Gilgamesh has gone into the marriage-house and shutout the people. He does strange things in Uruk, the city of great streets. At the roll of thedrum work begins for the men, and work for the women. Gilgamesh the king is about tocelebrate marriage with the Queen of Love, and he still demands to be first with the bride,the king to be first and the husband to follow, for that was ordained by the gods from hisbirth, from the time the umbilical cord was cut.
This highlights a deeply patriarchal structure in which sexual dominance is intertwined with kingship and “heroism.” Gilgamesh, in asserting the right of being king, believes he getsto sleep with brides before their husbands. As a right as a king, which is an abuse of power rooted in divine right. This divine justification reflects a gender definition where male power is linked with ownership, control, and domination, while female bodies are communal property in service of male status.