Brief introduction of the forgotten

The forgotten, a hero in Mesopotamian mythology, is also the protagonist of Gilgamesh's epic. He was the legendary Lord of Uruk City in Sumerian period, and built city walls to protect people from foreign enemies.

Chinese name: Forgotten.

Forgotten one Mbth

Nationality: uruk.

Nationality: Sumer

Place of birth: Mesopotamia

Occupation: monarch

Masterpiece: Epic of Gilgamesh

The life of the character

The Condor Heroes is the oldest known heroic epic in the world. This is a hymn of forgotten one, one of the three heroes of Sumer. Although this is a work with nearly 1/3 defects, we can still feel the Sumerians' admiration for their great heroes from the remaining 2000 lines.

Moral behavior

In slate's description of his story, the first forgotten one was the ruler of uruk Ville, who did many bad things. With his power, he robbed women and men and forced city residents to build walls and temples. People in trouble prayed to the gods in the sky to save themselves. The gods asked aruru to create a half-man, half-beast warrior Enkidu to fight against forgotten one. Although they finally forgot that one person narrowly won, they all admired each other's bravery, so they became best friends, worked together for the welfare of the people and became heroes loved by everyone. (In early Sumerian writing, Enkidu was the servant of the forgotten, but in Gilgamesh epic, they were equal partners. )

Later, they crossed seven mountains and came to the cedar forest guarded by Fenbaba. The Forgotten prayed to Chamach Chamach that eight hurricanes blinded Fenbaba, and then the heroes beheaded him. On the way back, the goddess Hista (as Ianna is called by Akkadians) fell from the sky. Come and find a forgotten person and ask him to be her partner. Forgetting is just refusing, insisting that she abused all her former lovers. Feeling greatly insulted, the goddess borrowed a bull from the sky from her father Anu to get back at the forgotten. The two men were very angry and gave their hearts to Shamash Shamash after killing the longicorn beetle. Hista, who witnessed all this, stood on the high wall of uruk and cursed the forsaken. Enkidu tore off the bull's right thigh and threw it in Hista's face, saying, "If I can touch you, that's what I should do. Tie your intestines to you.

The death of the cow in heaven finally angered the gods. The gods Anu, Ea and Chamach declared that the Forgotten or Enkidu must be put to death for killing the longicorn. Soon Enzi was seriously ill and died. The forgotten people are very sad. He felt a terrible death and sought God's help. He climbed mountains and went through hardships (killing lions and persuading scorpions to explore in the dark for twelve days) and finally came to a garden. Siduri, the ferryman of God, took the forsaken to the home of Utna Bishtim, the only survivor in the flood. The latter told the Forgotten that he had to stay awake forever if he wanted to die, and the Forgotten fell asleep in the next challenge (sleeping for seven days). Just when he was disheartened, Turner Bishtim Utnapishtim told forgotten one that even if he could not live forever, he could use the immortal grass to restore his youth. After learning that there is a kind of fairy grass that can rejuvenate people, the forgotten one jumps into the sea to look for it; Who knows that when he took a bath in spring, the fairy grass he worked so hard to find was stolen by the old snake. After eating the fairy grass, the old snake immediately peeled off a layer of skin and was refreshed. The Forgotten returned to Uruk City in frustration and helplessness. At this time, he missed his dead friend Enkidu more, got the help of God, met the ghost of Enkidu, and asked Enkidu to tell him "the law of the earth", then he realized that people could not live forever.

From then on, the Forgotten became a wise king, guiding and governing his polis until his death.

Although there is no direct evidence, most scholars believe that Forgotten One really exists, and through unearthed inscriptions, it is confirmed that there have been some people related to him in history, such as Enmei balague Xi and Kish Aga (Forgotten One and Aga).

Many western archaeologists believe that if the Forgotten really exists, he will rule in the 26th century BC. Some of Sumer's early documents strung his name as "Gilseth". In the list of Sumerian kings, he is the son of Lugar Banda and the fifth king of uruk. His heroic achievements, like all other heroic epics, have been endowed with magical and romantic colors in people's long-term legends. People have placed many beautiful feelings and wishes on the forgotten people, such as beauty, strength, justice, courage and friendship.

