The Similarities Between Lilth And Inanna
What struck me as most interesting in this story was Lilth, and how her mythology in the modern monotheistic religions paralleled the Sumerian religion. Although initially Lilth doesn’t seem to be a thoroughly significant figure in the stories of Inanna, what she represented in the Huppulu tree story and the similarities between her and Dumuzi stand out.
The very first thing I noticed was Lilth’s appearance. In the preceptorial, we touched on this briefly and it was suggested that she represented one of the chaoses of unorganized civilization, which I found to be only one of the many important elements of her being in the story. In the story, Inanna says “And the dark maid Lilth built her home in the trunk.(7)” which is significant to me because …show more content…
Lilth was a callous, cruel individual and eventually ended up being cast out of the garden and away from Adam for it. We see this repeated initially in the Huppulu tree story, when Giglamesh banishes her from the tree. However, in my opinion, we see this repeated with Dumuzi. At the surface, Dumuzi seems nothing like Lilth, however there are actually significant similarities. It’s believed that Lilth and Adam quarreled over them being equal, as Lilth refused to lay beneath Adam because they were made from the same dirt. Although Dumuzi doesn’t argue that he and Inanna are equal, he does argue to her how he and the farmer are equal and so she should accept his proposal. However, their relationship seemingly deteriorates. During the story of Inanna’s ascent from the underworld, we see multiple close friends of Inanna’s throw themselves down and offer to take her spot in the underworld. When she comes to Dumuzi, his reaction is very different. “Dumuzi, the husband of Inanna, was dressed in his shining me-garments. He sat on his magnificent throne;(he did not move).(71)” This reaction, passive as it is, arguably parallels Lilth and her disregard for Adam. Lilth was created from the same dirt as Adam, and so in her opinion she is his equal and doesn’t have to yield to him or give herself to him if she doesn’t want to. Likewise, Dumuzi sees himself
The very first thing I noticed was Lilth’s appearance. In the preceptorial, we touched on this briefly and it was suggested that she represented one of the chaoses of unorganized civilization, which I found to be only one of the many important elements of her being in the story. In the story, Inanna says “And the dark maid Lilth built her home in the trunk.(7)” which is significant to me because …show more content…
Lilth was a callous, cruel individual and eventually ended up being cast out of the garden and away from Adam for it. We see this repeated initially in the Huppulu tree story, when Giglamesh banishes her from the tree. However, in my opinion, we see this repeated with Dumuzi. At the surface, Dumuzi seems nothing like Lilth, however there are actually significant similarities. It’s believed that Lilth and Adam quarreled over them being equal, as Lilth refused to lay beneath Adam because they were made from the same dirt. Although Dumuzi doesn’t argue that he and Inanna are equal, he does argue to her how he and the farmer are equal and so she should accept his proposal. However, their relationship seemingly deteriorates. During the story of Inanna’s ascent from the underworld, we see multiple close friends of Inanna’s throw themselves down and offer to take her spot in the underworld. When she comes to Dumuzi, his reaction is very different. “Dumuzi, the husband of Inanna, was dressed in his shining me-garments. He sat on his magnificent throne;(he did not move).(71)” This reaction, passive as it is, arguably parallels Lilth and her disregard for Adam. Lilth was created from the same dirt as Adam, and so in her opinion she is his equal and doesn’t have to yield to him or give herself to him if she doesn’t want to. Likewise, Dumuzi sees himself