In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the goddess Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven against Gilgamesh.
Ishtar proposes marriage to Gilgamesh, but he rejects her and lists the unhappy fates of her previous lovers. Angered by his insult, she asks her father Anu to release the Bull of Heaven. The bull’s arrival brings famine and destruction to Uruk.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu confront the creature and kill it. Enkidu throws part of the bull’s body toward Ishtar, further insulting the goddess. The gods then decide that one of the two heroes must die, and Enkidu becomes the victim.
Ishtar is the Akkadian name of a major Mesopotamian goddess of love, sexuality and war. Her Sumerian counterpart is usually called Inanna. In this Akkadian-language epic, however, the goddess is conventionally named Ishtar.