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All Journeys Lead Home: The Saga of Gilgamesh and the Progress of a Reluctant Actor

2005; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 28; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/cal.2005.0143

1080-6512

Franklin Ojeda Smith,

Archaeology and Historical Studies

All Journeys Lead Home:The Saga of Gilgamesh and the Progress of a Reluctant Actor Franklin Ojeda Smith (bio) I. Gilgamesh: the Play Gilgamesh is the saga of a journey across the rifts of life. It's the story of King Gilgamesh's search for significance, which he discovers in brotherly friendship and communal benevolence. Early on in the drama, we learn that Gilgamesh is dutiful and persistent as the enforcer of "taxes" in his kingdom, Uruk. One character, called the Traveler, remarks upon this arrangement: "Gilgamesh is our King. He was born part god, and we were born to pay tribute."1 King Gilgamesh also has a limitless appetite for carnal pleasure. Again, the Traveler comments: "In Uruk, I found a virgin sworn to be my bride, awaiting my touch. But I know Gilgamesh will be the first to knock upon the chamber door."2 "Wealth and lust" are the fulcrums of Gilgamesh's life until he's confronted, challenged, and awakened to his shortcomings by Enkidu, a man who grew up among the animals but leaves the forest to challenge Gilgamesh. In the end, Gilgamesh and Enkidu form a deep friendship and shared purpose. They journey in pursuit of the dreaded Humbaba, whose character represents to me the illusions and delusions in life, both internal and external—the inhibitors that distract us from and lock us out of birth and spiritual purposes. The Mighty Humbaba warns, "So, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, you wish to die by calling my name? How can you kill me when you cannot even see me? I can go inside your heart and turn your knees to mud. I can make you bark like a dog at his master's gate."3 But in the end Gilgamesh and Enkidu prove that Humbaba is "only a roar among the night trees."4 Gilgamesh also discovers that triumph comes at a great price for, as a result of the battle, he suffers an almost crippling loss. At the end of Act I he is full of anguish and sorrow. Almost consumed by his pain, he sets off seeking to regain all he has lost, to recapture the power of life, and, if possible, to overcome death. In his search, Gilgamesh laments to Siduri (the alluring barmaid) at the "brink" of the world, which he must summon the will to venture beyond. To do this he must overcome Siduri's carnal and emotional allure. He does so by breaking into the world beyond, wading into the unknown, enduring unimaginable physical challenges, and encountering the "Noah-like" sage Utnapishtam. At the end of his quest, the finality of death remains undisturbed, but we discover that the journey has nurtured Gilgamesh and connected him to compassionate communal purposes. Returning to Uruk, his city, he issues a command to "Open the prisons. Take rations to the poor."5 [End Page 545] II. The Playwright: Komunyakaa This modern adaptation of the ancient epic of Gilgamesh was written by Yusef Komunyakaa along with Chad Gracia. As Komunyakaa and Gracia prepared to present the play to an audience that included potential producers and agents, I was invited to join the small troupe of actors who were assembled to give a dramatic reading of the work. On the day of the performance, as I and others gathered for a rehearsal that would be followed by the actual reading, Komunyakaa suddenly appeared in the studio; at a distance I saw a man who was unassuming and almost shy in manner. By his looks, Komunyakaa, "the brother," could have been from anywhere in the Diaspora and from any circumstance. Distinguished, yes, but yet Komunyakaa might have been any middle-aged man standing on any "corner" or sitting upon any throne anywhere in the world. Or any man caged anywhere in the world. He stood there, coming out of the picture with his speckled gray headhairs attending, deepening, and crowning his ebony features. Standing there, he seemed in another dimension, apart, still yet moving, somehow here and yet not here. Are prophets ever still, ever attached? After our rehearsal, we took directions from the director Jim Milton and from Chad Gracia, and then the ensemble took a break...