Historical background

Around 3500 BC, the earliest city-state civilization appeared in Sumer in the lower reaches of the two rivers, with uruk as the representative city. The forgotten one is the king of uruk.

There were many literary creations in the ancient two river basins, the most famous of which was TheEpicofGilgamesh, which is the oldest heroic epic known in human history. This is the first epic in human history. It spread in Sumerian more than 4000 years ago. After thousands of years of processing and refining, it was finally fixed in words during the Babylonian Kingdom (BC19th century-BC16th century) and became a masterpiece. This epic tells the legendary story of a forgotten hero.

Historical origin

Forgotten one, an epic, originated from the Third Ur Dynasty (2 150-2000 BC) in the Soviet Union and the United States, and was written in cuneiform characters, and later spread to the Babylonian period. The earliest version of Akkadian appeared in early 2000 BC.

During BC 1300-BC 1000, the standard Akkadian version was compiled by the exorcist Sin-Likai-Unnini. /kloc-In the middle of the 9th century, george smith of the British Museum excavated this epic from the clay tablet library in Nineveh, the ancient Assyrian capital. * * 65438+ It was not until 600 BC that forgotten one's epic gradually spread to Asia Minor. Among them, 12 clay tablet version has become the standard version of historical research. Now a large part of the clay tablets are in the Museum of Ancient and Ancient History in Berlin, Germany (Berlin).

After cuneiform characters were deciphered in the early 20th century, epic characters were discovered and pieced together. Because there are many recording languages, different historical versions and damage reasons, experts can only rely on experience and feeling for ancient Chinese characters. Sumerian scientist S.N. Kramer was the first person to partially decipher Sumerian legends. By 1920s, all the clay tablets were basically restored and the translation was basically completed, including the Chinese version.

The Forgotten is a masterpiece of ancient Babylonian literature and the earliest epic in known world literature. The basic content of this epic has been formed as early as the Sumerian period. It is directly related to the legend of early Sumerian heroes and Aga's legend about forgetfulness. The names of the forgotten people are kept in the list of the oldest kings in Sumer, which shows that the epic has a certain realistic foundation.

The Forgotten One generally collects the essence of ancient myths and legends in the two river basins. Judging from the richness and complexity of its content, it is obviously not from one person's hand, but the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the people. At first, it was an oral creation, and after continuous processing and improvement by poets, it was finally finalized in the kingdom of Babylon in Cuba. Epic * * * more than three thousand lines, written in cuneiform on twelve pieces of clay tablets; Some researchers believe that the twelfth clay tablet was added by later generations.

The Forgotten One was finally completed during the Babylonian Kingdom of Cuba. Because it took a long time to form, its social and historical stages were different, and the ruling class and monks tampered with it, its ideological content and artistic structure were more complicated, and even contradictory in some places.

Story background

Modern researchers generally divide the plot of an epic into four parts.

The first part describes the cruel rule of the forgotten, the hero in the epic and the friendship between the forgotten and Enkidu. The forgotten one is the ruler of uruk when he first appeared. With the power in his hand, he robbed men and women and forced the city residents to build walls and temples for him, which made the people miserable and aroused the anger of the noble residents.

People pray to God in heaven to save themselves. The gods in the sky let the great God aruru create a warrior Enkidu who is half man and half beast to fight against the forsaken. Enkidu, who was originally a savage, arrived in Uruk City under the guidance of a prostitute. After fierce fighting, the two sides attracted each other and became friends. In this part, the criticism of the protagonist The Forgotten is greater than the praise.

The second part describes that after the Forgotten forged a friendship with Enkidu, they left together for the benefit of the people and became heroes loved by the masses. They have defeated the lion in the desert, killed the monster Fenbaba who killed the people in the Chinese fir forest, and killed the "longicorn" who killed the residents of Uruk City. Among them, the scene of fighting with Fenbaba and the scene of killing "longicorn" are even more exciting and moving. This part is actually the core part of the epic, and its whole mood is high and exciting. But since then, the tone has become lower.

