Mankind's relationship with the gods has been depicted over the centuries through texts and stories. Many texts reveal a belief in Gods that control different aspects of their lives. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Metamorphosis illustrate the importance of gods in life on earth. In each of these texts, we see a society that believes the gods have a direct influence on their daily lives. These texts provide a glimpse of how the gods and goddesses were incorporated into culture as an attempt to explain phenomenon that could not otherwise be explained or defined. As a result of this belief, individuals believed that the gods directed their destiny, for better or worse. The gods could help or hinder life on earth and they could also become involved with humans if they so chose. The relationships could become complicated, much like life on earth and, as always, these relationships were anything but boring.
             In The Epic of Gilgamesh, we learn that society did believe in a higher life form that did possess the power to influence aspects of life on earth. Many gods controlled their own realms, including aspects like weather, love, wine, and knowledge to name of few. For instance, we know that Ishtar is the goddess of love and Aruru, the goddess of creation, breathed life into Ekindu. The Sumerians in the time of Gilgamesh believed that the gods operated by their own set of laws and rarely consider how their actions might affect life for those on earth. Because the gods were in control of external elements, it should come as no surprise that individuals believed that the gods preferred faithfulness and obedience at almost all costs. At the same time, while humans were expected to obey and worship these gods, there was no guarantee that the humans would spared any wrath by any god or goddess that felt slighted or disrespected at any time. The gods were not all bad, however, and were known to be helpfu...