The Babylonian Theodicy

The Babylonian Theodicy is a sophisticated acrostic dialogue poem in 27 stanzas of eleven lines each — the first syllables of each stanza spelling out the name and title of its author, Saggil-kinam-ubbib. Two friends debate the problem of divine justice: a sufferer orphaned young who has worked honestly and lives in poverty while the wicked prosper, and a more orthodox friend who defends traditional piety. The friend repeatedly responds with conventional comfort — the gods' ways are inscrutable, those who honour them will ultimately prosper — but each response fails. In the final stanza, both men agree on something remarkable: the gods themselves fashioned humanity with a crooked mind, endowing people with lying tongues and unjust inclinations from the moment of creation. The poem ends not with resolution but with a prayer that the gods might show compassion anyway.