The third part describes the long course of the Forgotten's exploration of "death and life". Enkidu was sentenced to death for offending Anu. The sudden death of Enkidu, a good friend, brought great sorrow to the forgotten. He recalled the years of exploring with Enkidu and felt extremely sad:

He has been wandering in front of [friends],

When pulling hair,

Tear it off and break all kinds of treasures worn on [the body].

The forgotten one felt the terrible death, especially the threat of God dominating people's fate, so he went to a distant place to seek eternal life with the desire to explore the mysteries of life, and found nothing. This part not only shows his spirit of exploration and resistance, but also reflects great pessimism.

The fourth part (the twelfth clay tablet) describes the dialogue between the forgotten and the ghost of Enkidu. After the forsaken returned to uruk, he missed his dead friend very much, prayed for God's help, and met the ghost of Enkidu.

The Forgotten One reflects the historical features of the transitional period from the primitive commune society to the slave society, and shows the life and struggle of the residents in the ancient two river basins, and has made great achievements in thought and art.

First of all, the epic enthusiastically praised the ancient heroes, heroic behaviors and the friendship between heroes, and put forward the important idea of making contributions to the people. The central figure in the epic is the forgotten, but the description of this image is not uniform. At first he was written as a cruel ruler, and later he became a hero to save the people. Although there is no internal connection between the changes before and after, it reflects the fierce struggle between the progressive thoughts of the gentry and the backward reactionary thoughts during the transition from the primitive commune society to the slave society. Obviously, on the whole, the epic criticizes the forgotten as a cruel ruler, and expresses appreciation and praise for the forgotten as a hero.

In the original story circulated among the people, the Forgotten was described as an ancient hero of "one third of Er Shen". While praising the thought of making contributions to the people, the epic also shows the simple desire of the ancient Babylonians to know the laws of nature and explore the mysteries of life, and praises their positive and enterprising spirit of flouting God's will. Since ancient times, there has been a dispute between materialism and idealism, whether God dominates man's destiny or man dominates his own destiny. Epic embodies people's subjective initiative in some ways, and praises a person's heroic behavior of forgetting me despite difficulties and obstacles, which is really commendable in ancient times when religious superstitions dominated.

Overview of art

Epic also reflects the social life and emerging class relations of residents in the ancient two river basins to a certain extent, which is of great value for us to understand and understand the history of social and literary development in ancient Babylon. This epic generally summarizes the social life in the transitional period from primitive commune society to slavery society, and reflects some social characteristics of military democracy. At that time, the relations of production of slavery had sprouted, and some chiefs of clans and tribes had gradually become leaders of military democracy and early kings. They are brave and arrogant in the polis and do whatever they want. The cruel rule of the forgotten in uruk and the description of some of his privileges in Epic are the true portrayal of this situation.

Epic not only shows the class relationship that was forming at that time, that is, the contradiction between people, but also shows the contradiction between people and gods, and between gods and gods. These contradictions reflect the struggle between man and nature and between man and society to varying degrees, which are complex in nature and need to be analyzed in detail.

Epic has a strong romantic color. It is good at combining the mythical world with the real world, giving people the characteristics of God and giving people the feelings of God. In the description, such as the mysterious fir forest in Fenbaba, the extraordinary knowledge and experience in "Forget the Year", and the scene of defeating the powerful "longicorn". , all give people a sense of freshness. At the same time, the image descriptions and descriptions of The Forgotten, Enkidu and The Gods are both legendary and full of the breath of human social life, forming a trend of interweaving realism and romanticism.

The Forgotten One, with its novel but fascinating storyline, reflects some scenes of residents in the ancient two river basins struggling with natural violence and social violence, and praises the thought and heroic behavior of making contributions to the people. It has great historical value and cognitive significance, and its thought of benefiting the people still inspires us today. The tone of the epic was originally to praise the hero, but in the process of dissemination, due to the tampering and processing of religious priests, it has largely become a religious philosophical poem exploring the mysteries of life; As a result of the exploration, the negative and pessimistic conclusion that fate is doomed and life is impermanent has to dilute the theme of praising heroes to some extent.

