The bull of heaven appears once in the epic, sent by Anu after Ishtar is refused. A student calls it a motif of divine anger. What is the best correction?

The wall of Erech is praised in the opening of the Epic of Gilgamesh and returns in its final scene. Across those two appearances, what has the wall come to stand for?

In the Epic of Gilgamesh a serpent smells the plant of youth and swallows it while Gilgamesh is bathing. What does the serpent stand for at that moment?

The maiden Sabitum tells the hero (Jastrow and Clay, 1920): "Thou, O Gish, fill thy belly, / Day and night do thou rejoice, / Daily make a rejoicing!" What rule for living is she offering?

In the Old Babylonian version Sabitum tells the hero to eat, wash and be glad, because the life he seeks he will not find. Does the rest of the epic support her?

Ea warns the man of Shurippak in the flood story (Budge, 1920): "Throw down the house, build a ship, / Forsake wealth, seek after life, / Abandon possessions, save thy life." What rule does this state?

Gilgamesh crosses mountains, the sea and the Waters of Death to reach Uta-Napishtim. His last journey is the walk home to Erech with nothing. What does this break in the pattern signal?

Gilgamesh says to Sabitu (Budge, 1920): "My friend whom I loved hath become like the dust. Enkidu, my friend whom I loved hath become like the dust." Why does the epic repeat the line?

A reader says the Epic of Gilgamesh shows that a true friend makes a man gentler. How well does the epic bear this out?

Enkidu dreams of a house where "the beings therein eat dust and feed upon mud" (Budge, 1920). Later Gilgamesh says Enkidu has become like the dust. What does dust stand for by then?

Early in the epic Enkidu is kept from his beasts for six days and seven nights. Later Gilgamesh must stay awake for six days and seven nights. What makes the repeated phrase a motif?

In the flood story Ea calls out, "O House of reeds, O House of reeds! O Wall, O Wall!" (Budge, 1920). A student ties this to the wall of Erech motif. What is the best judgment?

A class writes this moral for the Epic of Gilgamesh: 'Hard work always earns its reward.' Which part of the story works against it most clearly?

Wandering after Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh thinks: "I myself shall die, and shall not I then be as Enkidu?" (Budge, 1920). What claim about human experience does the line put forward?

Over Enkidu's body Gilgamesh asks, "What kind of sleep is this which hath laid hold upon thee?" (Budge, 1920). Later he fails a test of staying awake. What links the two scenes?

Enkidu dreams more than once in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and each dream comes at a turn in the story. What makes this pattern a motif rather than a coincidence?

"When the gods created mankind, / Death they imposed on mankind" says Sabitum in the Old Babylonian version (Jastrow and Clay, 1920). This statement is best called what?

"Forsake wealth, seek after life" is Ea's word to the man of Shurippak (Budge, 1920). Why is this line a maxim rather than a universal truth?

Some readers say the Epic of Gilgamesh teaches a man to accept death calmly. Which detail near the end most complicates that reading?

A textbook prints this moral for the Epic of Gilgamesh: 'The gods reward those who seek them.' Which fact about the ending shows the moral does not fit?