in LV II 30-34.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref40\">[40]<\/a> <em>Gilg<\/em>. IV &amp; V: the journey is broken into days and extended by dreams.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref41\">[41]<\/a> Scholes and Kellogg, <em>Nature of Narrative<\/em>, 228. They delineate three types of journeys in terms of movement: \u201cthe journey to a distant goal (e.g., the <em>Aeneid<\/em>), and the return journey (e.g., the <em>Odyssey<\/em>), and the quest (e.g., the <em>Argonautica<\/em>).\u201dOther examples of the journey from the ancient Near East may be found in the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>, Tablets IV-V, IX-XI, XII; also the journeys in the Sumerian stories of Lugalbanda; cf. C. Wilcke, <em>Das Lugalbanda Epos<\/em> (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1969). Cf. also A.B. Lord, <em>Singer of Tales<\/em>, 162; also A.B. Lord, \u201cA.B. Lord, \u201cTradition and the Oral Poet: Homer, Huso, and Avdo Medjedovic,\u201d <em>Atti del Convegno internazionale sul tema: Poesia epica e la sua formazione<\/em> (Problemi Attuali di scienza e di Cultura 139; Rome: Academia Nazionale dei Licei 1970),\u201d 13-30, esp. 24-28. Also Merrit Moseley\u2019s \u201cThe Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hero\u2019s Journey\u201d in <em>The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/em>, edited by Harold Bloom and Blake Hobby (NY: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2009) 63-74. See also my discussion in \u201cBasic Plots,\u201d 202-206.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref42\">[42]<\/a> Frye, <em>Anatomy of Criticism<\/em>, 319-320.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref43\">[43]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> II 130-134: Ea and Marduk. <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 43\u201172; LV I 198-210; II 1\u201127: the hero\u2019s mother commissions the hero in the name of the community. <em>Iliad<\/em> XVIII 36\u2011147: Achilles and Thetis. <em>Gilg<\/em>. III 15-133+: Gilgamesh and his mother Ninsun.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref44\">[44]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 221\u2011256: Achilles pours out a libation for Patroclus, but the prayer is only partly answered by Zeus. <em>Gilg<\/em>. Y214-235: Gilgamesh prays to his god Shamash and promises to build a house for him on his return.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref45\">[45]<\/a> The traditional messenger episode in the ancient Near East has been studied by D. Irvin, <em>Mytharion<\/em>, Traditional Episode Table, Sheet 2. The biblical material has been subjected to an exhaustive examination by Ann M. Vater, \u201cNarrative Patterns for the Story of Commissioned Communications in the Old Testament,\u201d <i>Journal of Biblical Literature <\/i>99 (1980) 365\u2011382. Basically, the episode has three basic elements: 1) call and commission of a messenger in which the message is delivered verbatim; 2) journey; 3) the delivery of the message verbatim. Such is the case in <em>Ee<\/em> III 1\u2011128. The pattern may now be reversed with a return message. Furthermore, the pattern may be very minimal; cf. especially Vater on this point. The messenger episode is a functional pattern that transfers information; in general, the pattern itself is much less important than the information conveyed and the larger context in which it is set.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref46\">[46]<\/a> Cf. D. Irvin, <em>Mytharion<\/em>, Traditional Episode Table, Sheet 1. She lists five motifs, the last four being found in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>: 1) orders to prepare a feast (missing): 2) invitations (III 1\u2011124): 3) the arrival of the guest (III 129\u2011133); 4) eating and drinking (III 134\u2011137); 5) problem (III 138-IV 34). In <em>Baal and Yamm,<\/em> only motifs 4 and 5 appear; <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.I 20\u201121, 22\u201138. Cf. also Bowra, <em>Heroic<\/em> <em>Poetry<\/em>, 179\u2011183.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref47\">[47]<\/a> For the reconciliation of hero and leader, see the story of Bellerophon in the <em>Iliad<\/em> (VI 155-197) in which the queen falsely accuses the hero of attempting to seduce her. The motif is found also in the Egyptian \u201cThe Story of the Two Brothers,\u201d \u00a7 iii; <em>ANET3<\/em> p.24. Also Joseph and Potiphar\u2019s wife in Gen 39:7-20; the Greek story of Phaedra, Theseus, and Hippolytus told by Euripides among others. The story of Bellerophon, as Gunkel noted, also includes the motif of a hero bearing a letter calling for his death; <em>The Folktale in the Old Testament, <\/em>translated by Michael D. Rutter (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1987) 145.\r\n\r\nMotifs of alienation and reconciliation also shape the Egyptian \u201cStory of Sinuhe\u201d where the hero because of his fear or cowardice flees Egypt at the accession of Sesostris I who invites the hero after his victory over the Strong Man of Retenu to return. The <em>Odyssey<\/em> provides another variation in which the alienation between god and hero creates the basic tension of the story; under pressure from Zeus (<em>Bk.<\/em> XVIII), Poseidon relents so that the hero may return, defeat the suitors, reunite with his family and take possession of his kingship and kingdom. The alienation of hero and deities also shapes Tablets VI and VIII of the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>.\r\n\r\nIn the Bible, the story of Jacob and Esau (Gen 25; 27; 32-33) and that of Joseph and his brother (Gen 37,39-50) recount the alienation and reconciliation of brothers. In the story of David and Saul, the pattern of alienation is introduced first between deity and king in 1\u00a0Sam 13-15 and then between king and hero in 1 Sam 19-31.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref48\">[48]<\/a> Violent death brings in its wake a series of traditional responses from those who are bound to the dead person by family or covenant ties. The traditional mechanism can be seen at work several times in the <em>Iliad<\/em> (Glaucus\u2019 response to Sarpedon\u2019s death in <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 508-867, Achilles\u2019 response to Patroclus\u2019 death in XVII-XXIII, and Priam\u2019s response to Hector\u2019s death in XXIV), and the duties demanded by others toward the dead carry the <em>Iliad<\/em> forward from Book XV to the conclusion. To the Homeric examples can be added the response to the death of Baal (<em>Coogan<\/em> and Smith, <em>Stories<\/em>, p. 144, 5.6.23-25), the response of Daniel and Pughat to Aqhat\u2019s death (<em>Coogan<\/em> and Smith, <em>Stories<\/em>, p. 47-49, 3.1-2), and David\u2019s response to Absalom\u2019s death (2 Sam 18:18-19:11). Typical motifs are the following: 1) messenger report of the death to an absent hero and\/or family; 2) reactions of grief; 3) formal lament by the hero, family, and\/or others; 4) retrieval of the body; 5) burial of the dead with mourning; 6) avenging of the death by the hero\/family; B. Fenik notes that it is common for a man to avenge his slain \u201cfriend\u201d\/\u201dbrother\u201d; <em>Typical Battle Scenes in the Iliad<\/em>, 139, 162.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref49\">[49]<\/a> Verbal exchange: <em>Ee<\/em> IV 71\u201186: Marduk accuses Tiamat of hating those whom she bore and challenges her to single combat. <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV II 39-47; <em>Gilg.<\/em> V 85-94; <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 249\u2011272. The text of KTU 1.2.I 45+ breaks off before the content of Baal\u2019s message to Yamm becomes clear, but there has already been an exchange between Baal and the messengers of Yamm at the banquet. Verbal exchanges by messenger, rather than face to face, become the norm in the royal texts. For biblical examples, see Judg 11:12\u201128; 1\u00a0Sam 17:42\u201147; 2\u00a0Kgs 14:8\u201111. Susan Niditch, citing Quincy Wright\u2019s <em>A Study of War<\/em>, says that \u201cthe goal in taunting is, in fact, to preserve prestige and avoid physical combat: the taunt is often accompanied by bluffing, counter-taunting, and more bluffing.\u201d Niditch, <em>War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) 92-93; Q. Wright, <em>A Study of <\/em>War, 2 vol. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1942) 1401-1415.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref50\">[50]<\/a> <em>Gilg<\/em>. V 85-94: \u1e2aumbaba mocks Enkidu and promises to slit Gilgamesh\u2019s throat. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 260\u2011272. In the latter, the insults are all on the hero\u2019s side, a twist of the motif. Also 1\u00a0Sam 17:42\u201144.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref51\">[51]<\/a> In addition to the false confidence manifested by the insults, see <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV II 39-42 where Anzu brags about stealing the Tablets of Destiny and demands to know who has come to fight him. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 278\u2011311: after Achilles has failed with his first shot, Hector, already deceived by Athena, believes falsely that he will be the victor. See also below p.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref52\">[52]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV II 48-Assy. II 57\u2011147: Ninurta\u2019s attempt to hit Anzu with an arrow fails because the mythic bird is able to turn the arrow back with his powerful word; Ninurta sends a messenger to announce the failure to the leader who sends back a commission, essentially the same as the first, but with the addition of a new stratagem for the battle plan and with the promise of winning the name \u201cMighty One\u201d (II 147). KTU 1.2.IV 1\u201118: As the column begins, Baal is recoiling (seemingly) from an initial(?) failure in the fight with Yamm. Kothar\u2011and\u2011\u1e2aasis offers encouragement to the hero and gives him a flying club which also fails to bring down the enemy champion in the first attempt. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 273\u2011277: Achilles hurls his spear at Hector who avoids this initial attempt, but Athena, unseen by the Trojan hero, retrieves the spear for the hero. Here the initial failure allows Hector\u2019s false confidence to build the dramatic irony of the story. In each case, the initial failure is followed by a return to motifs from the middle section whether from the scene of call and commission or from the preparation for battle (gifts of weapons).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref53\">[53]<\/a> Even while Ninurta is engaged with Anzu in battle, the messenger Sharur goes back and forth between the hero and Ea to bring counsel to direct the battle; <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> SB II 103-147. In <em>Gilg<\/em>. V 137-140, Hittite recension, Shamash appears to the hero after the foe has made his presence felt, and rouses the mighty gale-winds against \u1e2aumbaba. <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.IV 18\u201123: Kothar wa-\u1e2aasis provides two flying clubs. In <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 214\u2011225, Athena appears to Achilles and assures him that Hector will not escape now.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref54\">[54]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 289\u2011293: Hector\u2019s spear hits Achilles\u2019 shield but does no damage. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 134\u2011137: The Strong Man of Retenu discharges a whole arsenal of weapons at the hero who avoids them all. The emphasis laid upon the sheer number of the enemy\u2019s arms must not be overlooked in the interpretation.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref55\">[55]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 87\u2011103: Marduk engages the manic Tiamat in single-combat and when she opens her mouth to consume him, he drives in the Evil Wind to hold open her body and shoots her with an arrow. <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV III 1-21: Ninurta uses two weapons to strike repeatedly until Anzu drops his wings; he then with arrow and dart pierces Anzu\u2019s heart, lungs and wings. \u1e2aumbaba pleads for his life twice, but Enkidu encourages the hero to finish the battle causing the enemy to curse them; finally, Gilgamesh strikes at \u1e2aumbaba\u2019s neck: V 85-265. Baal subdues Yamm with two flying clubs provided by Kothar wa-\u1e2aasis: <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.IV 18\u201123. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 312\u2011329: Achilles hits Hector with the spear, retrieved by Athena and originally given to him by Peleus his father. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 138: The hero hits the Strong Man with a single arrow.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref56\">[56]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 104a; KTU 1.2.IV 25\u201126; <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 330a; <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 139.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref57\">[57]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 104b; <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 330b\u2011366; <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 140\u2011141.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref58\">[58]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 129\u2011132, 136\u2011138: Marduk crushes Tiamat\u2019s skull and tramples her legs, but the severing of the body is reserved for the first act of creation. In the <em>Anzu Myth <\/em>LV III 10-20, Ninurta cuts off the wings and shoots an arrow into his heart. In KTU 1.2.IV 27, <em>yq\u0167<\/em> <em>b\u02bfl wy\u0161t.ym.ykly<\/em> <em>tpt.nhr<\/em> is translated by Gibson: \u201cBaal dragged out Yamm and laid him down, he made an end of Judge Nahar.\u201d Smith translates it: \u201cBaal drags and dismembered(?) Yamm, \/ He destroys Judge River (p. 323). The difficulties of translation are discussed by Smith in the <em>Ugaritic Baal Cycle<\/em>, 351-356. In <em>Gilg.<\/em> V 264-265: Gilgamesh strikes \u1e2aumbaba\u2019s neck \u201cand the ravines did run with his blood\u201d (Ish 25\u2019), and on their journey back, \u201cGilgamesh [<em>carried<\/em>] the head of \u1e2aumbaba\u201d; V 302. