Lucas Spelsberg (10/06) Ecology of Eden, Chapters 11-12

These chapters of Eisenberg’s novel tell the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s Conquest of the Cedar Forest. the Goddess Mother created Enkidu as a “double” of Gilgamesh to snare him, but Gilgamesh ends up using him to help destroy the Cedar Forest. Through this story ancient scribes shrewdly anatomized the needs that drive men to conquer nature. As Gilgamesh masters Enkidu he realizes that he has mastered himself and becomes self-aware. Eisenberg states “As he becomes self-aware, he becomes human: aware of his mortality, his finitude in time and space. Mastering Enkidu the king masters his own nature or nature in himself” (115) Eisenberg also Aspects of Christianity were taken from the Hebrew Bible and suited for people who live in the city and how Capitalism and Christianity go hand in hand.

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