Mythology in "Inana's Descent", or lack thereof

“Inana’s Descent”, though a mythological tale, seems to be more concerned with the deconstruction of gods than the glorification of them. Though the opening analysis before the poem points out some of the mythological connections in the story, it is clear that classic mythology was not important for the writers. On multiple occasions, the footnotes mention that in this story the normal relationships between gods are skewed or just simply ignored. Moreover, not only is the mythology twisted, but deglorification seems to be a recurring theme. After Inana has donned all of her royal, intimidating accessories, her symbols of power, they are stripped from her one at a time and each time she is instructed to “be quiet.” Even after Inana’s ascension, she is never shown to put these accessories back on, which is notable considering the significant amount of repetition in this poem. Dumuzi and his sister are both deglorified at the hands of the officers of Hades. Despite the last line of the poem, it is clear that mythology and praise were not the central focus of the writer.

The story was designed more for entertainment and moral purposes than anything. The end of the story sends a clear moral message: Dumuzi and his sister are rewarded with a significantly reduced sentence in Hades, to say the least, because of their love of their family. However, other parts of the story seem to muddle an argument for moral purposes. Inana, clearly the most immoral character in the story, never suffers retribution for her acts. In fact, Dumuzi is still forced to suffer the brunt of her retribution, though to a lesser extent. This may be a commentary on how they viewed their gods and their hierarchy, in which higher gods such as Inana are free to do as they please and those below them are forced to suffer. Regardless, entertainment was clearly the dominant motive behind this story, as shown by the repetition mentioned above. Only the most major characters have original lines, in that they are lines that are not spoken verbatim by another character. Examples include the young elegist and the myrmidon’s repetition of the lines spoken to them by Enki, Ninshubur’s repetition of the plea spoken to her by Inana, and Enlil and Nanna’s repetition of the response to Ninshubur’s plea. This makes it obvious that the plot was the driving force of the story, and the characters were streamlined to facilitate the plot. Were this a religious text, such important gods would be given more original lines.

Reiteration

The comments preceding “Inanna’s Decent” suggest that the dramatic chain of events used in the story prove that the text was primarily used for entertainment. But the poem’s repetitive nature also indicates that, much like the Bible, it was meant to emphasize and discourage certain unethical behaviors. Of all the flaws presented in the story, arrogance is perhaps made the most evident through the story’s reiteration of Inanna’s clothing and Dumuzi’s indifference.

At first glance, the repetition of certain lines in similar might appear to make the poem boring and simplistic. The fact that Inanna’s clothing is mentioned three times might make one feel as though the author was merely trying to extend the length of his work. But a closer look suggests that the repetition was meant to emphasize the haughty image that Inanna was portraying. The jewelry and armor are metaphors for Inanna’s power and status; and the fact that she went to Hades in such grandiose attire is indicative of her arrogance and disrespect for her twin sister’s dark funeral world. However, we know this poem is a moral one when the goddess is stripped of her clothes and turned into a corpse - signifying that her pompous behavior brought about her own demise.

A similar form of repetition is also presented as a parallel between Inanna and Dumuzi. Much like his wife, Dumuzi is initially “dressed in a grand garment” and “seated in grandeur.” The fact that Inanna’s husband can be so pompous and reserved after she has been missing for three days makes it quite evident that Dumuzi’s self love makes him incapable of caring about others. And eventually, his lack of sorrow over Inanna’s disappearance brings about his destruction when he is chosen to take her place in the underworld.

In both cases, Dumuzi and Inanna suffer as a result of their insolence. Their faults however, are not emphasized entirely by the gravity of their actions – but by the repetition of details and concepts. Therefore, the author’s reiterations can be considered anything, except a waste of space. Instead, one should admire how this poem uses simple techniques to convey fundamental societal problems that are as relevant now as they were back then.

Repetition in Inanna's Descent

One of the features of Inanna’s Descent that caught my attention, especially in the first half, was its focus on repetition. Throughout the story, the constant replication and imitation of certain lines and stanzas is a transparent characteristic that I believe is meant to both simplify and clarify the narrative’s plot and character development.

The imitation that is seen across the first six stanzas demonstrates my thesis almost perfectly. The first three stanza’s describe Inanna’s goal of coming down from the heavens and taking over the “netherworld.” These stanzas not only make her purpose clear by repeating the lines “from the upper heaven/ her heart set/ on the netherworld” (206) multiple times, but they also clarify who Inanna is by, before each of the above descriptions, describing her in different ways: “the goddess/… Inanna” (206). The next three stanzas further break down her mission and character. Within these stanzas, Inanna’s background is completed in terms of her mission. It is declared that she forsook heaven, earth, lordship, and queenship and “went down to Hades” (206). The first six stanzas set the precedent of repetitive description that permeates the first part of the story.

Aside from immediate repetition such as the first few stanzas, there are also parallels that are more spread out within the story that have the same effect of simplification and clarification. The best example that I found was Inanna’s description of her “page/ of fair words/ (her) envoy/ of true words” (208) and with Inanna’s instructions to her page to go to the different deities for help should Inanna not return. After Inanna is killed in Hades, the exact same lines are repeated to describe Ninshubur, her page, and Ninshubur’s actions that Inanna had originally stated. This repetition makes it clear that Ninshubur is a loyal assistant to every last word that Inanna instructs her. This repetition also makes it obvious where the tale is going and lets the reader follow the plot quite easily.

The repetition present in Inanna’s Descent allows both the characters and plot to be developed and executed with a degree of clarity and simplicity.

