Roberto Calasso; translated by Tim Parks
The Tablet of Destinies by Roberto Calasso, translated from the Italian by Tim Parks, is a slim volume that delves into myths from Mesopotamia.
The narrative unfolds in the form of a conversation between Utnapishtim and Sindbad the Sailor. A shipwrecked Sindbad turns up on the island of Dilmun where Utnapishtim and his wife have lived for thousands of years ever since they were granted eternal life by the gods. Hungry for company and eager to tell his stories, Utnapishtim takes advantage of Sindbad as his captive audience.
Utnapishtim weaves together episodes of different myths from Mesopotamia. Included is the story of warring gods, the defeat of Tiamat, and the ascendance of Marduk in the Enuma Elish, also known as The Babylonian Creation; the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, the flood story, and Utnapishtim’s immortality in the Epic of Gilgamesh; and Ishtar/Inanna’s possession of the mes, her marriage, and her descent into the underworld in The Hymn to Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth. Episodes from these and other myths appear intermittently, looping in and out of each other’s stories. Eventually, each myth is told in its entirety, but its episodes are scattered throughout and have to be pieced together at the end of the narrative. This mingling of myths suggest they should not be viewed as separate entities but as different iterations of a continuous, cohesive whole.
Most of the conversation is conducted by Utnapishtim, eager to tell his story. Sindbad occasionally interrupts with a short tale of his own or a question. More often than not, Utnapishtim is unable to provide an adequate response, claiming to be simply repeating what was revealed to him by the god Ea. He frequently sounds baffled by his predicament, unsure if the gods have forgotten about him. He waits. And he tells his stories.
Utnapishtim has accepted his fate, but this acceptance is tinged with notes of melancholy. He emerges as a compelling character, embroiled in a circumstance not of his own making, unsure of what the gods want from him, and desperate to transmit his stories. His blurring together of the different myths suggests he sees them as one long, uninterrupted narrative of our beginnings. Although he narrates weighty, mythological events that presumably go back to the beginning of time and the creation of humans, he adopts a matter-of-fact tone throughout. His goal is to transmit the stories to someone who will carry them off the island since he is unable to do so, himself.
Calasso has provided a vigorous rendition of these myths. The looping in and out of different myths makes for fascinating reading, especially if one can recognize which episode came which myth and how they blend together to make a cohesive whole. But this technique is rewarding for those already familiar with the mythology of ancient Mesopotamia. For others, it may prove to be too much of a challenge.
Recommended.