The Dialogue of Pessimism is an ancient
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
n literary composition in the form of a dialogue between a master and his slave. Its interpretations have varied, but it is generally considered an unusual text which thematises the futility of human action. It is an example of ancient Near Eastern
wisdom literature
Wisdom literature is a genre of literature common in the ancient Near East. It consists of statements by sages and the wise that offer teachings about divinity and virtue. Although this genre uses techniques of traditional oral storytelling, it w ...
.
Text and dating
The Dialogue is a loosely poetic composition in
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
, written soon after 1000 BC in Mesopotamia. It was discovered in five different clay tablet manuscripts written in the
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
script. The text is well-preserved, as only 15 of its 86 lines are fragmentary. Two textual versions seem to survive, as a
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
ian tablet is substantially different from
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n versions. Ancient audiences may have known it by the Akkadian title ''arad mitanguranni'' ("slave, attend me"), the phrase at the beginning of every stanza.
Content and style
The Dialogue of Pessimism takes the form of a dialogue between a master and his slave valet. In each of the first ten stanzas the master proposes a course of action, for which the slave provides good reasons. Each time, however, the master changes his mind and the slave provides equally good reasons for not pursuing that course of action. The courses of action are:
I. Driving to the palace
II. Dining
III. Hunting
IV. Marriage (“building a house” in Speiser)
V. Litigation (this is the most fragmentary stanza)
VI. Leading a revolution (“commit a crime” in Speiser)
VII. Sexual intercourse
VIII. Sacrifice
IX. Making investments (“plant crops” in Speiser)
X. Public service
A sample of the Dialogue is (Master ''Slave''):
Slave, listen to me! ''Here I am, master, here I am!''
I want to make love to a woman! ''Make love, master, make love!''
''The man who makes love forgets sorrow and fear!''
O well, slave, I do not want to make love to a woman.
''Do not make love, master, do not make love.''
''Woman is a real pitfall, a hole, a ditch,''
''Woman is a sharp iron dagger that cuts a man’s throat.''
(Stanza VII, lines 46–52)
Stanza XI is substantially different:
Slave, listen to me! ''Here I am, master, here I am!''
What then is good?
To have my neck and yours broken,
or to be thrown into the river, is that good?
''Who is so tall as to ascend to heaven?''
''Who is so broad as to encompass the entire world?''
O well, slave! I will kill you and send you first!
''Yes, but my master would certainly not survive me for three days.''
(Lines 79–86)
The dialogue is limited to two people (unlike, for instance,
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
’s dialogues), as is common in ancient Near Eastern
wisdom literature
Wisdom literature is a genre of literature common in the ancient Near East. It consists of statements by sages and the wise that offer teachings about divinity and virtue. Although this genre uses techniques of traditional oral storytelling, it w ...
. It has much in common with the local tradition of dispute literature, including its cynical, questioning outlook. As with other dispute poems, it may have been performed orally outside the school setting. Rather than a set of abstract or universal principles to be applied to every situation, the slave employs concrete images and instances.
The dialogue also references Mesopotamian literature of other sorts. Line 76 quotes a line at the beginning and the end of the
Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh ...
. Lines 86–87 quote an ancient
Sumerian saying. Lines 62–69 may allude to a part of the Great Hymn to
Shamash
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
(lines 118–127).
Interpretation
Interpretation of the Dialogue is divided. Some consider the Dialogue a
theodicy
Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of ...
. Others consider it a statement of life's absurdity, because there are no definitive right and wrong choices or reasons for action. The final stanza is therefore a logical outcome of this quandary, the choice of non-existence over existential futility. This has led recent interpreters to compare the Dialogue to modern existentialists such as Kierkegaard and Camus.
An opposing interpretation takes its cue from the slave's final cheeky retort, seeing the Dialogue as social satire. By this view, the boisterous slave exposes the vacillation and unproductiveness of his aristocratic master through giving conflicting and clichéd answers. Religious satire may also be present in comments about the behaviour of the gods.
Parallels with the second-millennium Mesopotamian text ''
Monologue of the Righteous Sufferer'' (also known as "I will praise the Lord of Wisdom") and the biblical
Book of Ecclesiastes suggest a third interpretation. The universe is indeed enigmatic, even seeming meaningless, but it may have some rationale known to the gods (suggested in the slave's comment about heaven and earth in Stanza XI). Rather than counselling death out of despair, the master wants the slave to enter before him into death so that he can ask the gods. The slave’s final satirical rejoinder parries his master's suggestion. The Dialogue may be satirical, serious, or both, but by this view its message is that the gods control the destinies, which are unknown to us. The wise man, like the slave, reserves judgement and assesses possibilities in the face of life’s ambiguities, albeit retaining his sense of humour.