The epic The Forgotten is a literary treasure left by early human beings in the two river basins. It created a hero with tenacious fighting spirit, reflecting the efforts of ancient people to explore the laws of nature and the mysteries of life and death, as well as their desire to control their own destiny. As a result, we can't get what we want, so we can only go on and live helplessly under the laws of nature.

Content excerpt

The first clay tablet

I (a)

This man has seen everything and traveled all over the sky;

He knows everything and says everything;

He and together;

He will wisely put everything.

He hid the treasure and saw through the secret.

Before the flood came, he brought the news first.

He trudged thousands of miles, exhausted,

He put all his hardships on the stone.

He built the wall of uruk, which surrounded the city.

Saint etienne (3) the treasure house of God's garden is nothing more than this:

Look at that outer wall, it is usually bright;

Look at that inner wall, nothing can compare with it.

Step on the threshold and have a look. It's so antique.

Aina, who lives in Ishdar,

It's incomparable, no matter which emperor in later generations!

Climb the wall of uruk and move forward.

Look at that cornerstone, check those bricks,

Isn't that a brick made of fire

Isn't that the cornerstone laid during the Seventh Five-Year Plan?

(About 30 lines are missing below)

Supplement (h ")

Since the Forgotten was created (? )

Hercules, his form,

Shemashi (6) What God gave him,

Adatte (7) gave him a splendid style,

God makes the forgotten look good,

He has a chest nine feet wide and a figure eleven feet tall!

II (a)

Two-thirds of him is God,

He is as tall as a bison,

His spirit of holding a weapon is unparalleled.

His; , can let the partners courageously.

Uruk nobles in hatred;

"Forgotten people don't keep sons for their fathers,

His cruelty never appealed to people.

Is it the insurance for uruk, which owns the ring city?

Is this the protector? !

Teacher's daughter! "

Their grievances,

God in the sky, Duke uruk, created it?

No one can compare,

His; , can let the partners courageously.

The forgotten man did not keep a son for his father,

Day and night.

Is he the protector of uruk?

This is their protector? Keep your daughter,

Who cares if it's a samurai's daughter or a noble's wife? "

Hearing their complaints,

Call the great god aruru immediately: "aruru, this is what you created by listening.

You copy another hero you can beat,

Let them fight, let uruk be stable and undisturbed! "

Upon hearing this, aruru secretly described Anu's manner.

Lu Lu badminton washed his hands, picked up the mud and threw it on the ground.

She created the majestic Enkidu.

He drew strength from Ninurta,

He is covered in hair, and his hair looks like a woman, just like Nisaba attending; ,

He denies people, has no home, and wears Su Like Mu.

He eats grass with antelope,

He and the beast wiped their backs side by side and gathered together in the drinking pool.

He and the livestock beamed at the sight of the water.

A hunter often puts a lasso in this area.

Met him by the drinking pool,

One day, two days, three days in the pond.

The hunter looked at him and his face froze.

He went back to his nest and was with the wild animals.

The hunter trembled and dared not make any noise.

His face is sad and his heart is full of sadness.

Terrible heart,

Like a full face.

III (a)

The hunter said:

"Father, picked a male demon.

Tough,

Strength.

He wandered in the mountains,

He eats grass with wild animals.

His feet are in the pond.

I'm afraid to lean towards him,

He dug a trap,

He ripped off my lasso.

He created animals, wild animals,

I met in the wild business. "

Grant the hunter a plan:

"(My son), uruk is a forgotten man.

His strength,

He has power (of Anu's spirit).

You leave!

That man's (power)

Come here,

Charm.

When he gave the beast water from the pond,

Let clothes, the charm of women.

His woman, she will be very close,

Animals in Shan Ye will abandon him. "

Father's thoughts,

The hunter set out to look for it.

He set out for uruk;

"Forget one! .

He is tough all over the world,

Can be compared with the elves of Anu.

He is always wandering in the mountains,

He is always with wild animals,

He always has his feet in the pond,

I'm too scared to lean on him.

He filled the dug trap,

He tore off the lasso,

He let the beast and everything escape from me,

My business in the wild was interrupted by him. "

One of the forgetters said to the hunter:

"Go, my hunter, and bring the prostitute before God!

