The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Maui turned over and over in the air and started to come down again, and he fell right beside Mahu-ika; then Maui said, “You’re having all the fun!”

“Why indeed!” Mahu-ika exclaimed. “Do you imagine you can send a whale flying up into the air?”

“I can try!” Maui answered.

So Maui took hold of Mahu-ika and tossed him up, chanting: “Tossing, tossing — up you go!”

Up flew Mahu-ika, and now Maui chanted this spell:

Up you go to the first level,

Up you go to the second level,

Up you go to the third level,

Up you go to the fourth level,

Up you go to the fifth level,

Up you go to the sixth level,

Up you go to the seventh level,

Up you go to the eighth level,

Up you go to the ninth level,

Up you go — way up in the air!

Mahu-ika turned over and over in the air and commenced to fall back; and when he had nearly reached the ground Maui called out these magic words: “That man up there — may he fall right on his head!”

Mahu-ika fell down; his neck was completely telescoped together, and so Mahu-ika died.

At once the hero Maui took hold of the giant Mahu-ika’s head and cut it off, then he possessed himself of the treasure of the flame, which he bestowed upon the world.^[158]

The greatest tale of the elixir quest in the Mesopotamian, pre-biblical tradition is that of Gilgamesh, a legendary king of the Sumerian city of Erech, who set forth to attain the watercress of immortality, the plant “Never Grow Old.” After he had passed safely the lions that guard the foothills and the scorpion men who watch the heaven-supporting mountains, he came, amidst the mountains, to a paradise garden of flowers, fruits, and precious stones. Pressing on, he arrived at the sea that surrounds the world. In a cave beside the waters dwelt a manifestation of the Goddess Ishtar, Siduri-Sabitu, and this woman, closely veiled, closed the gates against him. But when he told her his tale, she admitted him to her presence and advised him not to pursue his quest, but to learn and be content with the mortal joys of life:

Gilgamesh, why dost thou run about this way?

The life that thou art seeking, thou wilt never find.

When the gods created man,

they put death upon mankind,

and held life in their own hands.

Fill thy belly, Gilgamesh;

day and night enjoy thyself;

prepare each day some pleasant occasion.

Day and night be frolicsome and gay;

let thy clothes be handsome,

thy head shampooed, thy body bathed.

Regard the little one who takes thy hand.

Let thy wife be happy against thy bosom.

This passage, missing from the standard Assyrian edition of the legend, appears in a much earlier Babylonian fragmentary text.^[159] It has been frequently remarked that the advice of the sibyl is hedonistic, but it should be noted also that the passage represents an initiatory test, not the moral philosophy of the ancient Babylonians. As in India, centuries later, when a student approaches a teacher to ask the secret of immortal life, he is first put off with a description of the joys of the mortal.^[160] Only if he persists is he admitted to the next initiation.

But when Gilgamesh persisted, Siduri-Sabitu gave him permission to pass and apprised him of the dangers of the way.

The woman instructed him to seek the ferryman Ursanapi, whom he found chopping wood in the forest and guarded by a group of attendants. Gilgamesh shattered these attendants (they were called “those who rejoice to live,” “those of stone”) and the ferryman consented to convey him across the waters of death. It was a voyage of one and one-half months. The passenger was warned not to touch the waters.

Now the far land that they were approaching was the residence of Utnapishtim, the hero of the primordial deluge,* here abiding with his wife in immortal peace. From afar Utnapishtim spied the approaching little craft alone on the endless waters, and he wondered in his heart:

Why are “those of stone” of the boat shattered,

And someone who is not of my service sailing in the boat?

That one who is coming: is he not a man?