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 371\u2011404: The young men stab Hector\u2019s body as they view it, and Achilles drags the corpse around Troy; however, the hero does not carry out his threat to mutilate the body but gives the body back to Priam, Hector\u2019s father. The breaking of this motif in the <em>Iliad<\/em> becomes the climax of the story. In <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 140, the hero finishes off the Strong Man with the foe\u2019s own ax. See also the similar analysis of Frolov and Wright, \u201cHomeric and Ancient Near Eastern Intertextuality in 1 Samuel 17,\u201d 466.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref59\">[59]<\/a> <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 141; 1\u00a0Sam 17:52. Cf. also von Rad, <em>Holy War in Ancient Israel, <\/em>48; he cites war cries also in Judg 7:20 and similarly in Josh 6:5; 1 Sam 17:20; 2 Chr 20:21\u201122. See also the note on the victory cry below in \u00a72.5.4.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref60\">[60]<\/a> Cf. the discussion in Chapter 3 on the enemy\u2019s recognition of defeat and their destruction or capture.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref61\">[61]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 106\u2011122. Similarly, in the <em>Battle<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Kadesh<\/em>, Ramesses II defeats the Hittite army single\u2011handedly. Samson also defeats the Philistine forces alone in Judg\u00a015.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref62\">[62]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 121\u2011122: Marduk takes the Tablet of Destiny from Qingu, Tiamat\u2019s consort. At the end of <em>Gilg<\/em>. V, Gilgamesh and Enkidu take plunder from the cedar forest which is better preserved in two Old Babylonian fragments; George, <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>, 46-47. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 367\u2011368: Achilles takes the armor which Hector had taken from Patroclus. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 143\u2011147: Sinuhe plunders the Strong Man\u2019s camp. Smith notes that these are often mentioned in warrior poetry; <em>Poetic Heroes<\/em>, 17-18.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref63\">[63]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth <\/em>LV III 22-23: \u201cThe wind bore Anzu\u2019s wing feathers \/ As a sign of his glad tidings. \/ Dagan rejoiced when he saw his sign.\u201d He then invites the gods to reward the hero, and they send a messenger to that effect.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref64\">[64]<\/a> <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 141\u2011142: the hero gives praise to Montu; cf. the discussion in Chapter 3 on \u201cPlunder, Recognition and Reward of the Deity and King.\u201d\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref65\">[65]<\/a> G. Nagy, <em>The Best of the Achaeans<\/em> (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1981) Ch. 5.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref66\">[66]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 133\u2011134; V\u2011VII: after the initial scene of recognition, the creation of the world and the establishment of Babylon alternate with more gifts and speeches ending with the proclamation of Marduk\u2019s fifty names. KTU 1.2.IV 32: Athtart, seemingly, proclaims \u201cBaal is\/shall be king.\u201d <em>Iliad<\/em> XXIII 35: Achilles is brought to Agamemnon, but the scene is still dominated by Patroclus\u2019 death; in a sense, the real scene of recognition comes in Book XXIV between Achilles and Priam, the enemy king. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 142\u2011143: the hero is embraced by his prince, but the more important recognition comes from the pharaoh later in the story. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, LV I 90 and OB II 10, the hero is promised the reward of a great name and also to the false heroes (I 97, 119, 140. Also in LV II 27 and 103, Ninurta is told that his name will be \u201cMighty One.\u201d The end of SB III contains a number of names given to Ninurta including Ningirsu, Lugalbanda and other names pointing to the Sumerian background. <em>Gilg<\/em>. Y 188: Gilgamesh undertakes the fight against \u1e2auwawa in order to \u201cestablish for ever a name eternal.\u201d In <em>Gilg.<\/em> V 244-245, Enkidu encourages Gilgamesh to finish the fight: \u201cEstablish for ever [<em>a fame<\/em>] that endures \/ how Gilgamesh <em>slew<\/em> [<em>ferocious<\/em>] \u1e2aumbaba!\u201d Likewise for David; he \u201chad more success than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was highly esteemed\u201d (1\u00a0Sam 18:30); cf. also 2\u00a0Sam 7:9,23, 26; 8:13. The gift of the name in Phil 2:9-10 belongs to this tradition. Cf. also Eph 1:21; 2 Thes 1:12.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref67\">[67]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV III; the end of the tablet which in its fragmentary condition still records some fifteen names of the hero.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref68\">[68]<\/a> J. Klein, \u201c\u0160ulgi X\u201d in <em>Three \u0160ulgi Hymns<\/em> (Ramat-Gan, Israel: Bar Ilan University Press, 1981) 133, 138. Cf. also F.R. Kraus, \u201cAltemesopotamische Lebensfuhl,\u201d <em>Journal of Near Eastern Studies <\/em>19 (1960) 117-132, esp. 127-131.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref69\">[69]<\/a> The analysis here supports Cross\u2019 argument against S. Herrmann who would trace the \u201cmaking of a great name\u201d (<em>\u02bf\u015bh \u0161m gdwl<\/em>) to an Egyptian source (<em>\u0131\u0313r\u0131\u0313 rn<\/em> , etc.). As Cross says, \u201cthe notion of \u2018making a great name\u2019 is a common Hamito-Semitic concept, forming parallel idioms in many daughter languages. F.M. Cross, <em>Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel. <\/em>Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973) 248-249. S. Herrmann, <em>Die K\u00f6nigsnovelle in \u00c4gypten und Israel<\/em>, (Leipzig: Karl-Marx-Universitat, 1954) 41.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref70\">[70]<\/a> M. Weinfeld cites the line, from a stele: \u201cI inscribed my stele and established my name forever\u201d; <em>Deuteronomy<\/em> 193, n. 4; KAH II 26:10. Weinfeld also points to the word pair of \u201cname\u201d and \u201cstele\u201d in Isa 56:5. Similarly in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, Marduk turns the enemy gods into statues and says, \u201cLet this be a token that this may never be forgotten\u201d (V 71-76). The establishment of a name is also related to the founding of a house (= dynasty) whereby the hero\u2019s name is carried on through the generations as with Abraham in Gen 12:2. The winning of a name is also connected with building projects; the tower of Babylon is begun in order to \u201cmake a name\u201d (Gen 11:4). Even so, the battle is the typical arena in which glory is won. For Ramesses II who wins \u201ca name\u201d at the Battle of Kadesh, see below in \u00a73.5.2. Also Kang, <em>Divine War<\/em>, 71-72.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref71\">[71]<\/a> Athtart reacts to Baal's scattering of Yamm by saying: \"Yamm surely is dead! \/ Baal rei[gns(?)]. Kothar or someone affirms this \"Yamm surely is dead! \/ [Baal reigns (?)] \/ He indeed rules. Athtart then reaffirms this; <em>Baal and Yamm<\/em>, KTU I.2.IV 28-41, pp. 356. The\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"#_ftnref72\">[72]<\/a> Anthony Spalinger, \u201cOrientations on Sinuhe,\u201d <em>Studien zur Alt\u00e4gyptischen Kultur<\/em>, 25 (1998) 311-339, esp. 332.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>The heroic battle narrative tells the story of a hero commissioned by a helpless leader to fight an enemy champion in single-combat. The foundation for this study was laid by Heda Jason, drawing on the work of A. Skaftymov<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> and also the model of V. Propp\u2019s for the heroic fairy tale.<a href=\"#_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> With Skaftymov\u2019s episodes as a basis, the plot can be summarized as follows:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beginning: Tension<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A description of the hero and his impediment<\/li>\n<li>The enemy threatens \u201cour\u201d side<\/li>\n<li>\u201cOur\u201d side reacts with fear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Middle: Development<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The enemy threat increases.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cOur\u201d side calls and commissions the hero.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>End: Resolution<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The hero defeats the enemy hero in single-handed combat.<\/li>\n<li>The enemy army reacts with fear and flees.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cOur\u201d side pursues and destroys the enemy.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cOur\u201d side takes its plunder.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cOur\u201d side recognizes the hero.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition to the traditional battle story, Jason cites several modern examples: \u201cthe detective story, television plays, wild west movies.\u201d Each would have its own conventions but would fit nonetheless under this larger umbrella. Joseph Campbell\u2019s famous book <em>A Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em> likewise points to the pervasive use of this generic plot which he sees as a monomyth with many manifestations.<a href=\"#_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> His emphasis on similarity and disregard for differences distorts the relationships. Without denying the common elements of the genre, I want to argue that we must respect the differences of each version. The generic allows us to discover and appreciate the uniqueness of each narrative.<\/p>\n<p>The tradition then is not represented fully by any one story. Therefore, to discover the generic pattern in the ancient Near East, I want to look at six important battle narratives to explore how they use and expand upon the basic scenes outlined above.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"2.1\"><\/a>2.1. Six Heroic Battle Narratives from the ancient Near East and Homer<\/h3>\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.1\"><\/a>2.1.1. Marduk and Tiamat in the En\u016bma eli\u0161 = Ee<a href=\"#_ftn4\"><strong>[4]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>The <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161, <\/em>the creation story of ancient Mesopotamia, begins with the first father, Apsu (freshwater), and the first mother, Tiamat (saltwater), giving birth to the first generation of deities. These young deities disturb Apsu, who decides to kill them, but Ea, son of Anshar and one of the good gods, kills Apsu, causing Tiamat to fly into an emotional rage. She gives the Tablet of Destinies to Qingu, one of the bad gods, and looks to kill the good gods. After failed attempts to find a hero, Anshar asks the young Marduk, son of Ea, to fight Tiamat. He agrees on the condition that they make him king before the battle, which they do. Marduk then meets Tiamat in single-combat and shoots an arrow into her belly and heart\u2014the internal organs representing her emotions. Splitting her in two, he creates heaven and earth, and from the blood of Qingu makes humanity. The story ends with the fifty names of Marduk which show him holding together both reason and emotion.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.2\"><\/a>2.1.2. Ninurta fights Anzu in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn5\"><strong>[5]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>The bird-like Anzu steals the Tablet of Destinies from Anu and flees disrupting the kingship and its ability to order all things. Anu calls three deities to be the hero, but each refuses. Ea asks the goddess Mami to send her son Ninurta. She agrees and commissions him. After mustering an army, he meets Anzu. Though the battle initially does not go well, Ea sends counsel, and Ninurta shoots an arrow into Anzu\u2019s heart. When the wind brings Anzu\u2019s feather, the gods realize what has happened and send a messenger to recognize the victory and bestow some fifteen names upon him, including \u201cBel\u201d or \u201clord\u201d in the later version.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.3\"><\/a>2.1.3. Gilgamesh and \u1e2aumbaba in the <em>Gilgamesh Epic <\/em>=<em> Gilg<\/em>.<\/h4>\n<p>The Gilgamesh Epic began as a series of stories during the earlier Sumerian culture and was handed on in the Akkadian language, particularly in an Old Babylonian form from the eighteenth century and a later standard version attributed to S\u00een-liqe-unnini in the late second millennium. Andrew George provides a translation and lucid introduction to the various manuscripts which make up this evolving corpus. This study will follow his presentations.<a href=\"#_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Because of the epic\u2019s fragmentary condition, the whole must be constructed by adding to the standard version tablets with the Old Babylonian version (OB), especially the Yale (Y) and Pennsylvania (P) tablets. The standard version is indicated by tablet in Roman numerals followed by lines.<\/p>\n<p>The standard version opens with a description of the young Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who divides himself between contests with the young men and chasing the young women. To counteract this, the goddess Aruru creates a wild, primitive man, Enkidu, who will become the heroic friend. He is civilized by his sexual encounter with the woman Shamhat who tells him of the hero. Enkidu, now the equal of Gilgamesh, goes to fight him, and their wrestling match makes them fast friends.<\/p>\n<p>To win glory, Gilgamesh proposes that they go and take trees from the forest of \u1e2aumbaba, whose \u201cbreath is death\u201d (Y 111). Enkidu objects because of \u1e2aumbaba\u2019s invincibility, but Gilgamesh persists because only the deities are immortal; therefore, he disdains death\u201d If I should fall, let me make my name\u201d (Y149). After forging weapons, Gilgamesh asks permission of the elders of Uruk. Enkidu again objects, and the elders counsel him: \u201cYou are young, borne along by emotion, \/ all that you talk of you don\u2019t understand\u201d (II 289-290), but Gilgamesh persists. The elders counsel him, \u201cDo not rely, O Gilgamesh, on your own strength alone\u201d (III 2) and then entrust him to Enkidu. The hero then applies to his mother, who prays to Shamash to protect her son; she then adopts Enkidu and entrusts her son to him. Then the young men of Uruk offer a final commission; again, they bid Gilgamesh not to trust in his \u201cown strength alone\u201d (III 216). After entrusting the hero to Enkidu, they offer a final blessing \u201cGo, Gilgamesh, let &#8230;&#8230;. \/ May your god go [before you!] \/ May [Shamash] let you attain [your goal!]