#lore thoughts

STARTING FROM THE SILLY BITS!

small keywords for easier reading:

EoG= The Epic of Gilgamesh

Gil= me affectionately calling Gilgamesh "Gil"

Gilgamesh...is a genuinely good dad?

I find it very heartwarming that, in the few sources that we know of, that make him a father that he quite literally named his son "Ur-nungal" to most likely commemorate the goddess of prisons, Nungal (Nun-gal= "great princess"). Not to mention that most of the leading researchers and archeologists assumed Ur-nungal to be a woman simply because of the meaning of the goddess Nungal's name...FGO devs could've done something with this information (potentially give us Ur-Nungal as a servant🥹) or better yet, still use it for the future!

On the topic of Gilgamesh being a father and his relationship with king Ur-Nungal, his son, from the little information that we know of (there is not much context on their life and dynamic, so I am making use of the information that we have)...

I DID sometimes wonder why Gilgamesh would desire to commemorate the goddess by naming his son after her...and after doing some digging, I've discovered that she is widely associated with the underworld. In Sumerian mythos and in their respective culture, the underworld plays a significant role and was often commemorated with celebrations and grand festivals. In the EoG (Epic of Gilgamesh), Gilgamesh's character is associated with the underworld after he journeys on his own in the later parts of the mythos.

We know that Gilgamesh feared death above all after Enkidu's death, but right about the end of the EoG and after his search for the herb of immortalilty is when he comes to accept both the aspects of life and death. I believe that this, as a sign of personal growth, also indicates that Gil and ancient Sumerians unlike more popular cultures in their time, did not view "death" and the after life as a dark, scary place, neither a bad thing. Just what's bound to happen at the end of all mortal existence (that even Gilgamesh couldn't escape).

So, if Gilgamesh no longer viewed death as a bad thing, and if his people themselves believed that we should hold dear all things in life and in death, to name his son after a goddess of the underworld, let alone a goddess of prisons, to me, shows that Gilgamesh really loved his son. He definitely did the greatest of honors by naming Ur-nungal after the goddess Nungal, and it goes to show that he was most definitely a good dad. I doubt he'd do this if he were to not care at all for his son, let alone love him to this extent.

If his dynamic with his son isn't enough to convince you, then we'll have to discuss the other important aspects of his character in his epic, which are that he loves and cherishes his family! As well as his complex relationship with the gods:

We know that Gilgamesh is a big family man and in his mythos he holds his mother, the goddess Ninsun, amongst the highest of regards. She is his guide and his support, and Gilgamesh often makes references and directly asks for her support, even commemorating his journey with Enkidu to his mother. Not to mention that he and Enkidu are foster brothers as Ninsun adopted Enkidu as her own for protecting her son so dearly and Enkidu himself deserving of a home and a loving family.

Enkidu's and Gilgamesh's dynamic deserves a thread of its own (plan on making one soon!), but I find it really amusing that many people misinterput Gilgamesh as a dude that REALLY hated the gods. Shamash, the patron god of the sun, was his literal patron god and Gilgamesh was very clear on his admiration, support and protection for him in his passages. You could argue that in the beginning it IS seen and written that way, but then again, you can tell that Gilgamesh has important and widely different relationships with Ninsun and Shamash.

Shamash, interestingly enough, can be associated with the underworld because he was regarded as a divine judge. Meaning that Gilgamesh's connections with both the living and the underworld are closer than you'd think and are predominantly present to our faces. I believe that FGO did a wonderful job in portraying Gil's closeness to underworld deities like Ereshkigal because in his mythos and in the culture of his people, they DID revere them (not to say that they didn't worship the other gods).

Hidden symbols and commemorations on Caster Gilgamesh's attire (rambling about clothes):

In regards to the gods...I really love the tiny details highlighting his heritage. The horns around his "crown" (consisting of white cloth wrapped around his head resembling a turban with a white veil attached to said cloth, falling down his back and a silver chain necklace with a purple gem that touches his crown) in his Caster variant could either resemble the horns of a cow's (which would indicate Gilgamesh commemorating his mother Ninsun as the goddess of wild cows) or that of a bull's.