Inanna's Descent

Inannas desire for more power and control of offices led to her descent into the depths of Hades. In lines 14-25 it is described all the items of lordship and power that she possesses with her upon her travels to Hades, but upon her acceptance in at each successive gate she is deprived of one of her cherished items. Inanna was seaking to take control of Hades over Ereshkigala, however she did not know that the task that "an office of Hades has faultlessly performed" was to rid her of her lordship and render her an equal with the other condemned to Hades and she was punished. While she may have been good to some since Ninshubur was still faithful enough to cry out to the others for help, she had still tempted her fate too much and ended up a piece of tainted meat on the wall. The tainted meat symbolizes her poor moral character, which isn't exemplified until she condemns Dumuzi to waste in Hades in her stead. She desired her prior lordship and power so much that she was willing to condemn Dumuzi for his lack of sorrow for her absence. Inanna had created a place in Hades for herself in the afterlife for condemning Dumuzi, which shows that Father Enlil and Nanna were correct in that no one has ever been reclaimed, she has just temporarily extradited.

A Power Hungry Nature

The Sumerian myths of Inanna’s Descent and Dumuzi incorporate tools such as repetition and symbolism to portray the gods as entities existing in a realm completely separate from humans. More specifically, the goddess Inanna not only supports this notion but also serves as a counter example at times, thus projecting the basic desire to be able transcend from a mere human being to the status of a god.

Inanna’s godly status is first established through not only the frame tale of the myth, but through constant repetition of symbolic devices such as her “gold bracelets” and “yoked oval stone beads”. These symbols are used to further stress how they attribute to her status when she is stripped of them, for their absence results in her being reduced to the level of a mortal. Additionally, Inanna lectures her servant multiple times, each time demanding her to speak of how “good silver” should not be mixed “in with Hades’ dust”. As the footnote states, this is thought to highlight the gap between gods and mortals and how the two are inherently different.

The concept of two inherently different beings, though, is rattled when Inanna is stripped of all her clothing. At this point she is put in a position equal to that of the dead, and therefore representing a mortal locked within Hades. This symbolic transformation from god to mortal represents desires intrinsic to human nature, desires to transcend known realms of reality; if one could go from God to mortal, the same assumption could be made for mortal to god. This very idea transcends into modern religion as well, though in a much more reformed manner; many religions claim spiritual enlightenment or a grasp of higher understanding through spiritual transcending. On an even smaller scale, the desire to obtain other-worldly-status like that of a god is often expressed through the human desire to be remembered, whether it is through myth or monument, war or creation. Regardless, the ancient Sumerian notions of the ability to enter realms of a different being like that of a god are prevalent in multiple aspects of society. Inanna is the creation of one who chose to express this concept through myth.

Use of Repetition

In Inanna's descent to the Underworld, the use of repetition is clearly and consistently employed in the text. The repeating of the same lines over and over again in the story conveys to the reader a sense of suspense and excitement and emphazizes Inanna's queenship and bravery.

The repetition of the lines conveys a sense of suspense leading up to the moment when Inanna gets to the Underworld: " Oh Father Enlil! Let no man put to death your child in Hades!... Let him not put to death in Hades the maiden Inanna" (lines 45-54)! By Inanna telling her servant Ninshubur those lines to deliver to Enlil, Nanna, and Enki, the story is building up to the moment when Inanna reaches the Underworld, where the danger lies. The repetition of those lines builds up to that moment of Inanna's descent.

The repetition of the same lines emphasize Inanna's queenship and bravery: "Kaffieh and aghal, the desert headdress, she put on her head;...Gold bracelets she slipped over her hands; and the breast shields...she drew over her chest" (lines 13-34). The repeating of these lines once again, emphasize Inanna's authority of queenship and her bravery as she ventures to the Underworld. This is exactly similar to that of a warrior prepraring for battle.

The use of repetition in Inanna's descent to the Underworld both conveys a sense of suspense that leads up to the moment of danger when Inanna reaches Hades, as well emphasize Inanna's bravery and her status as queen as she prepares for her trip beneath, similar to that of a warrior.

Redemption

I thought the comments preceding the story of Inanna's descent were interesting as it made one consider the parallels between literature and our own everyday lives. Another parallel that intrigued me as I read was probably a bit more obvious then the one they had mentioned. It was a parallel between their desire and our desire for an escape from death. This desire which seems to transcend time. Perhaps this is because that great abyss that was unavoidable to them is still unavoidable to us now. Even with our great knowledge and technology death remains a mystery.
I found the concept of redemptionin the story to be especially intriguing. It is curious to note that just as Innana had her servant request for assistance from her father so do millions today look to a "Heavenly Father" to save them. This concept isn't exclusive to Christianity. The idea of a loving deity who is willing to help us mere mortals is a common theme that runs through many religions around the world. It is a concept that seems to comfort millions in a world of uncertainty, just as it seemed to comfort Innana as she prepared to embark on her journey to hell.
Yet the second half of the story seemed to draw an even stronger parallel to this redemption in that Inanna must find a replacement to take her place. Isn't that the very thing Christians claim Christ had done? Isn't he claimed to be the lamb without blemish offered as a sacrifice on our behalf to take the punishment that would have doomed us? The second parallel is intriguing as it seems to point again to man's perception of a need for a higher power to escape death.
My argument then would be that man has always looked to a higher power when all his resources have disappeared. Innana went to the gods only after she had been defeated. Indeed it is interesting to note how only after all her weapons and even clothing had been taken away from her did she officially offer a plea to the gods through her servant. Likewise so often do the men and women of today look to the "gods" of our day to save them when all seems lost, when destiny seems out of their control, or as in Innana's Descent when death is at our door.