\u201d (Y 284-286).<\/p>\n<p>After a long journey and several favorable dreams, they arrive at \u1e2aumbaba\u2019 forest (IV). Though Tablet IV is fragmentary at this point, Enkidu encourages the hero. Shamash then both encourages him and tells him not to let \u1e2aumbaba enter his forest. The tablet ends with Gilgamesh encouraging his friend: \u201cTake my hand, friend, and we shall go [on] together, \/ let your thoughts dwell on combat! \/ Forget death and [seek] life (IV 253-255)!<\/p>\n<p>The hero meets with \u1e2aumbaba, who accuses Enkidu of treachery and, with false confidence, tells the hero that he will slit his throat. Gilgamesh finally feels his fear, but Enkidu encourages him. The sun god Shamash also comes to the hero\u2019s aid with thirteen winds to immobilize \u1e2aumbaba so that Gilgamesh\u2019s weapons can reach the enemy. \u1e2aumbaba then pleads for his life, but Enkidu tells him to press on and kill the enemy. \u1e2aumbaba then curses both with the wish that they do not reach old age. Gilgamesh then strikes the neck of \u1e2aumbaba and kills him. The heroic pair takes trees from the forest as spoils.<\/p>\n<p>On his return, the goddess Ishtar desires Gilgamesh, but he rejects her. After the heroic pair kill the Bull of Heaven, the spurned Ishtar stirs up the assembly of deities against them, and they demand the life of one as recompense. So the heroic friend Enkidu dies, leaving Gilgamesh alone. His earlier desire for fame now becomes a desire for immortality which takes him on a long journey to Utnapishtim, who survived the great flood, like Noah. Unlike the biblical figure, he receives eternal life as a reward. After a test, Utnapishtim gives Gilgamesh a miraculous plant that will keep him young, but a snake steals it on the return journey, and so he must die like all mortals.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.4\"><\/a>2.1.4. Baal and Yamm<a href=\"#_ftn7\"><strong>[7]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>During a banquet held by El, the weak and old head of the Canaanite pantheon, the god Yamm, whose name means \u201csea,\u201d demands that Baal, whose name means \u201clord,\u201d become his vassal. The impotent El acquiesces, but Baal refuses. Unlike the other narratives in which the weak leader commissions the hero, El commissions the \u201cenemy champion\u201d who claims the kingship. When the text becomes clear again, Baal and Yamm are engaged in single combat with Baal on the verge of defeat, but the blacksmith deity fashions two clubs for him. With them, Baal triumphs over Yamm, who represents the chaotic waters. Athtart \u00a0recognizes his victory and announces that \u201cBaal shall be king.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.5\"><\/a>2.1.5. Sinuhe and the Strong Man of Retenu in <em>Sinuhe<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn8\"><strong>[8]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n<p><em>The Story of Sinuhe<\/em> is a masterpiece of Middle Egyptian literature.<a href=\"#_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> Unlike the other stories told by omniscient storytellers who know all and present themselves as authoritative and reliable narrators, Sinuhe tells his own story creating a more mimetic text and establishing a more intimate bond with the reader.<\/p>\n<p>Sinuhe begins telling his story at the accession of Sesostris I to the throne in 1961 B.C. For some reason, he flees at the news of the new king, and his flight makes him seem a rebel. He continues his journey into Lebanon, eventually settling in Upper Retenu, a part of Palestine and Syria. There he becomes part of the king\u2019s court and marries the eldest daughter, and takes his place as a \u201cchief of a tribe of the finest in his land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After some years, \u201ca strong man of Retenu\u2026without equal\u201d challenges Sinuhe in order to take his wealth. Sinuhe meets the challenger and shoots him in the neck with an arrow. As a result, Sinuhe takes the strong man\u2019s possession as spoils and is renowned in the capital. Even so, Sinuhe is unhappy because he is an exile from Egypt. A report of his situation reaches the pharaoh, who issues a decree for his return. Though torn by his loyalty to the king of Retenu, Sinuhe hands over his property to his children and returns to Egypt.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.1.6\"><\/a>2.1.6. Achilles and Hector in the <em>Iliad<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn10\"><strong>[10]<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>Homer opens the Iliad by singing of the anger of Achilles. The hero is angry because Agamemnon has made him hand over the woman Briseis. Achilles had taken her in a raid with the idea of giving her to his friend Patroclus. The war against Troy began with Paris taking Helen from another man, and now Agamemnon has done the same to Achilles. With this, Homer throws into question the moral basis for this war. In anger, Achilles has withdrawn from the battle. He knows that he can return home and have a happy but hidden life with a wife and family, or he can stay and fight. The battle will bring him enduring glory, but he will also lose his life. Because of this offense and with nothing worthwhile to die for, Achilles has sworn not to fight. As a result, Hector, the Trojan hero, is able to rally his countrymen and threaten the Greek ships with fire. Though Achilles refuses to join the battle, his friend Patroclus returns to the fight in Achilles\u2019 armor. Though warned, Hector kills Patroclus, and Achilles, now with something worth fighting for, returns to avenge his friend. The Greek and Trojan heroes meet in single combat. Achilles kills Hector, the paragon of civil and familial virtue. Even so, his anger is not assuaged. He drags the body around the city of Troy and refuses to return the body for burial. Finally, the last book tells how Hermes casts a great sleep over all the forces and leads Priam, king, and father, through the lines to beg for the body of his son. Though Achilles\u2019 anger still rages, he sees in Priam his own father, who will one day weep of him. With this insight, he saves his humanity and returns the body of Hector to Priam, bringing the epic to an end.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"2.2\"><\/a>2.2. Characters<\/h3>\n<p>The central character is, of course, the hero who defeats the enemy and rescues the helpless people and the helpless leader(s) of \u201cour\u201d side. The helpless leader, unable to meet the enemy threat himself, may first call and commission false heroes who either refuse the commission or cannot carry it out. The helpless leader, perhaps with the help of counselors, calls and commissions the hero; the hero\u2019s parent may also play some role in this. Likewise, the parent and\/or the leader often help the hero prepare for battle. The hero\u2019s friend may also fulfill the role of helper and assist in the battle along with the hero\u2019s army.<a href=\"#_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> In the stories with human heroes, deities may assume the roles of divine leader, divine parent, and divine friend.<\/p>\n<p>The enemy side consists basically of the enemy leader, the enemy champion, and the enemy army; the roles of leader and champion may be combined in the enemy king.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"2.3\"><\/a>2.3. The Beginning: The Description of the Hero, the Threat, and Helplessness<\/h3>\n<p>The story may open with a description of the hero, as does the <em>Anzu Myth,<\/em> which begins with a celebration of its hero, Ninurta.<a href=\"#_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> Marduk, the hero of the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, makes his appearance in a traditional birth episode at the end of the first story in which Ea slays Apsu.<a href=\"#_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> The birth makes Marduk the youngest of the gods, and this fact serves in the story as the hero\u2019s impediment, that is, the reason which keeps the hero from undertaking the fight immediately. Because of Marduk\u2019s youth, the gods do not immediately think of him as the hero. In other stories, the hero\u2019s impediment may be as simple as his absence from the place of encounter or as complex as Achilles\u2019 anger, announced in the epic\u2019s opening line. In the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>, the hero\u2019s disdain for death reveals his lack of maturity, but here the flaw spurs the hero to seek out the battle with \u1e2aumbaba.<a href=\"#_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> Sinuhe, in a momentary act of cowardice, fled from Egypt during the accession of Sesostris I (B 1\u201145); this act of cowardice colors his whole story. However developed, the motif serves to increase the dramatic tension while developing significant themes in the narrative.<\/p>\n<p>The tension of the story arises with the enemy\u2019s threat and display of great power. The threat may take the form of \u201cattack,\u201d but in general, the motif unfolds in such a way that the threat, though imminent, remains only a threat so that \u201cour\u201d side has time to react. The siege of a city or the enemy&#8217;s encampment provides a simple solution; likewise, the appearance of a messenger with outrageous demands, a challenge to fight, or the timely discovery of the enemy\u2019s plan may serve the purpose.<a href=\"#_ftn15\">[15]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The enemy\u2019s power is always overwhelming whether in quantity, quality or both. The greater the power is the greater the fall, and, therefore, the greater the hero who achieves the victory. Finally, the enemy must have a motive, even a bad motive, for taking such drastic actions\u2014the more complex the motive, the greater its importance for the central themes of a specific story. Traditionally the enemy represents the antithesis of order, the threat of chaos, but the storyteller may explore this theme in many ways. The enemy champion embodies this theme as the concrete expression of the foreboding chaos, as opposed to the hero who represents the summary expression of the ideals of \u201cour\u201d side.<a href=\"#_ftn16\">[16]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>After presenting the enemy threat and prowess, the reaction of helplessness by \u201cour\u201d side follows and provides the rationale for the middle section of the story with its commission of the hero. While fear is a common expression of helplessness, other imagery, such as weeping, drooping heads, retreat, or the like, may convey the sense of powerlessness.<a href=\"#_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> In the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, silence serves as the motif of helplessness in contrast with the enemy\u2019s power of speech derived from the possession of the Tablets of Destiny.<a href=\"#_ftn18\">[18]<\/a> While underlining the need for a hero, helplessness also has negative implications for the leadership of \u201cour\u201d side. It may foreshadow a change of leadership with the hero becoming the leader. Finally, both the motifs of the enemy\u2019s threat and the reaction of helplessness renew and heighten the tension.<a href=\"#_ftn19\">[19]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To summarize, the opening section may introduce the hero with the reason why he cannot undertake the fight immediately. In any case, the opening presents the story\u2019s central tension: the enemy\u2019s threat and great power and the reaction of helplessness by \u201cour\u201d side further<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"2.4\"><\/a>2.4. The Middle: The Call and Commission of the Hero<\/h3>\n<p>While typically raising the threat and reaction of fear, the middle section puts into place the means for resolving the tension. Basically, \u201cour\u201d side must find, recognize and commission a hero to meet the enemy. Since the traditional audience knows that the hero will arrive and resolve the threat, the storyteller must create obstacles to retard the story and increase both the tension and the interest. Often \u201cour\u201d side does not recognize the hero initially, and the hero\u2019s impediment may block the possibility of taking up the fight immediately.<\/p>\n<p>The call and commission may consist of a simple request and acceptance, but the storyteller has several possible avenues, which I have divided into four parts.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>general call for a hero;<\/li>\n<li>call and commission of false heroes;<\/li>\n<li>call and commission of the hero;<\/li>\n<li>preparation for battle.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>In the stories of human heroes, a divine commission may be added, i.e., the commission of a human hero by a deity.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.1\"><\/a>2.4.1. General call<\/h4>\n<p>If the hero is unknown or at least not apparent to the leader (s), the middle section may open with the council of leaders and a general call followed by the offer of a reward. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, the motifs of threat and helplessness bring about a council of the gods where Anu asks:<\/p>\n<p>[A]nu made ready to speak<br \/>\nSaying to the gods his children:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>general call:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>\u201c[Which] one would slay Anzu?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>reward<\/em>: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He shall make for himself the greatest name in [eve]ry habitation.<a href=\"#_ftn20\">[20]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The general call designates no specific person but calls for volunteers or suggestions. The story of Jephthah provides a parallel; there, the elders of Gilead ask:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>general call<\/em>: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWho will begin the fight against the Ammonites?