Hymn of the Righteous Sufferer

Questions for Further Study

• 1. “Marduk” is also the name of a black metal rock band formed in Sweden in 1990. Many of the band’s lyrics feature Satanistic and anti-Christian motifs as well as historical themes having to do with war, Nazism, and the like. The band is named specifically after the Babylonian god Marduk. “Sarpanitum,” the name of Marduk’s consort, is also the name of a contemporary black metal band. Why do you think these bands took these names? What connection, if any, might their type of music have with the Babylonian god?
• 2. Imagine that you are an archaeologist and you have set as your goal determining more precisely when Hymn of the Righteous Sufferer was composed. How would you set about this task? What types of evidence would you look for? Where would you look for this evidence?
• 3. Hymn of the Righteous Sufferer invites comparison with the Epic of Gilgamesh, which came from the same region of the world during very roughly the same time period. What do the two documents, taken together, tell you about the worldview of the people living at this time and in this place, particularly with regard to the role of suffering in human life?
• 4. In what ways, if any, is Marduk as depicted in Hymn of the Righteous Sufferer similar to the conception of God in the biblical book of Genesis?
• 5. Compare this entry with that on Cleanthes’ “Hymn to Zeus,” which also discourses on the powers and attributes of a major god. How do the conceptions of Marduk and Zeus differ? Are there any similarities? What do these differences and similarities tell you about ancient polytheistic religions and the cultures that produced them?