vii HASISADRA'S ADVENTURE 255 



highest of the gods is a trifle compared with the 

 truly Homeric anthropomorphism which charac- 

 terises other parts of the epos. 



The Chaldsean deities are, in truth, extremely 

 human ; and, occasionally, the narrator does not 

 scruple to represent them in a manner which is not 

 only inconsistent with our idea of reverence, but is 

 sometimes distinctly humorous. 1 When the storm 

 is at its height, he exhibits them flying in a state 

 of panic to Anu, the god of heaven, and crouch- 

 ing before his portal like frightened dogs. As the 

 smoke of Hasisadra's sacrifice arises, the gods, 

 attracted by the sweet savour, are compared to 

 swarms of flies. I have already remarked that 

 the lady Istar's reputation is torn to shreds ; while 

 she and Ea scold Bel handsomely for his ferocity 

 and injustice in destroying the innocent along with 

 the guilty. One is reminded of Here hung up 

 with weighted heels ; of misleading dreams sent 

 by Zeus ; of Ares howling as he flies from the 

 Trojan battlefield ; and of the very questionable 

 dealings of Aphrodite with Helen and Paris. 



But to return to the story. Bel was, at first, 

 excluded from the sacrifice as the author of all the 

 mischief ; which really was somewhat hard upon 

 him, since the other gods agreed to his proposal. 

 But eventually a reconciliation takes place ; the 

 great bow of Ami is displayed in the heavens ; Bel 



1 Tiele (Babylonisch-Assyrische Geschichte, pp. 572-3) has 

 some very just remarks on this aspect of the epos. 