When drinking water for wild animals in the pond,

Let prostitutes undress and show their feminine charm.

When he meets a woman, he will make out with her.

Carnivores in Shan Ye will abandon him. "

The hunter caught the prostitute,

They got up and walked straight.

Three days later, they arrived at the scheduled place.

Hunters and prostitutes hid in the dark.

One day, two days, they sat in a corner of the pond.

All the wild animals that drink water come to the pond to gather.

Article 4 (a)

The beast came near and was happy to see the water.

I saw Enkidu, a savage in the mountains.

Eating grass with antelope,

Drinking water with wild animals,

Like animals, he likes water.

The prostitute saw the clown,

This is a savage from a distant place.

"It's him! God prostitute, show your heart quickly!

(The following 9-20 lines were deleted by Chinese translation)

For six days and seven nights, he was with a prostitute,

Her plump muscles and moist skin satisfied him.

He looked up at the animals in the field.

The antelope saw him turn around and ran,

These animals also avoided Enkidu. Enkidu was surprised,

He felt stiff,

Watching the beast go away, his legs failed and he couldn't walk.

Enkidu is getting weaker and more inflexible.

But he is wise and open-minded.

He came back and sat at the prostitute's feet,

Look at the prostitute's face,

Listen to her language.

God prostitute said to Enkidu:

"Enkidu, you are a wise man, like a god.

Why do you want to play with wild animals in the wild?

Come on, I'll take you to uruk, where there is a ring city.

Go to the temple where Anu and Ishdar live;

Find the forgotten person, rely on his strength,

Where people rule like bison. "

So what she said, what she said had an impact,

He was filled with joy and wanted company.

Enkidu said to the prostitute;

"Let's go, god prostitute! No matter what you say,

Go to the temple where Anu and Ishdar live,

Go to the forgotten one and rely on your own efforts.

Like where buffaloes rule people.

I'm going to challenge him and shout (at him).

V (a)

"'Only I am the strongest', I shouted in Uruk:

Even fate can change!

Jane was born in Yuanye. "

"With you,

I'll take you to the place where the forgotten live. )

Enkidu! To uruk, where there is a circular city,

For those who wear sacrificial robes,

There are festivals every day.

The boys are putting on airs (

Be tempted (attracted) by charm and be happy,

They put a big one.

Enkidu, who loves life,

Let you see the forgotten happy hero!

Look at him, look at his appearance,

Masculine, full of energy,

He is full of charm,

He is stronger than you,

He never sleeps day and night.

Enkidu, get rid of your arrogance,

Shemarsh's deep love for the forgotten,

Anu, enlil and Aea increased his wisdom.

Maybe before you came here from Shan Ye,

Forgotten people dreamed of you in uruk a long time ago. "

Zhao Le's Sacrificial Translation

(1) the beginning of this epic is "Sanaqbaimuru", so once.

It is named "the man who has seen everything". The first four lines have many defects, and every family.

The explanation is different. A.Heidel translated the first two lines as "seen"

Everybody learn from him! Ah, my motherland! Those who know the country,

Let me praise you! "This book is based on the English translation of E.A.Speiser.

A. Short's German translation, G. Courtenau's French translation and so on.

(2) "Owning the city" is a modifier added before uruk.

(3) A part of uruk is dedicated to Anu and Ishtar Ershen. this

Ershen is Anhe in Sumeru, equivalent to the Lord God and his daughter.

Beauty and Sivir are also natural fertility goddesses. About her

There are many myths and legends.

⑤ Seven sages brought civilization to seven cities in ancient Mesopotamia.

That legend.

⑥ Sun God.

⑦ God in charge of the weather, or haddad.

The goddess in charge of everything.

Pet-name ruby formerly known as Girousse, warrior, god of war.

Attending the god of food.

(1) the god of livestock.

② refers to Enkidu. (harimtusamhat) is ancient Babylon.

The original meaning is "harimtusamhat", that is, Cuba.

The income of prostitutes in the temple of Babylon belongs to the temple.