Chapter 3 Summary

Ninsun, Gilgamesh's mother, is herself a goddess possessing the gifts of prophecy and the interpretation of dreams. Therefore, when Gilgamesh himself has a disturbing dream, he goes immediately to his mother. She asks her son to describe the dream.

In his dream, Gilgamesh is walking through the streets of Uruk. As he nears the Temple of Ishtar, a double-sided axe slices by and buries itself in the pavement beside him. At that moment, he awakes.

Ninsusn explains that this is an evil portent and that, therefore, Gilgamesh should not walk the streets and should not approach the Temple of Ishtar. The double-edged axe symbolizes a dangerous man as like to Gilgamesh as a brother.

Gilgamesh, however, laughs off his mother's warning, believing that, as two parts god and only one part man, he is invincible.

Chapter 3 Analysis

So far, Gilgamesh has not portrayed...