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>reward<\/em>: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He shall be head over all the inhabi\u00adtants of Gilead\u201d (Judg 10:18).<\/p>\n<p>The general call is a stock motif used to open a scene of commission for non-warriors as well. In 1\u00a0Kgs 22: 20 the general call is found without the offer of a reward: \u201cThe Lord said, \u2018Who will entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead\u2019\u201d; so also in Isa 6:8. The hero\u2019s reward, of course, is a traditional motif and need not be tied to the general call. As found in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> and Judg 10:18, the two most common rewards are a great name and leadership, or more specifically, kingship.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.2\"><\/a>2.4.2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Call, commission, and failure of the false heroes<\/h4>\n<p>The call and commission of the false heroes follow the same patterns used for the hero, but they either refuse the commission or fail in the attempt.<a href=\"#_ftn21\">[21]<\/a> Though good and worthy warriors, the false heroes reveal by their failure the extraordinary qualities that the hero must possess. More pragmatically, their failure removes any of the hero\u2019s potential rivals, an important point in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> where the hero emerges as the head of the pantheon. Finally, the episode carries the fortunes of \u201cour\u201d side still lower and ends with a returning motif of helplessness.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.3\"><\/a>2.4.3. The call and commission of the hero<\/h4>\n<p>Biblical scholars have widely discussed episodes of call and commission under the title of \u201ccall narrative.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn22\">[22]<\/a> With the exception of the warrior Gideon, the studies have concentrated upon material related to prophets in which an objection is raised to the call and commission by the Lord. The narrow focus of biblical scholarship has caused it to overlook the wider application of the form. The four patterns below apply equally to prophets, warrior-heroes, servants, messengers\u2014in short, to anyone commissioned to carry out a specific task. Even so, I shall cast my terminology in terms of the battle narrative, i.e., hero and leader.<\/p>\n<p>In this study, the call refers to the element of request, and it may be initiated either by the leader or the hero; i.e., the leader may call the hero to receive the commission, or the hero may call for the commission from the leader. The commission, as N. Habel defines it, \u201cis regularly couched in terms of a direct personal imperative which embraces the essential goal of the assigned task.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn23\">[23]<\/a> The central call and commission in the heroic tradition take place between the hero and the leader of \u201cour\u201d side, the latter usually being a helpless leader. Others, especially by the hero\u2019s parent or a divine leader, may take this role. The type of leader has ramifications for the commission&#8217;s content, which I shall take up shortly. There are four logical patterns.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The leader calls and commissions the hero,<br \/>\nand the hero accepts.<a href=\"#_ftn24\">[24]<\/a><\/li>\n<li>The hero calls for the commission,<br \/>\nand the leader commissions him.<a href=\"#_ftn25\">[25]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>These two patterns differ only in the person taking the initiative. Neither holds much dramatic tension; thus, an objection or, less dramatically, a question may be raised by one and answered by the other. This further complication yields two derivative patterns:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>The leader calls and commissions the hero;<br \/>\nthe hero raises an objection or question;<br \/>\nthe leader answers this;<br \/>\nand the hero accepts.<\/li>\n<li>The hero calls for the commission;<br \/>\nthe leader raises an objection or question;<br \/>\nthe hero answers this;<br \/>\nand the leader commissions the hero.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The third pattern corresponds to what biblical scholars have termed the \u201ccall narrative.\u201d A further example is found in the <em>Iliad,<\/em> which contains both question and objection (XVIII 170-216). Iris commands Achilles to rouse himself and help recover the body of the dead Patroclus (call and commission). Achilles questions the source of this commission, and Iris answers that Hera has sent her. Achilles then objects that he cannot carry out the commission because he has promised his mother Thetis not to enter the battle until she has brought new armor. Iris answers the objection by telling the hero that he need only mount the battlement, and with that, Achilles accepts and rouses himself. The pattern also appears in the commission of Jephthah (Judg 11:7-8) and of the false heroes in the <em>Anzu Myth, <\/em>where the leader withdraws the call from each false hero after he objects.<a href=\"#_ftn26\">[26]<\/a> In the <em>Iliad<\/em>, the leaders call, commission, and beg Achilles to fight, but because of his anger, he refuses.<\/p>\n<p>In the fourth pattern, the hero\u2019s initiative is paramount. The leader\u2019s circumspection affords the hero a second speech in which he can reveal with greater resolve his determination to fight. The leader\u2019s objection deserves close attention, for it typically touches the hero\u2019s impediment and, therefore, a central theme. Such is the case in the <em>Gilgamesh Epic,<\/em> where the elders of Uruk object twice that the hero\u2019s youthful heart \u201cis bourne along by emotion.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn27\">[27]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In addition to the call and commission, other traditional motifs appear in the speeches of these scenes. The leader may accompany his call with an appeal to duty<a href=\"#_ftn28\">[28]<\/a> and then add counsel, especially in the form of a battle plan.<a href=\"#_ftn29\">[29]<\/a> If the leader is human, he may invoke a blessing and call for divine presence and aid.<a href=\"#_ftn30\">[30]<\/a> In the case of divine commission, the content of the blessing becomes a statement, an assurance of divine presence and aid, as in the phrase, \u201cI am with you.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn31\">[31]<\/a> Commonly added to this is some form of encouragement, expressed most often by the phrase, \u201cDo not fear.\u201d This particular phrase has been studied especially by P.E. Dion, who argues that the phrase is not necessarily part of an oracle or limited to divine characters.<a href=\"#_ftn32\">[32]<\/a> While I concur, it is mainly a deity who can offer the assurance necessary to make the encouragement meaningful. The encouragement motif, however, is not limited to the negative \u201cDo not fear\u201d but may be expressed positively as in the scene where Apollo commissions the disheartened Hector to re-enter the battle (<em>Iliad<\/em> XV254-261); the whole speech is a fine example of the divine call and commission:<\/p>\n<p><em>encouragement: <\/em><br \/>\n\u201cTake courage,\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>assurance:<\/em><br \/>\n\u201ca helper hath the son of Cronos sent \u2026 to stand by thy side and succor them, even me, Phoebus Apollo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>call &amp; commission:<br \/>\n<\/em>\u201cBut come now, bid thy many charioteers drive against the hollow ships their swift horses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>assurance:<br \/>\n<\/em>\u201cand I will go before and make smooth all the way for the chariots, and will turn in flight the Achaean warriors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The hero\u2019s initiative in these scenes is typically triggered by his reaction of righteous indignation when informed of the enemy\u2019s threat. This anger contrasts with the reaction of helplessness by the others. The righteous indignation may carry into his call for the commission or color his response to the leader\u2019s call.<a href=\"#_ftn33\">[33]<\/a> Where the hero seizes the initiative, his call for the commission is more often an assertion that he will fight; still, he cannot do this without the leader\u2019s official consent. In his call for the commission, the hero may also take over the encouragement motif and bid the helpless not to fear.<a href=\"#_ftn34\">[34]<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.4\"><\/a>2.4.4. Preparation for battle: the arming of the hero and muster of the army<\/h4>\n<p>Once the hero has received and accepted the commission to fight the enemy, the preparation for battle follows with the hero arming himself and mustering the army. The hero\u2019s weapons and armor, perhaps made especially for the occasion, reflect his greatness. Achilles\u2019 shield is the most famous example, but the clubs that Kothar makes for Baal become the focus for that story.<a href=\"#_ftn35\">[35]<\/a> Others, such as a leader, parent, or friend, may assist him.<a href=\"#_ftn36\">[36]<\/a> Sinuhe, for instance, spends the night preparing his bow, sharpening his dagger and polishing his weapons.<a href=\"#_ftn37\">[37]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The army may be considered a collective hero. If necessary, it is mustered with as its own call and commission.<a href=\"#_ftn38\">[38]<\/a> The mounting of the chariot, drawn perhaps by named horses, leads to the transition from \u201cour\u201d camp to the place of battle.<a href=\"#_ftn39\">[39]<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.5\"><\/a>2.4.5. Journey<\/h4>\n<p>Though often abbreviated here, the journey can be a major scene where the distance is great, as in the story of Gilgamesh.,<a href=\"#_ftn40\">[40]<\/a> Along with the battle pattern, the journey can serve as a basic plot, as in the <em>Odyssey<\/em>.<a href=\"#_ftn41\">[41]<\/a> It confronts the hero with situations beyond the normal world of sedentary life (as if Penelope did not have her own problems). Like the battle narrative, the journey may become a complex narrative embracing the whole of traditional literature with episodes of hardship and hospitality, hostility and victory, and more. The journey may even take the hero into the fantastic world of the dream or the unknown world of death. Thus the journey may travel the length of human experience to try the hero\u2019s physical prowess, intellectual acumen, and moral strength.<\/p>\n<p>As a compendium of human experience, the great journeys are symbols of passage: from youth to maturity (Telemachus), ignorance to wisdom and realism (Gilgamesh), alienation to reconciliation (Sinuhe), chaos to order (Aeneas), temptation and trial to victory (Odysseus), bondage to promise (the Exodus), punishment to forgiveness (the Exile and Return of Judah). The complexities of these classic journeys carry more than the basic themes outlined above. Still, these journeys attempt to reverse the most fundamental human transition: the movement from life to death. Each story solves this fundamental human problem differently. For Gilgamesh, the triumph comes in the acceptance of mortality as his lot. For Sinuhe, the reconciliation with the pharaoh brings the return to Egypt to prepare a tomb for the voyage of death. Aeneas carries the <em>penates<\/em> from the defeated Troy to The Eternal City, Rome. As Northrop Frye points out, the fundamental biblical journey begins with the expulsion from the Garden, which brings death. Abraham makes a journey to the promised land; his progeny journey to Egypt and return in the Exodus and later to Babylon and back. The New Testament tells of the journey to Jerusalem and then to Rome with the final journey ending with the New Jerusalem where \u201cdeath will be no more\u201d (Rev 21:4).<a href=\"#_ftn42\">[42]<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.4.6\"><\/a>2.4.6. Variations on a single motif or pattern<\/h4>\n<p>To summarize: This section&#8217;s major motifs are the call and commission, which the storyteller may unfold in many ways. The story may open with a general call for a hero. False heroes may then be called and commissioned only to fail. The hero\u2019s call and commission by the leader of \u201cour\u201d side may be preceded or followed by a similar scene with the hero\u2019s parent.<a href=\"#_ftn43\">[43]<\/a> Where the hero is human, he typically calls for a divine commission from his deity.<a href=\"#_ftn44\">[44]<\/a> Motifs of threat and helplessness from the opening section may appear even several times to raise the tension. The preparation for battle likewise may be divided into several scenes. These motifs, therefore, form interchangeable parts which can join together and form many configurations depending upon character, theme, and the storyteller\u2019s genius.<\/p>\n<p>In the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, the initial reactions of helplessness give way to the call and commission of Ea and Anu. The failure of these false heroes provokes a renewed reaction of helplessness which this story characterizes, especially by sitting still and silent (II 53-87). The lesser deities join the triumvirate to form a new council in which Ea breaks the silence and names Marduk as the hero (II 88-95). The hero\u2019s father then calls, exhorts, and commissions Marduk to present himself to the leader Anshar (II 96-102). In the scene with the leader, Marduk seizes the initiative; he encourages the leader not to be \u201cmuted\u201d and calls for the commission which Anshar grants (<em>Ee\u00a0<\/em>139). Marduk then demands a reward of kingship <em>before<\/em> the battle has even begun. The hero\u2019s initiative concerning the reward demonstrates his total command of the situation. Anshar accepts this demand happily and convokes a larger council using a traditional messenger episode.<a href=\"#_ftn45\">[45]<\/a> The messenger reports the enemy\u2019s threat, bringing a further reaction of helplessness (III 1-128). The new council takes place within the context of a banquet, another traditional episode.