Etana (Etanna) (strong) In Near Eastern mythology (Babylonian), hero who ascended to the heavens on the back of an eagle only to fall back to earth. The myth of Etana is found in fragmentary form. It has been pieced together by scholars.

One section tells how Etana prayed to the sun god, Shamash, to give a son to his wife by revealing to him the place where the “plant of life” was to be found. How the “plant of life” was found by the hero, however, is missing in the fragment. Another part of the myth tells of the miraculous journey Etana made to the heavens on the back of an eagle. The eagle kept taking the hero higher and higher, past the abode of the gods Anu, Bel, and Ea, to where the great goddess Ishtar lived. But Etana, not able to bear the journey, fell to the earth, taking the eagle with him. The character of Etana also appears in the Babylonian epic poem Gilgamesh, in which he is said to have founded a kingdom.

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow
Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante