Like Mayflies in a Stream-- A Fresh Approach to the Epic of Gilgamesh

When I came across Like Mayflies in a Stream by Shauna Roberts in an Amazon historical fiction search, I knew that it was a novel dealing with ancient Sumer.  I'm interested in reading books taking place in ancient times. So I purchased it and it languished on a shelf for years.  This year I added it to a Goodreads group TBR challenge and I'm glad I finally got to it.  You see, I hadn't known it was a  retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh  with an unusual approach.

                              

I've read a number of Gilgamesh retellings dealing with the perspective of Gilgamesh, his companion Enkidu or the Goddess Inanna.  None dealt with the perspective of the people of Uruk under the rule of Gilgamesh.  This definitely wasn't a democratic society, but there were limits to what people were willing to endure.   There was such a thing as tyranny in ancient Sumer.  

Sumer was portrayed as a patriarchal society, but Gilgamesh's greatest atrocity in this novel was mistreatment of women.  Modern female victimization is often shown as an isolating event that separates the individual from her context.  Roberts shows the impact of  abuse of women on the men in their lives.  These women have fathers, brothers and husbands.  Family life was destroyed.

People in ancient times expected their gods to help them--particularly when there was a great injustice that was disrupting the social fabric.   They couldn't take their King to court or organize mass protests against his behavior.    Modern readers who live in constitutional democracies might think these Sumerians were pretty passive to have allowed these abuses to go on for so long.

Modern readers might also draw parallels between Gilgamesh and authoritarian figures in our era who believe that they can commit any wrong without penalty.  I felt that Like Mayflies in a Stream does speak to our time.   I could relate to the feelings of the people of Uruk that society was broken, and could never be restored to what it was before Gilgamesh uprooted all their norms.

This version of  the Epic of Gilgamesh is tragic, but it certainly has power.  I have placed this novel on my keeper shelf.  I will remember it for some time.