<a href=\"#_ftn46\">[46]<\/a> After the gods make Marduk king, they renew the commission and prepare him for battle with a gift of \u201cmatchless weapons\u201d (III 129 &#8211; IV 34). The hero then prepares for battle himself: he constructs a bow and net and then gathers meteorological forces, treated ambiguously as weapons and army. Finally, \u201cwrapped in an armor of terror,\u201d Marduk mounts his chariot, drawn by named winds, while the other deities remain worried and helpless until the end (IV 35-62).<\/p>\n<p>The <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> adds an important twist with the hero demanding the reward of kingship before the battle. Even so, the storyteller builds these scenes from traditional motifs and patterns. The same is true of the other stories. Even the lengthy middle section of the <em>Iliad<\/em> (XVI-XIX) deals with a false hero, calls and commissions, preparation for battle, mixed with other traditional elements such as the reconciliation of hero and leader<a href=\"#_ftn47\">[47]<\/a> as well as the lament over a dead hero.<a href=\"#_ftn48\">[48]<\/a> Whatever the obstacles or complications, the hero emerges in the end with a commission confirmed by the whole society, represented by the leader.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"2.5\"><\/a>2.5. The Resolution: Victory, Plunder, and Recognition<\/h3>\n<p>The story\u2019s major tension resolves with the hero\u2019s victory over the enemy champion, which allows \u201cour\u201d side to defeat and destroy the enemy army. The taking of plunder leads to the recognition of the hero, which rounds out the story and brings it to a close.<\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.1\"><\/a>2.5.1. Single-combat<\/h4>\n<p>The single combat consists of the following traditional elements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the meeting of the warriors;<\/li>\n<li>the verbal exchange between the two warriors:<\/li>\n<li>the enemy\u2019s false confidence;<\/li>\n<li>the enemy\u2019s insults;<\/li>\n<li>the hero\u2019s indictment of the foe and enemy.<\/li>\n<li>the hero\u2019s initial failure<\/li>\n<li>help from other helpers<\/li>\n<li>the enemy\u2019s failure<\/li>\n<li>the hero\u2019s mortal blow with a missile<\/li>\n<li>the enemy\u2019s fall to the ground<\/li>\n<li>the hero\u2019s triumphal stance over the body<\/li>\n<li>the mutilation of the corpse with a hand weapon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The meeting of the warriors may include motifs from the earlier section, such as the description of the enemy\u2019s great power. The verbal exchange typically contains major themes, found especially the hero\u2019s indictment of the enemy.<a href=\"#_ftn49\">[49]<\/a> The enemy\u2019s speech with its insults raises the audience&#8217;s contempt and manifests the enemy&#8217;s moral emptiness.<a href=\"#_ftn50\">[50]<\/a> The introduction of the enemy\u2019s false confidence, a motif also found elsewhere, adds dramatic irony to the story.<a href=\"#_ftn51\">[51]<\/a> The hero\u2019s initial failure creates a new tension and retards the climax.<a href=\"#_ftn52\">[52]<\/a> Furthermore, it shows his dependence upon outside help and brings a return to motifs of the middle section: new strategies for battle, new weapons, and perhaps new assurances or encouragement.<a href=\"#_ftn53\">[53]<\/a> The enemy\u2019s failure likewise retards the climax.<a href=\"#_ftn54\">[54]<\/a> Beyond this functional dimension, both motifs of failure may have thematic implications for our understanding of the story.<\/p>\n<p>The hero\u2019s mortal blow to the enemy comes from some sort of missile: spear, arrow, stone, flying club. <a href=\"#_ftn55\">[55]<\/a> The enemy then falls to the ground,<a href=\"#_ftn56\">[56]<\/a> and the hero takes a triumphal stance over the body to represent the outcome visually. <a href=\"#_ftn57\">[57]<\/a> Finally, the mutilation of the corpse with a hand weapon provides a final symbolic gesture illustrating the complete destruction of the enemy champion. <a href=\"#_ftn58\">[58]<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.2\"><\/a>2.5.2. The defeat of the enemy army<\/h4>\n<p>After the defeat of the enemy hero, \u201cour\u201d side recognizes the hero\u2019s victory and completes it by defeating the enemy army. With this, the opening motifs of the story are reversed. \u201cOur\u201d side now poses the threat, and the enemy reacts with helplessness. The section unfolds as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>enemy\u2019s recognition of defeat:\n<ul>\n<li>the enemy\u2019s reaction of helplessness;<\/li>\n<li>the enemy\u2019s flight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>recognition of victory by \u201cour\u201d side:\n<ul>\n<li>a shout<a href=\"#_ftn59\">[59]<\/a><\/li>\n<li>the pursuit of the enemy<\/li>\n<li>the great or total destruction of the enemy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The scene is a stable feature of the royal battle narratives,<a href=\"#_ftn60\">[60]<\/a> but in these six stories of single-combat, the enemy army appears only in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Iliad<\/em>. Homer tells the destruction of Troy only in the <em>Odyssey<\/em>. In the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, Marduk himself defeats Tiamat\u2019s army and takes the Tablet of Destinies from Qingu.<a href=\"#_ftn61\">[61]<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.3\"><\/a>2.5.3. Plunder<\/h4>\n<p>Once the victory has been carried through, the plunder of the enemy takes place, for the spoils of war are also the trophies of victory. The hero typically receives a choice portion of the plunder, especially the slain\u2019s weapons and armor.<a href=\"#_ftn62\">[62]<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><a id=\"2.5.4\"><\/a>2.5.4. Recognition and reward of the hero<\/h4>\n<p>There follows the recognition of the hero by the leader and then by others, including the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 announcement of the defeat to \u201cour\u201d side.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the reaction of joy and celebration<\/li>\n<li>recognition of the hero with reward and renown (name)<\/li>\n<li>victory hymn<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the main body of \u201cour\u201d side is distant from the battle, someone must bring the news, as in the <em>Myth of Anzu<\/em>.<a href=\"#_ftn63\">[63]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Recognition may take the form of gestures and speeches that promise imperishable renown and the great name. Kingship is the great reward for the hero, and it typically comes with other motifs: royal insignia, dynasty (wife and progeny), kingdom, a dwelling (temple or palace) in the capital (city or mountain) of the kingdom. The hero, who does not become king, still receives rewards, especially some part of the plunder symbolic of the battle. Finally, the human hero may recognize the role played by his deity in the victory, as in <em>Sinuhe,<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn64\">[64]<\/a> a motif more common in the royal battle narratives treated in the next chapter.<\/p>\n<p>Victory brings renown, yet the goal is not the fleeting fame of the moment but enduring renown. As Gregory Nagy argues, imperishable renown and glory, \u03ba\u03bb\u03ad\u03bf\u03c2\u2014<em>kleos<\/em> in Greek, serves as a primary motivating force in the <em>Iliad<\/em>; however, the pursuit of glory and immortality is inextricably bound up with death.<a href=\"#_ftn65\">[65]<\/a> Patroclus dies in the pursuit of glory (XVI 87-90), and Achilles knows in a revelation from his mother that if he fights, he will die young, but his \u201c<em>kleos<\/em> shall be imperishable\u201d (IX 410-416). When Odysseus meets the dead Achilles in Hades, he confirms the validity of the dead hero\u2019s choice: \u201cThus not even in death have you lost your name, but ever shall you have fair <em>kleos <\/em>among all men, Achilles\u201d (<em>Od<\/em>. XXIV 93-94).<\/p>\n<p>Noteworthy in Odysseus\u2019 statement is the parallel between <em>kleos\/\u201c<\/em>glory<em>\u201d<\/em> and the \u201cname,\u201d for, in the ancient Near East, the theme of renown is often expressed by the motif of the name, especially as the greatest or an everlasting\/enduring name. <a href=\"#_ftn66\">[66]<\/a> Significantly, the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> ends with the fifty names of Marduk, which describe his exalted power and responsibilities (VI 99 \u2013 VII 144). Likewise, the <em>Myth of Anzu<\/em> ends with the names of Ninurta.<a href=\"#_ftn67\">[67]<\/a> In one of the earliest references from Mesopotamia, a hymn for \u0160ulgi, a Sumerian king, names him as \u201chero, lord, mighty one of the foreign lands, the \u2018champion\u2019 of Sumer,\u201d: \u201cLike Anshar, may your name be placed in the \u2018mouths\u2019 of all the lands!\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn68\">[68]<\/a> The tradition endures in 1\u00a0Macc 6:44, where Eleazar \u201cgave up his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn69\">[69]<\/a> Likewise, before her battle, Judith proclaims that her victory \u201cwill go down through all generations of our descendants\u201d (Jdt 8:32). By winning this name, the hero is able to establish for himself or herself a kind of immortality, sometimes symbolized also by the raising of a stele as a permanent monument.<a href=\"#_ftn70\">[70]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The multiplication of names in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Myth of Anzu, <\/em>therefore, forms a fitting close to the epic and serves as a victory hymn. The response of Athtart to Baal\u2019s victory over Yamm has a similar function.<a href=\"#_ftn71\">[71]<\/a> The victory hymn proper appears in Exodus 15, Judges 5 and Judith 16:1-17 to celebrate the battle, the hero, and, where appropriate, the hero\u2019s kingship. Motifs are drawn from the battle narrative expand the hymn but not necessarily in a narrative sequence since the audience knows or knew the story. Again, every extant story of a victorious hero is a celebration of the hero\u2019s glory and fame and so of the hero\u2019s \u201cname.\u201d Where the story remains extant, the hero\u2019s glorious name remains imperishable.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"2.6\"><\/a>2.6. Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>While the battle narrative may provide the framework for the whole story as in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, the pattern may be repeated to form a larger story or joined with other motifs and patterns. In the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161, <\/em>the fight between Marduk and Tiamat is preceded by a theogony and the first battle between Ea and Apsu; after the primary battle, the scene of recognition alternates with a cosmogony. The whole of the <em>Iliad<\/em> presents a constant return of battle motifs and patterns. Still, in both stories, the single-combat stands at the heart of the story. In the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em> and <em>Sinuhe<\/em>, the battle narrative combines with other traditional elements and patterns. <em>The<\/em> fight against \u1e2aumbaba belongs to Gilgamesh\u2019s youthful adventures before the reality of death confronts the hero; the battle ironically underlines the hero\u2019s immature understanding of death. This epic ends not with a battle but with a journey in search of immortal life. In <em>Sinuhe, <\/em>the fight forces the hero who once fled to \u201cdecide once more whether to flee or to stay and confront his personal difficulty.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn72\">[72]<\/a> As such, the battle marks the transition from alienation to reconciliation, and the battle plays a vital role in this transition as a demonstration of the hero\u2019s courage, as opposed to his youthful cowardice, which brought about his exile.<\/p>\n<p>The larger context must be considered in assessing the significance of these stories as well as the internal factors: narrative world, characterization, particular thematic concerns. All of these factors contribute to the unique shape of each story. In short, there is a reciprocal relationship between form and content. Often this relationship is traditional, but the tradition does not account for everything, especially where the storyteller is of Homer\u2019s caliber. Homer creates new horizons for the tradition, especially in his treatment of Hector. The <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> offers a basic example of the tradition, for there the lines between good and evil, hero and enemy are clearly drawn. The battle narrative is a story of triumph, the triumph of the hero over the enemy, and the triumph of good over evil.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"2.7\"><\/a>2.7. Footnotes for Chapter 2<\/h3>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> H. Jason describes A. Skaftymov\u2019s work, <em>Poetika I genesis bylin <\/em>[Poetics and origin of Russian epic songs] (1924) in \u201cPrecursors of Propp: Formalist Theories in Early Russian Ethnopoetics,\u201d <em>Journal<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Poetics<\/em> <em>and Theory of Literature<\/em> 3 (1977) 471-516. For V. Propp\u2019s work, cf. his <em>Morphology<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>the<\/em> <em>Folktale<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> H. Jason, \u201cDavid and Goliath: A Folk Epic\u201d? <em>Biblica<\/em> 60 (1979) 36-70. Also her \u201cilja of Muron and Tzar Kalin: A Proposal for a Model for the Narrative Structure of an Epic Struggle,\u201d <em>Slavica Hierosolymitana<\/em> 5-6 (1981) 47-55.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a> Joseph Campbell, <em>A Hero with a Thousand Faces, <\/em>Bollingen Series 17 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949, 1968)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> Benjamin R. Foster, <em>Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature<\/em>, 2 vol. (Bethesda MD: CDL Press, 1996), I 350-409. Other translations include that of E.A. Speiser and A.K. Grayson in <em>ANET3<\/em> 60-72<em> = Ancient Near Eastern Texts, <\/em>edited by James B. Pritchard (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 3rd edition,1978). Stephanie Dalley has another in \u201cThe Epic of Creation\u201d in <em>Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, revised edition, 2000), 228-277. On Marduk as a divine warrior, cf. Sa-Moon Kang, <em>Divine War in the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East<\/em> (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1989), pp. 37-38.