Laughter Carries a Long Way: Elements of Comedy in the Sumerian Descent of Inanna

Abstract

The Descent of Inanna is an ancient Mesopotamian myth about a goddess who voluntarily goes to the Underworld, where she is stripped, humiliated, and killed, only to be returned to life once she offers her lover in exchange for herself. But despite this story\u27s dark subject matter and the thousands of years which separate it from the modern reader, close examination of the Descent narrative reveals a vibrant sense of humor behind the writing which is still intelligible today. Laughter Carries a Long Way is a senior project with two parts. The first part is a scholarly examination of The Descent of Inanna as an example of ancient comedy. The second is a play (entitled Inanna Goes Down ), which attempts to retell the story in a modern idiom without sacrificing the tension, drama, and laughter of the original