Although I do believe that both can be true, I highly doubt that Gilgamesh would want to parade around his reputation in regards to his... interesting reputation with bulls (looking at you Bull of Heaven...). It would be more than fitting that he commemorates his mother because the horns around his crown could be his own way of saying: "the reason for my kingship came from the mother goddess that bore me" or that his reason for being a wise king stems from his mother entirely.

Fate/FGO doing Gilgamesh dirty in the whole department of his canonical physical feats/intelligence:

Next point will get controversial but bear with me for a bit. I highly disagree with how Gilgamesh is perceived in the fandom in regards to his strengths. He is a child of both worlds, he fought Enkidu to a stalemate and shook his kingdom for three entire days-- from the sheer brutality of their strength-- and you mean to tell me that Gilgamesh, even outside of his feats with Enkidu, who wrestled with lions and divine bulls, has no feats in regards to his physical strength and close combat?

Let alone that he has no idea how to use weapons? I find it absurd that Gilgamesh is WIDELY underestimated in the fandom in regards to his combat prowess. In EoG, he is seen wielding axes, swords, spears, shields and his own hands-- but he is not a brute, he knows how to handle his combat. The only thing you can argue about is his combat intelligence, which in ITSELF is called out on by the elders of his council when he makes the brave choice to fight Humbaba. In EoG, the elders say like so:

"You are young, Gilgamesh, your heart carries you off. You do not know what you are talking about".

Which highlights that Gilgamesh is vigorous, bold, cocky and confident as a youth-- you could argue that the passage could also indicate the importance of the elderly amongst the youth which is understandable, but I believe it highlights Gilgamesh's character as a youngster more.

It is a shame that FGO stripped Gilgamesh of the assets that made his character so relatable and human-- but there are more things that were stripped from him that I'd like to discuss as final discussion points for this thread...

Gilgamesh is a dreamer! (In more ways than one)

Gilgamesh's most darling and beloved characteristic, to me, in his mythos is that he is WIDELY and TERRIBLY connected to dreams. Which is interesting from a literature perspective and as a humanities student myself. Dreams are a means to describe or dedicate oneself to witnessing the foretold future or the present. Dreams are warnings, they are visions-- writers will often use them to reveal a side of their characters that only the readers will get to see.

Some of their meanings are never even present and more times than not, difficult to describe or understand. Dreams can mean a variety of things, and EoG has REALLY established that Gilgamesh is a dreamer and very much connected to his soul, his humanity, both worlds and his kingdom. Gilgamesh being a dreamer is very important, because he is frightened by his visions, his dreams. He is frightened because he knows almost always, that deep down, they are warnings, messages that are directly caused from the consequences of his actions. He believes in them, which you may find weird until you consider his humanity and his spirituality. The only way that Gilgamesh was not frightened by his dreams was when Enkidu would twist the meanings of them to turn them into positive warnings and meanings, as was when he'd come and speak of them to his mother goddess, Ninsun.

Ninsun interpreted Gilgamesh's dreams for him, which is not only a wonderful mother and son moment, but also a highlighting feature that gets me to think-- Gilgamesh no matter what, is VERY and I mean VERY cautious.

Being a dreamer and in general being associated with such deep, profound spirituality is what adds more to his humanity. But even more so, the fact fate as a franchise has removed his dreamer and in general dream associations always gets me a tad bit too somber...I believe it would make him more interesting and relatable to the audience-- if it were Archer Gilgamesh it would make more sense because he technically IS young Gilgamesh. Right about when, in his mythos, he began to have them in the first place.

I fear that Gilgamesh is so widely hated and misunderstood in the fandom that he is widely made into a character that his original source material and Nasu's own artistic liberty have never portrayed to begin with. There is no problem with disliking or even hating a character, so long as you get to appreciate the role and aspects that they were written to represent. As always, as a final conclusion...

Gilgamesh (surpisingly even in Fate) is a wonderful portrayal of a king who learns, accepts and appreciates his humanity. He is more than relatable to the audience and a figure of change, which to me is fantastic when you take into consideration the dilemma's that the epic of Gilgamesh presents to its audience as you read more and more through it. My number one favourite character in FGO and amongst the many mythological figures who have drawn my attention for a reason!