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> There are two texts of the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>: a partial Old Babylonian (OB) text which calls the hero Ningirsu, and a more complete Standard Babylonian or Later Version (LV) in four tablets from Middle and Late Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian manuscripts. The citations here follow Benjamin R. Foster, <em>Before the Muses,<\/em> I, 458-481 with both an Old Babylonian (OB) text and a Later Version (LV). See also Stephanie Dalley\u2019s translation in <em>Myths from Mesopotamia, <\/em>the SB text (203-221), and the OB text (222-227). For Tablet I of the LV, see W.W. Hallo and W. L. Moran, \u201cThe First Tablet of the SB Recension of the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>,\u201d <em>Journal of Cuneiform Studies<\/em> 31(1979) 65-115.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> <em>The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian<\/em>, translated with an introduction by Andrew George (London: Penguin Books, 1999), esp. xxi-xxx. He has also produced a critical edition: <em>The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts<\/em>, 2 Volumes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). There are many other translations including Dalley\u2019s in <em>Myths from Mesopotamia<\/em>, 39-153.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a> The fight between <em>Baal and Yamm<\/em> is found in KTU 1.2.I and 1.2.IV as given by Mark S. Smith in <em>The Ugaritic Baal Cycle: Introduction with the Text, Translation and Commentary of KTU 1.1-2, <\/em>Vetus Testamentum Supplement 55 (Leiden: Brill, 1994). Cf. also the translations in <em>Stories from Ancient Canaan, <\/em>edited and translated by Michael D. Coogan and Mark S. Smith (Louisville KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012) 96-153; J.C.L. Gibson\u2019s <em>Canaanite<\/em> <em>Myths<\/em> <em>and<\/em> <em>Legends<\/em> (Edinburgh: Clark, 21978) <em>CTA<\/em> 2 i and iv<em>. <\/em>Cf. also the translation of Dennis Pardee, \u201cUgaritic Myths\u201d in <em>Context of Scripture<\/em>, edited by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, vol. 1, pp. 241-282, esp. 245-249. Leiden: Brill, 2003.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a> See W.K. Simpson\u2019s translation in <em>The<\/em> <em>Literature<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Ancient<\/em> <em>Egypt<\/em>, edited by W.K. Simpson (New Haven: Yale University Press, 3rd edition, 2003) 54\u201166. He includes an extensive bibliography and for the standard text points to Roland Koch, <em>Die Erz\u00e4hlung des Sinuhe <\/em>(Brussels: Fondation \u00e9gyptologique Reine Elisabeth, 1990). Also the translation by Miriam Lichtheim, \u201cSinuhe\u201d in <em>Context of Scripture<\/em>, edited by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, vol. 1, pp. 77-82. Leiden: Brill, 2003.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a> See, for instance, the literary interpretation of Vincent A. Tobin, \u201cThe Secret of Sinuhe,\u201d <em>Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt<\/em>, 32 (1995) 161-178.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a> My considerations are confined mainly to the last books of the <em>Iliad<\/em> beginning with Apollo\u2019s call and commission of Hector in XV 237. For the text and translation of the <em>Iliad<\/em>, I have used that of A.T. Murray (Loeb Classical Library 170, 171; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1924, 1971).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a> By hero\u2019s friend, I mean anyone, human or divine, who helps the hero carry out his mission by serving as a messenger, supplying weapons, etc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth, <\/em>LV I 1\u201114.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> I 79\u2011104. The Samson tradition also begins with a birth episode (Judg 13). A further example can be found in the Hittite battle narrative <em>The Song<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Ullikummis<\/em>, <em>ANET3<\/em>, 121\u2011125; however in this story the episode is transferred to the enemy champion; because of its fragmentary condition, I have not used it as a primary reference point. The \u201ctraditional birth episode\u201d is not a unique feature of the battle narrative; it has been studied in depth by D. Irvin in <em>Mytharion<\/em>, Traditional Episode Tablet, Sheet 1. The episode includes eight motifs; only three are found in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>: the conception, the birth and the father\u2019s reaction; Irvin does not list it in her examples presumably because of this brevity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a> Compare Gilgamesh\u2019s approach to death in <em>Gilg. <\/em>Y 140-150, 189-192 to that found in Tablets VIII\u2011X, Gilgamesh embarks on a journey in search of eternal life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> XV: the Trojan threat takes the form of a direct attack. <em>Ee<\/em> I 108 \u2011 II 3: Tiamat, the bad gods push Tiamat into action, and she gives birth to a demonic army. KTU 1.2.I.11\u201119, 31\u201135: Yamm sends messengers with the outrageous demand that Baal be handed over as a slave. Typically this motif is followed by a provisional capitulation; here the helpless El agrees to the demand (i 36\u201138). Often these two motifs accompany the siege of a city. See an example of the siege in the following: the Sumerian narrative <em>Gilgamesh<\/em> <em>and<\/em> <em>Agga<\/em> also with outrageous demands in <em>ANET3<\/em>, 44\u201147 and in W.\u00a0R\u00f6mer\u2019s <em>Das<\/em> <em>sumerische<\/em> <em>Kurzepos<\/em> \u201c<em>Bilgame\u0161<\/em> <em>und<\/em> <em>Akka<\/em>\u201d (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 209\/1; Neukirchen: Butzon &amp; Bereker, 1980); Josh 10:5; 1 Sam 11:1\u20113 with outrageous demands; 1 Kgs 20:1\u201112 with outrageous demands; 2 Kgs 6:24; 16:5; 18:13\u201137 (outrageous demands); Jdt 7:19\u201132 (provisional capitulation). The most famous siege is that of the Greeks against Troy, i.e. by \u201cour\u201d side against the enemy; the reversal here is perhaps one indication of the ambiguity of this war. In <em>Sinuhe<\/em> B 110, the Strong Man of Retenu, \u201ca champion without equal\u201d delivers a challenge, here directly to the hero; cf. also 1\u00a0Sam 17:8\u201110. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV I 58-85, the motif is cast in cultural terms; the mythic bird Anzu steals the Tablets of Destiny which control the order and fate of the \u201cworld,\u201d and then he flees to his mountain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a> The fight between Baal and Yamm for kingship takes fertility as its major theme which is expressed in the identity of the two gods: the god of the storm against the god of the sea. <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, though similar, contrasts the emotional and erratic Tiamat with the rational and measured Marduk, thus a contrast between anarchy and law. In <em>Sinuhe<\/em> the Strong Man is motivated by greed and jealousy, the latter touching on the hero\u2019s alien origin; but the enemy\u2019s motive is related only tangentially to the major theme of the story. Mindless greed for power motivates the mythic bird in the <em>Anzu Myth,<\/em> which is thematically less complex than the other stories, the most complex being the <em>Iliad<\/em>. Homer presents a war in which right and wrong are not divided into two opposing camps, and the enemy champion, Hector, far from being the symbol of evil, is in many ways the most sympathetic character in the story. To this extent, Homer moves beyond the tradition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a> In <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.I 23\u201124, the gods lower their heads to their knees when they see the messengers of Yamm. The <em>Iliad<\/em> includes a number of images to convey a sense of helplessness and to punctuate the mounting Trojan attack: fear in XV 279\u2011305; a desperate prayer in XV 367\u2011378; the continual retreat of the Greek forces; and finally the weeping of Patroclus XV 390\u2011404, XVI 1\u20114.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref18\">[18]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> II 4\u20116, 49\u201152, 121-122; <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV I 83-84: \u201cAwful silence spread; deadly stillness reigned. \/ Their father and counselor Enlil was speechless\u201d; also OB II 1\u20115.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref19\">[19]<\/a> The description of Tiamat giving birth to the demonic army is repeated word for word four times in <em>Ee<\/em> I 129-161; II 11-48; III 15-52, 73-110; a reaction of helplessness follows. Homer, rather than repeat the same description, builds the enemy attack so that it reaches higher pitches as the story progresses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref20\">[20]<\/a> Anzu I 87-90. Dalley reads \u201cour name\u201d in her Standard Babylonian text but \u201chis name\u201d in the OB II 7-10. Foster as well as Hallo and Moran read \u201chis name\u201d which would be more traditional: Hallo and Moran, \u201cThe First Tablet of the SB <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>,\u201d 82-83.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref21\">[21]<\/a> In <em>Ee<\/em> II 49\u2011119, Anshar calls first Ea and then Anu to deal with the threat of Tiamat. Ea is unsuccessful though the broken text makes it difficult to ascertain whether he refuses or is unable to complete the task. Anu accepts but is unable to approach Tiamat. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV I 91-158 || OB II 11\u201130, three false heroes are called and commissioned; but the false heroes object that the task is impossible, and the leader withdraws the commission. In the <em>Iliad<\/em>, Patroclus calls for the commission to drive the Trojans from the Greek camp, and Achilles grants the commission. Although Patroclus carries out this commission, he continues the battle and takes it to the walls of Troy against the command of Achilles; there the false hero dies\u2014typically the fate of the heroic friend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref22\">[22]<\/a> Old Testament scholarship has dealt with this genre primarily in terms of the prophetic call narrative with Norman Habel providing the foundation: \u201cThe Form and Significance of the Call Narrative,\u201d <em>ZAW<\/em> 77 (1965) 297\u2011323. Much scholarship has flowed from this down through at least Hava Shalom-Guy, \u201cThe Call Narratives of Gideon and Moses: Literary Convention or More?\u201d <em>Journal of Hebrew Scriptures<\/em> 11 (2011) 1-19. This line of scholarship tends to see the \u201ccall narrative\u201d as an isolated biblical genre rather than a standard scene with various possibilities depending on the characters. What biblical scholars designate as the \u201ccall narrative,\u201d I would classify as \u201ca divine call and commission,\u201d i.e. by a deity to a human character. As a result, these important biblical examples are a mixture of the call pattern with elements from the pattern of theophany as B.O. Long has observed; \u201cProphetic Call Traditions and Reports of Visions,\u201d <em>ZAW<\/em> 84 (1972) 494\u2011500. The sign, considered a special feature of the biblical tradition, often corresponds to the preparation for battle which includes the arming of the hero. Thus Moses is given tricks, and the Lord puts his words into Jeremiah\u2019s mouth. These biblical \u201ccall narratives\u201d thus fit into a much larger genre. I have recently explored this in my article, \u201cBasic Plots in the Bible: A Literary Approach to Genre,\u201d <em>Biblical Theology Bulletin<\/em> 49 (2019) 198\u2013213, esp. 201-202.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref23\">[23]<\/a> Habel, \u201cCall Narrative,\u201d 318.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref24\">[24]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 31\u201173; LV I 161- SB I iii 99 \u2013 iv 13, II 1\u201128: Ea first asks the mother of the hero, Mami, for permission to send her son, and then she calls her son before the assembled deities and commissions him. His response is recorded in just one line: \u201cThe warrior heeded his mother\u2019s word\u201d (OB II 73; LV II 28). <em>Ee<\/em> II 130-162: Ea\u2019s call and commission of Marduk to go to the leader Anshar and the hero\u2019s response. The <em>Iliad<\/em> XV 254\u2011263 relates the divine call and commission of the disheartened Hector by Apollo to fight against the Greeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref25\">[25]<\/a> The pattern is little used in the heroic narratives, but it is common for the king to call for a commission from the deity in the royal tradition discussed below. Still, the pattern is found in <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 5\u2011274: Patroclus calls on Achilles to send him against the Trojans, and the friend\u2019s request is granted without objection although Patroclus expected Achilles to object.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref26\">[26]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 11\u201130; SB I 91-160.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref27\">[27]<\/a> <em>Gilg.<\/em> Y 172\u2011215, esp., 192-193 and Y245-271, esp. 249-250. The pattern also shapes the scene in which Enkidu objects to the hero\u2019s proposed fight against \u1e2auwawa: Y 104-160. In the <em>Iliad<\/em>, the pattern shapes the meeting between Achilles and his mother (XVI 5\u2011274). In 1\u00a0Kgs 22:19\u201122 the grand pattern is condensed into four verses: general call (22:19\u201120a); false heroes (22:20b); call for commission (22:21); leader\u2019s question (22:22a); answer (22:22b); commission (22:22c). Cf. also 1\u00a0Sam 17:32\u201137. In <em>Baal<\/em> <em>and<\/em> <em>Yamm<\/em>, the hero calls for the commission, but the leader ignores the call <em>(<\/em>KTU 1.2.I 24\u201128).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref28\">[28]<\/a> The hero\u2019s parent in both the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em> and the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> adds the exhortation to duty to their call and commission of the hero; <em>Ee<\/em> II 130-134; <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 44\u201172; LV I 198-210; II 1-28. After meeting with the elders, Gilgamesh goes to his mother, the goddess Ninsun, who adopts Enkidu, entrusts her son to him and prays to Shamash for a safe journey; <em>Gilg.