The injured goddess
makes Izdubar's life a burden to him, until at last, sick in
body and sorry in mind, he is driven to seek aid and comfort
from his forbears in the world of spirits. So this antitype of
Odysseus journeys to the shore of the waters of death, and there
takes ship with a Chaldaean Charon, who carries him within hail
of his ancestor Hasisadra. That venerable personage not only
gives Izdubar instructions how to regain his health, but tells
him, somewhat
a propos des bottes (after the manner of
venerable personages), the long story of his perilous adventure;
and how it befell that he, his wife, and his steersman came to
dwell among the blessed gods, without passing through the
portals of death like ordinary mortals.
According to the full story, the sins of mankind had become
grievous; and, at a council of the gods, it was resolved to
extirpate the whole race by a great flood. And, once more, let
us note the uniformity of human experience. It would appear
that, four thousand years ago, the obligations of confidential
intercourse about matters of state were sometimes violated--
of course from the best of motives. Ea, one of the three chiefs
of the Chaldaean Pantheon, the god of justice and of practical
wisdom, was also the god of the sea; and, yielding to the
temptation to do a friend a good turn, irresistible to kindly
seafaring folks of all ranks, he warned Hasisadra of what was
coming.
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