When one gains power they sometime change the person they were because they love the feeling of supremacy and control they receive. Inanna, also known as Ishtar, came to the mighty warrior, “her brother” , Gilgamesh two times, in two different stories, each time looking for something that he possessed. However, this goddess, of Heaven and Earth, was depicted as two different figures when she asked for the mighty Gilgamesh’s assistance.
The first encounter with Gilgamesh shows Inanna as a girl who cannot overcome her inner fears, and is begging for the assistance of this mighty ruler. She cried, “O Gilgamesh, in the days when the fates were decreed they (the animals) would not leave my tree. ” It also depicts Inanna as a somewhat timid person who is afraid to fight these mighty creatures with her own knowledge and fortitude. The conquering of her fears symbolizes Inanna coming out of the shadows of girlhood; moreover, this foreshadows the needs that must be met as a woman.
Inanna, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, has been a woman for many years and is no longer vulnerable and innocent like she was in their first encounter. She now is looking for a husband whom will fulfill her desires as a woman, “Come to me Gilgamesh, and be my bridegroom; grant me the seed of your body” When Gilgamesh does not obey her plea, she believes he must pay; moreover, this leads to the death of his beloved companion Enkidu. The depiction of the goddess, in the second confrontation, is completely different from the one we saw when she was crying for courage.
Inanna is no longer the girl who was afraid of the serpent, Anzu bird, and the Lilith; but instead, she is a woman who knows what she wants and if it is not given to her, she will take matters into her own hands. This turn from vulnerable to possessive was in direct correlation to the power in which she received when Gilgamesh conquered her fears. Though the goddess didn’t change her physical form, her needs certainly did. The first time Gilgamesh and Inanna met, she was young and did not have the power of the me.
Nevertheless, once she realized her place in the universe, she liked the attention and control the me brought her. The young Inanna, who first appeared to Gilgamesh, could accept no as an answer, but the adult Inanna, unlike the young girl, could not accept someone turning their back on her. Therefore, we see the me truly did change the goddess of Heaven and Earth, Inanna, making her two different people, at two different times.