<\/em> III 19-106.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref29\">[29]<\/a> A battle plan is given in the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 43\u201172, LV II 5-25; cf. Josh 6:2\u20115; 8:1\u20112, 3\u20118 (ambush). The elders of Uruk bless Gilgamesh and give him advice; <em>Gilg.<\/em> Y 247-271.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref30\">[30]<\/a> A blessing by the elders is found in <em>Gilg.<\/em> Y 213-215 and by the young men in Y247-260, and 285-286 which reads: \u201cMay your God go [before you] \/ May [Shamash] permit you to win [your victory!]\u201d Cf. also 1\u00a0Sam 17:37b. Ninsun also prays for Gilgamesh and Enkidu; III 63-75, 88-106.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref31\">[31]<\/a> The major example of the divine commission, delivered directly by a god, is found in <em>Iliad<\/em> XV 254\u2011261, discussed below. The divine commission with these assurances is a typical feature of the royal battle narratives discussed below. For the biblical tradition, cf. for example Josh 1:5,9; Judg 6:14; 2 Kgs 6:16. The motif of the blessing or the assurance is not confined to the battle narrative; cf. H.D. Preuss, \u201c&#8230; ich werde mit dir sein,\u201d <em>ZAW<\/em> 80 (1968) 139\u2011173.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref32\">[32]<\/a> M. Nissinen, \u201cFear Not: A Study on an Ancient Near Eastern Phrase,\u201d in <em>The Changing Face of Form Criticism for the Twenty-First Century, <\/em>edited by M.A. Sweeney and E.B. Zvi (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003) 122-61.P.E. Dion, \u201cThe \u2018Fear Not\u2019 Formula and Holy War,\u201d <em>Catholic Biblical Quarterly<\/em> 32 (1970) 565\u2011570, esp. 566; also H.M. (=P.E.) Dion, \u201cThe Patriarchal Traditions and Literary Form of the \u2018Oracles of Salvation,\u2019\u201d <i>Catholic Biblical Quarterly <\/i>29 (1967) 198\u2011206. Also M. Weippert, \u201c\u2018Heiliger Krieg\u2019 in Israel und Assyrien: Kritische Anmerku<span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">hampion, but strangely weeps (helplessness) when he sees the foe. Cf. 1\u00a0Sam 11:6 for Saul\u2019s anger. <\/span><em style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Sinuhe<\/em><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"> 113\u2011127: the text does not refer to anger, but the hero\u2019s speech is characterized by his righteous indignation; also 1 Sam 17:26. In both cases, the rhetorical question helps convey the hero\u2019s indignation. Cf. also Judg 10:16; then, perhaps, Exod 3:7.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[33] <em>KTU<\/em> 1.2.I 38,43: Baal reacts with anger when El capitulates (helplessness) to the outrageous demand of Yamm (threat). The <em>Iliad<\/em>, of course, is constructed around the motif of righteous indignation, and specifically the image of anger which is the opening line of the <em>Iliad<\/em>. <em>Ullikummis<\/em> II\u2011a: the storm god becomes angry when told of the enemy champion, but strangely weeps (helplessness) when he sees the foe. Cf. 1\u00a0Sam 11:6 for Saul\u2019s anger. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 113\u2011127: the text does not refer to anger, but the hero\u2019s speech is characterized by his righteous indignation; also 1\u00a0Sam 17:26. In both cases the rhetorical question helps convey the hero\u2019s indignation. Cf. also Judg 10:16; then, perhaps, Exod 3:7.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref34\">[34]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> II 106\u2011115; <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.I 24\u201128; 1\u00a0Sam 17:32.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref35\">[35]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> 18.478-608. In <em>Baal and Yamm<\/em>, Kothar wa-\u1e2aasis fabricates clubs during the fight with the first-named Yagarrish and the second Ayyamarri; KTU I.2.IV 11-20. Mark S. Smith, <em>Poetic Heroes: Literary Commemorations of Warriors and Warrior Culture in the Early Biblical World (Grand Rapids, MI: Willliam B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014) <\/em><em>163-164. <\/em>Also Bowra, <em>Heroic<\/em> <em>Poetry<\/em>, 149\u2011154.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref36\">[36]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 30, 35\u201158: both heroes and leaders take part in the preparation which includes the weapons, armor, chariot, and muster of the army. <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 130\u2011220,257\u2011271: after Patroclus has received the commission from Achilles, the preparation of all four elements follows; XVIII 127\u2011137: after Achilles answers his mother\u2019s objection, Thetis agrees to her son\u2019s going to battle but makes him promise not to enter the fight until she returns with new armor; XVIII 203\u2011218: in the next scene Achilles is commissioned to mount the battlement in order to turn the Trojans back; Athena clothes the hero with the sunset in place of armor, and she adds her voice to his so that his shouting becomes a weapon and turns the Trojans back; XIX 357\u2011424: Achilles\u2019 meeting with the Greek leaders ends with a preparation which contains all four major elements; in addition, the gods strengthen the fasting hero with ambrosia and nectar while the Greek forces eat (XIX 338\u2011356). See also Kang, <em>Divine War<\/em>, 28-29.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref37\">[37]<\/a> <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 127-129. Hans Goedicke reads <em>Sinuhe<\/em> B 134 (R 159) to B139 (R 166) to mean that \u201chis opponent came with the full battle gear customary in the Levant at the time. Sinuhe, however, mindful of his \u2018Egyptian&#8217; upbringing, opts for a bow and dagger as weapons to carry out the fateful duel. Thus he rejects the Retenu-hero&#8217;s battle gear and insists that it be taken away. Only after it is laid down is Sinuhe ready to commence the actual duel\u201d; \u201cSinuhe\u2019s Duel,\u201d <em>Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt<\/em>, 21 (1984) 197-201, esp. 199. This would emphasize Sinuhe\u2019s Egyptian heritage which is a major theme in the story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref38\">[38]<\/a> Cf. the call of the Myrmidons in <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 200\u2011209, 269\u2011274; Ramesses tries to call his army back into battle, but they do not come but leave him to fight the enemy army single-handedly; <em>Battle of Kadesh<\/em> P 115.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref39\">[39]<\/a> Though the hero\u2019s mother harnesses the seven whirlwinds in the <em>Anzu<\/em> <em>Myth<\/em>, OB II 75-78, Ninurta does these things for himself in LV II 30-34.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref40\">[40]<\/a> <em>Gilg<\/em>. IV &amp; V: the journey is broken into days and extended by dreams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref41\">[41]<\/a> Scholes and Kellogg, <em>Nature of Narrative<\/em>, 228. They delineate three types of journeys in terms of movement: \u201cthe journey to a distant goal (e.g., the <em>Aeneid<\/em>), and the return journey (e.g., the <em>Odyssey<\/em>), and the quest (e.g., the <em>Argonautica<\/em>).\u201dOther examples of the journey from the ancient Near East may be found in the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>, Tablets IV-V, IX-XI, XII; also the journeys in the Sumerian stories of Lugalbanda; cf. C. Wilcke, <em>Das Lugalbanda Epos<\/em> (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1969). Cf. also A.B. Lord, <em>Singer of Tales<\/em>, 162; also A.B. Lord, \u201cA.B. Lord, \u201cTradition and the Oral Poet: Homer, Huso, and Avdo Medjedovic,\u201d <em>Atti del Convegno internazionale sul tema: Poesia epica e la sua formazione<\/em> (Problemi Attuali di scienza e di Cultura 139; Rome: Academia Nazionale dei Licei 1970),\u201d 13-30, esp. 24-28. Also Merrit Moseley\u2019s \u201cThe Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hero\u2019s Journey\u201d in <em>The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/em>, edited by Harold Bloom and Blake Hobby (NY: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2009) 63-74. See also my discussion in \u201cBasic Plots,\u201d 202-206.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref42\">[42]<\/a> Frye, <em>Anatomy of Criticism<\/em>, 319-320.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref43\">[43]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> II 130-134: Ea and Marduk. <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> OB II 43\u201172; LV I 198-210; II 1\u201127: the hero\u2019s mother commissions the hero in the name of the community. <em>Iliad<\/em> XVIII 36\u2011147: Achilles and Thetis. <em>Gilg<\/em>. III 15-133+: Gilgamesh and his mother Ninsun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref44\">[44]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 221\u2011256: Achilles pours out a libation for Patroclus, but the prayer is only partly answered by Zeus. <em>Gilg<\/em>. Y214-235: Gilgamesh prays to his god Shamash and promises to build a house for him on his return.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref45\">[45]<\/a> The traditional messenger episode in the ancient Near East has been studied by D. Irvin, <em>Mytharion<\/em>, Traditional Episode Table, Sheet 2. The biblical material has been subjected to an exhaustive examination by Ann M. Vater, \u201cNarrative Patterns for the Story of Commissioned Communications in the Old Testament,\u201d <i>Journal of Biblical Literature <\/i>99 (1980) 365\u2011382. Basically, the episode has three basic elements: 1) call and commission of a messenger in which the message is delivered verbatim; 2) journey; 3) the delivery of the message verbatim. Such is the case in <em>Ee<\/em> III 1\u2011128. The pattern may now be reversed with a return message. Furthermore, the pattern may be very minimal; cf. especially Vater on this point. The messenger episode is a functional pattern that transfers information; in general, the pattern itself is much less important than the information conveyed and the larger context in which it is set.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref46\">[46]<\/a> Cf. D. Irvin, <em>Mytharion<\/em>, Traditional Episode Table, Sheet 1. She lists five motifs, the last four being found in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>: 1) orders to prepare a feast (missing): 2) invitations (III 1\u2011124): 3) the arrival of the guest (III 129\u2011133); 4) eating and drinking (III 134\u2011137); 5) problem (III 138-IV 34). In <em>Baal and Yamm,<\/em> only motifs 4 and 5 appear; <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.I 20\u201121, 22\u201138. Cf. also Bowra, <em>Heroic<\/em> <em>Poetry<\/em>, 179\u2011183.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref47\">[47]<\/a> For the reconciliation of hero and leader, see the story of Bellerophon in the <em>Iliad<\/em> (VI 155-197) in which the queen falsely accuses the hero of attempting to seduce her. The motif is found also in the Egyptian \u201cThe Story of the Two Brothers,\u201d \u00a7 iii; <em>ANET3<\/em> p.24. Also Joseph and Potiphar\u2019s wife in Gen 39:7-20; the Greek story of Phaedra, Theseus, and Hippolytus told by Euripides among others. The story of Bellerophon, as Gunkel noted, also includes the motif of a hero bearing a letter calling for his death; <em>The Folktale in the Old Testament, <\/em>translated by Michael D. Rutter (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1987) 145.<\/p>\n<p>Motifs of alienation and reconciliation also shape the Egyptian \u201cStory of Sinuhe\u201d where the hero because of his fear or cowardice flees Egypt at the accession of Sesostris I who invites the hero after his victory over the Strong Man of Retenu to return. The <em>Odyssey<\/em> provides another variation in which the alienation between god and hero creates the basic tension of the story; under pressure from Zeus (<em>Bk.<\/em> XVIII), Poseidon relents so that the hero may return, defeat the suitors, reunite with his family and take possession of his kingship and kingdom. The alienation of hero and deities also shapes Tablets VI and VIII of the <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In the Bible, the story of Jacob and Esau (Gen 25; 27; 32-33) and that of Joseph and his brother (Gen 37,39-50) recount the alienation and reconciliation of brothers. In the story of David and Saul, the pattern of alienation is introduced first between deity and king in 1\u00a0Sam 13-15 and then between king and hero in 1 Sam 19-31.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref48\">[48]<\/a> Violent death brings in its wake a series of traditional responses from those who are bound to the dead person by family or covenant ties. The traditional mechanism can be seen at work several times in the <em>Iliad<\/em> (Glaucus\u2019 response to Sarpedon\u2019s death in <em>Iliad<\/em> XVI 508-867, Achilles\u2019 response to Patroclus\u2019 death in XVII-XXIII, and Priam\u2019s response to Hector\u2019s death in XXIV), and the duties demanded by others toward the dead carry the <em>Iliad<\/em> forward from Book XV to the conclusion. To the Homeric examples can be added the response to the death of Baal (<em>Coogan<\/em> and Smith, <em>Stories<\/em>, p. 144, 5.6.23-25), the response of Daniel and Pughat to Aqhat\u2019s death (<em>Coogan<\/em> and Smith, <em>Stories<\/em>, p. 47-49, 3.1-2), and David\u2019s response to Absalom\u2019s death (2 Sam 18:18-19:11). Typical motifs are the following: 1) messenger report of the death to an absent hero and\/or family; 2) reactions of grief; 3) formal lament by the hero, family, and\/or others; 4) retrieval of the body; 5) burial of the dead with mourning; 6) avenging of the death by the hero\/family; B. Fenik notes that it is common for a man to avenge his slain \u201cfriend\u201d\/\u201dbrother\u201d; <em>Typical Battle Scenes in the Iliad<\/em>, 139, 162.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref49\">[49]<\/a> Verbal exchange: <em>Ee<\/em> IV 71\u201186: Marduk accuses Tiamat of hating those whom she bore and challenges her to single combat. <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV II 39-47; <em>Gilg.