Esdeath

Professor of Unitology







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Professor of Unitology Know Your Units: Ishtar Part 1 lelelelel Poe [DEATH] , and 1 more like this Quote Select Post

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Since this is such an important unit, we'll be breaking this KYU into 2 parts, one for the mythological character and one for the Ishtarian unit. It's gonna be awesome, so let's get started!



Mythological Information

Ishtar is a goddess of Mesopotamian origin, a counterpart of Inanna in Sumerian mythology and the Babylonian Venus. Her reign is vast, placing war, power, love, sex, and fertility under her jurisdiction. That's a fairly dangerous combination. Of all of those,

Let's look at Ishtar as a person to get a better understanding of her behavior in AoI. Ishtar was always depicted as a youthful woman. Like normal young people, Ishtar was passionate about whatever she did, which led to some erratic behavior. There are a few noteworthy tales about her that are worth going over. These are riddled with names that a seasoned Ishtarian veteran will recognize. Buckle up, because it's going to be a wild ride.



Ishtar's Descent

One of the most famous tales of Ishtar is known as Ishtar's Descent. It begins with Ishtar falling into a depression after her lover dies. Like other mythological characters who lose their first love, Ishtar took drastic action. She decided that she would rather live in the underworld with her deceased lover Tammuz than to live in the overworld without him. That decided, she approached the first gate into the underworld. She would have to go through all 7 gates to reach the underworld.

Ereshkigal, queen of the the underworld, granted her passage, but only under the condition that it be through an old decree. That decree required that Ishtar remove an article of clothing before going through each gate. With each article taken, her radiance diminished more and more. By the time she reached the 7th gate, she had only her dress, which was taken from her there. Naked, depressed, and finally realizing that this was a horrible plan, Ishtar attacked Ereshkigal in order to escape. This plan was almost as horrible as the plan to go there in the first place, and it ended badly as well (she's 2 for 2 at this point). Ereshkigal had Namtar inflict 60 diseases on Ishtar,



which basically left her comatose. It was only when Asushunamir brought orders from Ea, king of the gods to give the Waters of Life to Asushunamir that Ishtar was freed. Asushunamir sprinkled Ishtar with the water, cleansing her of the diseases that Namtar had given her. Now that she had essentially been bailed out, Ishtar left through the 7 gates. She was given her clothes back one garment at a time until she was out of the final gate fully clothed.

Now, why did Ea care so much to send Asushunamir to save her? Her absence from the world had a detrimental effect on how the world works. Without her power, no creature had sexual desires. Humans and animals alike were on a crash course to extinction, all because Ishtar was missing. Interestingly, Wikipedia (a decent source for getting preliminary research) shows a possible second version of the story.



The Proposal, Starring Sandra Bullock as Ishtar

The second tale we'll look at is the awkward relationship between Ishtar and Gilgamesh.



After the death of Tammuz but before she tried to go live with him in the underworld, Ishtar tried to land another man. Who else would be worthy to marry the goddess of love herself than the mighty warrior man-stud? Apparently he didn't think the same way, claiming that death follows all of her lovers. This greatly upset her, so she procured the

In both tales, Ishtar made a threat upon people who didn't bend to her will, and it was the same threat both times. It was a harmless threat, of course. Nothing more than releasing all the souls in Hell onto the earth. The threats were against the first gatekeeper of the underworld when he initially refused to let her pass and her father when he refused to let her take the bull.



That's all for tonight, folks. Sorry if this seems shorter than normal. It's been a crazy busy week. I'll make up for it in part 2. We'll be looking at how well Silicon did at incorporating the lore into the game!

Helooooooo, Ishtaria! Welcome to an extra special edition of Know Your Units. After overwhelmingly high demand, we're going to look at Ishtar, the chick the game is named after.Since this is such an important unit, we'll be breaking this KYU into 2 parts, one for the mythological character and one for the Ishtarian unit. It's gonna be awesome, so let's get started!Ishtar is a goddess of Mesopotamian origin, a counterpart of Inanna in Sumerian mythology and the Babylonian Venus. Her reign is vast, placing war, power, love, sex, and fertility under her jurisdiction. That's a fairly dangerous combination. Of all of those, love is the concept most associated with her. It is believed that, like Aphrodite, Ishtar was worshiped through prostitution with priestesses in her temple.Let's look at Ishtar as a person to get a better understanding of her behavior in AoI. Ishtar was always depicted as a youthful woman. Like normal young people, Ishtar was passionate about whatever she did, which led to some erratic behavior. There are a few noteworthy tales about her that are worth going over. These are riddled with names that a seasoned Ishtarian veteran will recognize. Buckle up, because it's going to be a wild ride.One of the most famous tales of Ishtar is known as Ishtar's Descent. It begins with Ishtar falling into a depression after her lover dies. Like other mythological characters who lose their first love, Ishtar took drastic action. She decided that she would rather live in the underworld with her deceased lover Tammuz than to live in the overworld without him. That decided, she approached the first gate into the underworld. She would have to go through all 7 gates to reach the underworld.Ereshkigal, queen of the the underworld, granted her passage, but only under the condition that it be through an old decree. That decree required that Ishtar remove an article of clothing before going through each gate. With each article taken, her radiance diminished more and more. By the time she reached the 7th gate, she had only her dress, which was taken from her there. Naked, depressed, and finally realizing that this was a horrible plan, Ishtar attacked Ereshkigal in order to escape. This plan was almost as horrible as the plan to go there in the first place, and it ended badly as well (she's 2 for 2 at this point). Ereshkigal had Namtar inflict 60 diseases on Ishtar,which basically left her comatose. It was only when Asushunamir brought orders from Ea, king of the gods to give the Waters of Life to Asushunamir that Ishtar was freed. Asushunamir sprinkled Ishtar with the water, cleansing her of the diseases that Namtar had given her. Now that she had essentially been bailed out, Ishtar left through the 7 gates. She was given her clothes back one garment at a time until she was out of the final gate fully clothed.Now, why did Ea care so much to send Asushunamir to save her? Her absence from the world had a detrimental effect on how the world works. Without her power, no creature had sexual desires. Humans and animals alike were on a crash course to extinction, all because Ishtar was missing. Interestingly, Wikipedia (a decent source for getting preliminary research) shows a possible second version of the story.The second tale we'll look at is the awkward relationship between Ishtar and Gilgamesh.After the death of Tammuz but before she tried to go live with him in the underworld, Ishtar tried to land another man. Who else would be worthy to marry the goddess of love herself than the mighty warrior man-stud? Apparently he didn't think the same way, claiming that death follows all of her lovers. This greatly upset her, so she procured the Bull of Heaven to have it kill Gilgamesh (because that's the logical way to solve your problems). Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the bull, though.In both tales, Ishtar made a threat upon people who didn't bend to her will, and it was the same threat both times. It was a harmless threat, of course. Nothing more than releasing all the souls in Hell onto the earth. The threats were against the first gatekeeper of the underworld when he initially refused to let her pass and her father when he refused to let her take the bull.That's all for tonight, folks. Sorry if this seems shorter than normal. It's been a crazy busy week. I'll make up for it in part 2. We'll be looking at how well Silicon did at incorporating the lore into the game!