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Gilgamos rescued by an eagle (1)

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Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)
Assyria and Assyrians in Greek, Latin and Jewish sources
12 Assyrian Identity
12.02 Assyrian identity in post-Empire times
12.02.03 Assyria and Assyrians in Greek, Latin and Jewish sources
Eagle
02 Religious and ideological symbols and iconographic motifs
02.05 Animal/theriomorphic symbols and iconographic motifs
02.05.02 Birds
02.05.02.05 Eagle
Etana (ascent to heaven)
04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
04.01 Myths
04.01.06 Etana (ascent to heaven)
Gilgameš (search for life)
04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
04.01 Myths
04.01.07 Gilgameš (search for life)
Sargon legends
04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
04.02 Royal epics and legends
04.02.02 Sargon legends

Keywords
eagles
Gilgameš

Period
3rd century CE
Roman Empire

Channel
Roman philosophers and scholars

Text
Aelian, De Natura Animalum 12.21:
A love of man is another characteristic of animals. At any rate an Eagle fostered a baby. … When Seuechoros was king of Babylon the Chaldeans foretold that the son born of his daughter would wrest the kingdom from his grandfather. This made him afraid and … he put the strictest of watches upon her. For all that, since fate was cleverer than the king of Babylon, the girl became a mother, being pregnant by some obscure man. So the guards from fear of the King hurled the infant from the citadel, for that was where the aforesaid girl was imprisoned. Now an Eagle which saw with its piercing eye the child while still falling, before it was dashed to the earth, flew beneath it, flung its back under it, and conveyed it to some garden and set it down with the utmost care. But when the keeper of the place saw the pretty baby he fell in love with it and nursed it; and it was called Gilgamos and became king of Babylon.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Aelian, De Natura Animalum 12.21

Bibliography

Dalley and Reyes 1998, 119	Dalley, S. and A. T. Reyes. “Mesopotamian Contact and Influence in the Greek World.” In: S. Dalley (ed.). The Legacy of Mesopotamia. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1998, 85-124.
Scholfield 1959, III 38-41	Scholfield A. F. Aelian on the Characteristics of Animals. 3 Vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1959 (esp Vol I: p. 54, Vol III: 38-41).

Amar Annus

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000081.php

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