Parallels with the Old Testament
There is a thematic parallel between the Dialogue of Pessimism and the Book of
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...
in the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
. The affirmations and their negations given by the Dialogue's slave are similar to the list of actions and their opposites given in Ecclesiastes 3:1-9 ("a time to be born and a time to die..."). Ecclesiastes, like the Dialogue, has been the subject of pessimistic and optimistic interpretations, and is also amenable to the interpretation that the incomprehensibility of the universe and human life point to our limitations and the transcendent knowledge of God.
There are also some parallels and contrasts with the
Book of Job
The Book of Job (; hbo, אִיּוֹב, ʾIyyōḇ), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), and is the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Scholars ar ...
. Like the Dialogue, Job also considers death as an option in the face of life's contradictions (Job 3:2–13), although he never contemplates suicide. Moreover, Job does not conclude on a note of death: rather, that theme was more present at the outset. The use of irony and satire to probe life's mysteries also feature in both the Dialogue and Job (e.g. Job 9:39–31).
A proverb appearing at the end of the dialogue, "who is so tall as to ascend to the heavens? who is so broad as to encompass the entire world?" has several biblical parallels, among which are the opening verse of the proverbs of
Agur
Agur ben Jakeh ( he, אָגוּר בִּן־יָקֶה, ʾĀgūr bīn-Yāqe) was a sage of Arab descent and a compiler of a collection of proverbs found in Proverbs 30, which is sometimes known as the ''Book of Agur'' or ''Sayings of Agur''.
Bibl ...
(Proverbs 30:4);
Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Job 11:7-9; and Job 28:12-18.
[Kim, 2008: 430; Samet, 2010]
References
Bibliography
* Bottéro, J. (1992). ''Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods''. Chicago. (Especially “''The Dialogue of Pessimism'' and Transcendence”, pp. 251–267.)
* Denning-Bolle, S. J. (1987). Wisdom and Dialogue in the Ancient Near East. ''Numen 34'' (2): 214–234.
* Hartley, J. E. (2008). Job 2: Ancient Near Eastern Background. In T. Longman III & P. Enns (Eds.), ''Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings''. Inter-Varsity Press: 316–361.
* Jacobsen, T. (1948). The Negation of All Values: A Dialogue of Pessimism. In H. & H. A. Frankfort, J. A. Wilson, & T. Jacobsen, ''Before Philosophy: The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man''. Penguin: 231–234.
* Helle, S. (2017)
Babylonian Perspectives on the Uncertainty of Death: SB ''Gilgamesh'' X 301-321 ''KASKAL 14'': 211–219.
* Hurowitz, V. A. (2007). An Allusion to the Šamaš Hymn in the Dialogue of Pessimism. In R. J. Clifford (Ed.), ''Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia and Israel''. Society of Biblical Literature: 33–36.
* Kim, K. (2008). Lemuel and Agur. In T. Longman III & P. Enns (Eds.), ''Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings''. Inter-Varsity Press: 427–431.
* Lambert, W. G. (1963). The Dialogue of Pessimism. In ibid., ''Babylonian Wisdom Literature''. Oxford: 139–149.
* Metcalf, C. (2013). Babylonian Perspectives on the Certainty of Death. ''KASKAL 10'': 255–267.
* Speiser, E. A. “The Case of the Obliging Servant.” ''Journal of Cuneiform Studies 8'' (3): 98–105.
* Samet, N. (2008)
The Babylonian Dialogue between a Master and His Slave: A New Literary Analysis ''Shnaton 23'': 99–130.
* Samet, N. (2010)
The Tallest Man Cannot Reach Heaven, The Broadest Man Cannot Cover Earth - Reconsidering the Proverb and Its Biblical Parallels ''Journal of Hebrew Scripture 10'', article 8.
* van der Toorn, K. (1991). The Ancient Near Eastern literary dialogue as a vehicle of critical reflection. In G. J. Reinink & H. L. J. Vanstiphout (Eds.), ''Dispute Poems and Dialogues in the Ancient and Mediaeval Middle East'': 59-75. OLA 42; Leuven: Peeters.
Theodicy
Ancient Middle Eastern wisdom literature
Akkadian literature
Dialogues
Works about philosophical pessimism