Image Information: Ishtar, Goddess of Love. Selina Fenech. Goddess.

"What a story! Bravo!" Frejya cheered at the Greek goddess.

Urvashi turned to Aphrodite and said, "Aphrodite, your scandalous love episodes never cease to amaze me. The way you forget everything else when you're in love is astounding. You have committed countless love affairs, yet you seem to end each affair gracefully, despite the embarrassing and harsh consequences. I must say I am impressed."

Aphrodite's jewels glistened as she took in the compliments. She loved attention, especially when it was good attention.

"Okay, yes, the story was great. But love isn't just about being adventurous and having affairs," Ishtar responded. "Sometimes true love causes pain, not happiness. Love is powerful, and it can make one do strange, often insane, things. I am a true goddess who has experienced all of the different sides of love. It's my turn to tell you all a story and teach you something from a darker side of love." Ishtar's rubies seemed to darken in hue as she spoke.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes as she replied, "Here we go again. You always have to bring down the mood, don't you? Fine, tell your deep, dark story. But I hope you know that I refuse to be even the slightest bit depressed about it."

Ishtar began, "Although we all control various aspects of love, sometimes love can control us. I have told you all before that love often drives me to kill. Something about the rush that I get from love makes me insane. I become someone completely different from myself- someone I cannot control. I often find myself standing over the dead body of my former lover unsure of what just happened.

"I fell hard for Tammuz. I do not know what it was about him, but I was suddenly head-over-heels in love with him. It was fabulous for a while. We did everything together: picnics in the clouds, moonlight dancing in the stars, and chariot rides through the mountains. I thought that with Tammuz things would be different. I thought that I was finally able to experience love without having it take over my body. However, I was wrong. Just like every other lover that I've had before Tammuz, things started going wrong. I went into  'love craze' and before I knew it Tammuz was dead.

Needless to say, I was upset at the loss of the young Tammuz. The story of his actual death is too traumatic for me to retell here. He was different from my other lovers, yet I'm not exactly sure why. Something about him just drew me to him, and it felt so natural. While I was mourning, an idea suddenly occurred to me: I had to go to the Underworld to retrieve him. It was entirely my fault he was dead, so it made sense that I should be able to resurrect him.

I descended into the Underworld, unsure of what to expect. When I reached the gates, I met Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. My memory is a little cloudy, but I do know that in my rage I demanded the gates to be opened and threatened Ereshkigal. Well, Ereshkigal was not very pleased with my performance and insisted I enter the Underworld through the ancient means. One at a time, the gatekeeper opened each gate, where I was forced to shed one item of clothing. By the seventh gate, I was naked and unable to open any more gates to reach the Underworld. I was furious, but there was nothing I could do. My attempt to rescue Tammuz had failed. With my heart broken, I returned to my home. I can honestly tell you that Tammuz had a great effect on me. I have never loved anyone quite the same way. You do not know how to truly love until you have lost."


Author's Note: I based my story off of the traditional myth of Ishtar, which has Ishtar's descent into the Underworld take place after the death of Tammuz. In other cultures, however, Ishtar's counterpart visits the Underworld before Tammuz is killed. In Sumerian mythology, Inanna, representing Ishtar, is trapped in the Underworld. Her only escape is to find someone to take her place. She tries to find someone to banish to the Underworld when she leaves, but everyone she meets is a friend. Finally, she gets back to her house and husband Dumunzi, representing Tammuz. Inanna is shocked to find Dumunzi completely content on his throne and clearly not in any state of mourning for his lost wife. Enraged, Inanna sends Dumunzi to take her place in the Underworld. I choose to base my story off of the traditional myth because I like it better and think it makes more sense. The traditional story demonstrates a tragic love story, while the alternate myth seems like a more bizarre love story. I like how Ishtar is able to describe a darker side of love in the traditional myth. I would like to think Ishtar did not really have control over the killing of all of her lovers. I tried to demonstrate how love can take hold of a person and make them do crazy things that sometimes do not even make sense to the person doing these things. My story shows how Ishtar tried to deal with the effect love had on her. Ultimately, love proved to have stronger power.

Original Story: Ishtar

Bibliography:
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