For instance, in Tablet VI Gilgamesh rejects Ishtar’s marriage proposal, which would result in his deification. Gilgamesh recognizes that were he to marry the goddess, he would not be entering into a normal or even a sacred marriage; rather, he would be accepting the role of a deity in the netherworld. He would be taking on the identity of Ishtar’s prototypical consort Tammuz (Dumuzi). Gilgamesh is not yet prepared to give up his heroic quest, so he rejects Ishtar’s offer.