<\/em> V 85-94; <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 249\u2011272. The text of KTU 1.2.I 45+ breaks off before the content of Baal\u2019s message to Yamm becomes clear, but there has already been an exchange between Baal and the messengers of Yamm at the banquet. Verbal exchanges by messenger, rather than face to face, become the norm in the royal texts. For biblical examples, see Judg 11:12\u201128; 1\u00a0Sam 17:42\u201147; 2\u00a0Kgs 14:8\u201111. Susan Niditch, citing Quincy Wright\u2019s <em>A Study of War<\/em>, says that \u201cthe goal in taunting is, in fact, to preserve prestige and avoid physical combat: the taunt is often accompanied by bluffing, counter-taunting, and more bluffing.\u201d Niditch, <em>War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) 92-93; Q. Wright, <em>A Study of <\/em>War, 2 vol. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1942) 1401-1415.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref50\">[50]<\/a> <em>Gilg<\/em>. V 85-94: \u1e2aumbaba mocks Enkidu and promises to slit Gilgamesh\u2019s throat. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 260\u2011272. In the latter, the insults are all on the hero\u2019s side, a twist of the motif. Also 1\u00a0Sam 17:42\u201144.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref51\">[51]<\/a> In addition to the false confidence manifested by the insults, see <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV II 39-42 where Anzu brags about stealing the Tablets of Destiny and demands to know who has come to fight him. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 278\u2011311: after Achilles has failed with his first shot, Hector, already deceived by Athena, believes falsely that he will be the victor. See also below p.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref52\">[52]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV II 48-Assy. II 57\u2011147: Ninurta\u2019s attempt to hit Anzu with an arrow fails because the mythic bird is able to turn the arrow back with his powerful word; Ninurta sends a messenger to announce the failure to the leader who sends back a commission, essentially the same as the first, but with the addition of a new stratagem for the battle plan and with the promise of winning the name \u201cMighty One\u201d (II 147). KTU 1.2.IV 1\u201118: As the column begins, Baal is recoiling (seemingly) from an initial(?) failure in the fight with Yamm. Kothar\u2011and\u2011\u1e2aasis offers encouragement to the hero and gives him a flying club which also fails to bring down the enemy champion in the first attempt. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 273\u2011277: Achilles hurls his spear at Hector who avoids this initial attempt, but Athena, unseen by the Trojan hero, retrieves the spear for the hero. Here the initial failure allows Hector\u2019s false confidence to build the dramatic irony of the story. In each case, the initial failure is followed by a return to motifs from the middle section whether from the scene of call and commission or from the preparation for battle (gifts of weapons).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref53\">[53]<\/a> Even while Ninurta is engaged with Anzu in battle, the messenger Sharur goes back and forth between the hero and Ea to bring counsel to direct the battle; <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> SB II 103-147. In <em>Gilg<\/em>. V 137-140, Hittite recension, Shamash appears to the hero after the foe has made his presence felt, and rouses the mighty gale-winds against \u1e2aumbaba. <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.IV 18\u201123: Kothar wa-\u1e2aasis provides two flying clubs. In <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 214\u2011225, Athena appears to Achilles and assures him that Hector will not escape now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref54\">[54]<\/a> <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 289\u2011293: Hector\u2019s spear hits Achilles\u2019 shield but does no damage. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 134\u2011137: The Strong Man of Retenu discharges a whole arsenal of weapons at the hero who avoids them all. The emphasis laid upon the sheer number of the enemy\u2019s arms must not be overlooked in the interpretation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref55\">[55]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 87\u2011103: Marduk engages the manic Tiamat in single-combat and when she opens her mouth to consume him, he drives in the Evil Wind to hold open her body and shoots her with an arrow. <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV III 1-21: Ninurta uses two weapons to strike repeatedly until Anzu drops his wings; he then with arrow and dart pierces Anzu\u2019s heart, lungs and wings. \u1e2aumbaba pleads for his life twice, but Enkidu encourages the hero to finish the battle causing the enemy to curse them; finally, Gilgamesh strikes at \u1e2aumbaba\u2019s neck: V 85-265. Baal subdues Yamm with two flying clubs provided by Kothar wa-\u1e2aasis: <em>KTU <\/em>1.2.IV 18\u201123. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 312\u2011329: Achilles hits Hector with the spear, retrieved by Athena and originally given to him by Peleus his father. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 138: The hero hits the Strong Man with a single arrow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref56\">[56]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 104a; KTU 1.2.IV 25\u201126; <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 330a; <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 139.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref57\">[57]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 104b; <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 330b\u2011366; <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 140\u2011141.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref58\">[58]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 129\u2011132, 136\u2011138: Marduk crushes Tiamat\u2019s skull and tramples her legs, but the severing of the body is reserved for the first act of creation. In the <em>Anzu Myth <\/em>LV III 10-20, Ninurta cuts off the wings and shoots an arrow into his heart. In KTU 1.2.IV 27, <em>yq\u0167<\/em> <em>b\u02bfl wy\u0161t.ym.ykly<\/em> <em>tpt.nhr<\/em> is translated by Gibson: \u201cBaal dragged out Yamm and laid him down, he made an end of Judge Nahar.\u201d Smith translates it: \u201cBaal drags and dismembered(?) Yamm, \/ He destroys Judge River (p. 323). The difficulties of translation are discussed by Smith in the <em>Ugaritic Baal Cycle<\/em>, 351-356. In <em>Gilg.<\/em> V 264-265: Gilgamesh strikes \u1e2aumbaba\u2019s neck \u201cand the ravines did run with his blood\u201d (Ish 25\u2019), and on their journey back, \u201cGilgamesh [<em>carried<\/em>] the head of \u1e2aumbaba\u201d; V 302. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 371\u2011404: The young men stab Hector\u2019s body as they view it, and Achilles drags the corpse around Troy; however, the hero does not carry out his threat to mutilate the body but gives the body back to Priam, Hector\u2019s father. The breaking of this motif in the <em>Iliad<\/em> becomes the climax of the story. In <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 140, the hero finishes off the Strong Man with the foe\u2019s own ax. See also the similar analysis of Frolov and Wright, \u201cHomeric and Ancient Near Eastern Intertextuality in 1 Samuel 17,\u201d 466.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref59\">[59]<\/a> <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 141; 1\u00a0Sam 17:52. Cf. also von Rad, <em>Holy War in Ancient Israel, <\/em>48; he cites war cries also in Judg 7:20 and similarly in Josh 6:5; 1 Sam 17:20; 2 Chr 20:21\u201122. See also the note on the victory cry below in \u00a72.5.4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref60\">[60]<\/a> Cf. the discussion in Chapter 3 on the enemy\u2019s recognition of defeat and their destruction or capture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref61\">[61]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 106\u2011122. Similarly, in the <em>Battle<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>Kadesh<\/em>, Ramesses II defeats the Hittite army single\u2011handedly. Samson also defeats the Philistine forces alone in Judg\u00a015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref62\">[62]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 121\u2011122: Marduk takes the Tablet of Destiny from Qingu, Tiamat\u2019s consort. At the end of <em>Gilg<\/em>. V, Gilgamesh and Enkidu take plunder from the cedar forest which is better preserved in two Old Babylonian fragments; George, <em>Gilgamesh Epic<\/em>, 46-47. <em>Iliad<\/em> XXII 367\u2011368: Achilles takes the armor which Hector had taken from Patroclus. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 143\u2011147: Sinuhe plunders the Strong Man\u2019s camp. Smith notes that these are often mentioned in warrior poetry; <em>Poetic Heroes<\/em>, 17-18.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref63\">[63]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth <\/em>LV III 22-23: \u201cThe wind bore Anzu\u2019s wing feathers \/ As a sign of his glad tidings. \/ Dagan rejoiced when he saw his sign.\u201d He then invites the gods to reward the hero, and they send a messenger to that effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref64\">[64]<\/a> <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 141\u2011142: the hero gives praise to Montu; cf. the discussion in Chapter 3 on \u201cPlunder, Recognition and Reward of the Deity and King.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref65\">[65]<\/a> G. Nagy, <em>The Best of the Achaeans<\/em> (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1981) Ch. 5.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref66\">[66]<\/a> <em>Ee<\/em> IV 133\u2011134; V\u2011VII: after the initial scene of recognition, the creation of the world and the establishment of Babylon alternate with more gifts and speeches ending with the proclamation of Marduk\u2019s fifty names. KTU 1.2.IV 32: Athtart, seemingly, proclaims \u201cBaal is\/shall be king.\u201d <em>Iliad<\/em> XXIII 35: Achilles is brought to Agamemnon, but the scene is still dominated by Patroclus\u2019 death; in a sense, the real scene of recognition comes in Book XXIV between Achilles and Priam, the enemy king. <em>Sinuhe<\/em> 142\u2011143: the hero is embraced by his prince, but the more important recognition comes from the pharaoh later in the story. In the <em>Anzu Myth<\/em>, LV I 90 and OB II 10, the hero is promised the reward of a great name and also to the false heroes (I 97, 119, 140. Also in LV II 27 and 103, Ninurta is told that his name will be \u201cMighty One.\u201d The end of SB III contains a number of names given to Ninurta including Ningirsu, Lugalbanda and other names pointing to the Sumerian background. <em>Gilg<\/em>. Y 188: Gilgamesh undertakes the fight against \u1e2auwawa in order to \u201cestablish for ever a name eternal.\u201d In <em>Gilg.<\/em> V 244-245, Enkidu encourages Gilgamesh to finish the fight: \u201cEstablish for ever [<em>a fame<\/em>] that endures \/ how Gilgamesh <em>slew<\/em> [<em>ferocious<\/em>] \u1e2aumbaba!\u201d Likewise for David; he \u201chad more success than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was highly esteemed\u201d (1\u00a0Sam 18:30); cf. also 2\u00a0Sam 7:9,23, 26; 8:13. The gift of the name in Phil 2:9-10 belongs to this tradition. Cf. also Eph 1:21; 2 Thes 1:12.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref67\">[67]<\/a> <em>Anzu Myth<\/em> LV III; the end of the tablet which in its fragmentary condition still records some fifteen names of the hero.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref68\">[68]<\/a> J. Klein, \u201c\u0160ulgi X\u201d in <em>Three \u0160ulgi Hymns<\/em> (Ramat-Gan, Israel: Bar Ilan University Press, 1981) 133, 138. Cf. also F.R. Kraus, \u201cAltemesopotamische Lebensfuhl,\u201d <em>Journal of Near Eastern Studies <\/em>19 (1960) 117-132, esp. 127-131.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref69\">[69]<\/a> The analysis here supports Cross\u2019 argument against S. Herrmann who would trace the \u201cmaking of a great name\u201d (<em>\u02bf\u015bh \u0161m gdwl<\/em>) to an Egyptian source (<em>\u0131\u0313r\u0131\u0313 rn<\/em> , etc.). As Cross says, \u201cthe notion of \u2018making a great name\u2019 is a common Hamito-Semitic concept, forming parallel idioms in many daughter languages. F.M. Cross, <em>Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel. <\/em>Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973) 248-249. S. Herrmann, <em>Die K\u00f6nigsnovelle in \u00c4gypten und Israel<\/em>, (Leipzig: Karl-Marx-Universitat, 1954) 41.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref70\">[70]<\/a> M. Weinfeld cites the line, from a stele: \u201cI inscribed my stele and established my name forever\u201d; <em>Deuteronomy<\/em> 193, n. 4; KAH II 26:10. Weinfeld also points to the word pair of \u201cname\u201d and \u201cstele\u201d in Isa 56:5. Similarly in the <em>En\u016bma eli\u0161<\/em>, Marduk turns the enemy gods into statues and says, \u201cLet this be a token that this may never be forgotten\u201d (V 71-76). The establishment of a name is also related to the founding of a house (= dynasty) whereby the hero\u2019s name is carried on through the generations as with Abraham in Gen 12:2. The winning of a name is also connected with building projects; the tower of Babylon is begun in order to \u201cmake a name\u201d (Gen 11:4). Even so, the battle is the typical arena in which glory is won. For Ramesses II who wins \u201ca name\u201d at the Battle of Kadesh, see below in \u00a73.5.2. Also Kang, <em>Divine War<\/em>, 71-72.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref71\">[71]<\/a> Athtart reacts to Baal&#8217;s scattering of Yamm by saying: &#8220;Yamm surely is dead! \/ Baal rei[gns(?)]. Kothar or someone affirms this &#8220;Yamm surely is dead! \/ [Baal reigns (?)] \/ He indeed rules. Athtart then reaffirms this; <em>Baal and Yamm<\/em>, KTU I.2.IV 28-41, pp. 356. The<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref72\">[72]<\/a> Anthony Spalinger, \u201cOrientations on Sinuhe,\u201d <em>Studien zur Alt\u00e4gyptischen Kultur<\/em>, 25 (1998) 311-339, esp. 332.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":28,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30\/revisions\/415"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/28"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/mightyinbattle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}