Epic of Gilgamesh

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The Epic of Gilgamesh is a literary work from Babylonia, dating from long after the time that king Gilgamesh was supposed to have ruled. It was based on earlier Sumerian legends of Gilgamesh. The most complete version of the epic was preserved on eleven clay tablets in the collection of the 7th century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. It is considered to be the oldest story ever recorded.

1 History
2 Influence on later Epic Literature
3 Contents of the eleven clay tablets
4 The Epic in other media
5 External links
6 Bibliography

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History

Image:GilgameshTablet.jpg

The earliest Sumerian versions of the epic date from as early as the Third dynasty of Ur (2100 BC-2000 BC), or to about 400 years after the supposed reign of Gilgamesh, who is now thought to have been historical, following the discovery of artifacts definitively associated with Agga and Enmebaragesi of Kish, two other kings named in the stories.

The earliest Akkadian versions are known, from the incipit (opening words), as "Surpassing all other kings", and are dated to ca. 2000-1500 BC. The "standard" version, composed by Sin-liqe-unninni sometime between 1300 BC and 1000 BC, carries the incipit "He who saw the deep" (ša nagbu amāru). The Akkadian word nagbu, "deep", is probably to be interpreted here as referring to "unknown mysteries".

A twelfth tablet sometimes appended to the remainder of the epic represents a sequel to the original eleven, and was added at a later date. This tablet has commonly been omitted until recent years, as it is in a different style and is out of sequence with the rest of the tablets ("Enkidu is still alive..."), and is considered a separate work.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is widely known today. The first modern translation of the epic was in the 1870s by George Smith. More recent translations include one undertaken with the assistance of the American novelist John Gardner, and published in 1984. Another edition is the two volume critical work by Andrew George whose translation also appeared in the Penguin Classics series in 2003. In 2004, Stephen Mitchell released a controversial edition, which is his interpretation of previous scholarly translations into what he calls the "New English version".

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Influence on later Epic Literature

According to the Greek scholar Ioannis Kordatos, there are a large number of parallel verses as well as themes or episodes which indicate a substantial influence of the Epic of Gilgamesh on the Odyssey, the Greek epic poem ascribed to Homer. Source: Ioannis Kakridis: "Eisagogi eis to Omiriko Zitima" (Introduction to the Homeric Question) In: Omiros: Odysseia. Edited with translation and comments by Zisimos Sideris, Daidalos Press, I. Zacharopoulos Athens. See Odyssey article for more details.

Some aspects of the epic also seem to be related to the story of Noah's ark in the Bible, and also parallel flood stories in many other cultures around the world, although it is a complicated matter to say what is the original inspiration for any of these, on which modern commentators have always been divided.

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Contents of the eleven clay tablets

Image:Gilgamesh Enkidu cylinder seal.jpg

Introducing Gilgamesh of Uruk, the greatest king on earth, two-thirds god and one-third human, the strongest super-human who ever existed. But his people complain that he is too harsh, so the sky-god Anu creates the wild-man Enkidu, a worthy rival as well as distraction. Enkidu is tamed by the seduction of priestess (a hierodule) Shamhat.
Enkidu challenges Gilgamesh. After a mighty battle, Gilgamesh breaks off from the fight (this portion is missing from the Standard Babylonian version but is supplied from other versions). Gilgamesh proposes an adventure in the Cedar Forest to kill a demon.
Preparation for the adventure of the cedar forest; many give support, including the sun-god Shamash.
Journey of Gilgamesh and Enkidu to the cedar forest.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu, with help from Shamash, kill Humbaba, the demon guardian of the trees, then cut down the trees which they float as a raft back to Uruk.
Gilgamesh rejects the sexual advances of the goddess Ishtar. Ishtar asks her father, the sky-god Anu, to send the "Bull of Heaven" to avenge the rejected sexual advances. He does. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the bull.
The gods decide that somebody has to be punished for killing the Bull of Heaven, and it is Enkidu. Enkidu becomes ill and describes the Netherworld as he is dying.
Lament of Gilgamesh for Enkidu.
Gilgamesh sets out to avoid Enkidu's fate and makes a perilous journey to visit Utnapishtim and his wife, the only humans to have survived the Great Flood who were granted immortality by the gods, in the hope that he too can attain immortality. Along the way, Gilgamesh encounters the "ale-wife" Siduri who attempts to dissuade him from his quest.
Completion of the journey, by punting across the Waters of Death with Urshanabi, the ferryman.
Gilgamesh meets Utnapishtim, who tells him about the great flood and reluctantly gives him a chance for immortality. He tells Gilgamesh that if he can stay awake for six days and seven nights he will become immortal. However, Gilgamesh falls asleep and Utnapishtim tells his wife to bake a loaf of bread for every day he is asleep so that Gilgamesh cannot deny his failure. When Gilgamesh wakes up, Utnapishtim decides to tell him about a plant that will rejuvenate him. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that if he can obtain the plant from the bottom of the sea and eat it he will be rejuventated, be a younger man again. Gilgamesh obtains the plant, but doesn't eat it immediately because he wants to share it with other elders of Uruk. He places the plant on the shore of a lake while he bathes and it is stolen by a snake. Gilgamesh, having failed both chances, returns to Uruk, where the sight of its massive walls provokes him to praise this enduring work of mortal men. Gilgamesh realizes that the way mortals can achieve immortality is through lasting works of civilization and culture.

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The Epic in other media

The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů wrote The Epic of Gilgamesh for choir and orchestra in 1955: he described it as "neither a cantata nor an oratorio, simply an Epic". The story was brought to his intention by his wife Maja in 1948 when she showed him a booklet from the British Museum about the clay tablets, and he used a translation of the poem by Reginald Campbell as the basis for the libretto, which is in the Czech and which reinterprets Gilgamesh as Everyman. The 53 minute long work was commissioned by Paul Sacher who conducted its premiere in Basel, Switzerland in 1958.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is directly quoted in an episode of the American television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode Darmok (1991) quotes the Epic as an example of the use of metaphorical language and the difficulties of communication and understanding. The characters of Picard and Data can be interpreted as latter-day examples of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.
Gilgamesh II was a four issue mature readers mini-series published by DC Comics in 1989.

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External links

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http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/GILG.HTM
The Epic of Gilgamesh: A Spiritual Biography
Sumerian texts: ETCSL
- Gilgamesh and Huwawa, version A - (the adventure of the cedar forest)
- Gilgamesh and Huwawa, version B
- Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven
- Gilgamesh and Aga
- Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the nether world
- The death of Gilgamesh
Comparison of The Epic of Gilgamesh to the Genesis flood

Translations for several legends of Gilgamesh in the Sumerian language can be found in Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Fluckiger-Hawker, E, Robson, E., and Zólyomi, G., The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/), Oxford 1998-.

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