12/31/2023 0 Comments The epic of gilgameshIn other words, by this point, this epic had become a “classic” passed down as high literature but also used for educational purposes, not unlike Homer and Hesiod in the Greek world. 1550–1200 BCE), that the epic was most broadly copied. It was in the next phase, however, during the Late Bronze Age (ca. ![]() The longer versions of the Gilgamesh epic were composed directly in Akkadian during the second millennium BCE, including the poem known as “Surpassing all other kings.” This is also known as the Old Babylonian Version. These early Sumerian stories were preserved by later Babylonian writers probably in the eighteenth-century BCE, whose language was Akkadian but who copied Sumerian texts (just as scholars in antiquity copied Homer) because of their prestige and cultural importance. For instance, in one of them, know as “Gilgamesh (Bilgamesh), Enkidu, and the Netherworld,” Enkidu has descended to the Netherworld at Gilgamesh’s bidding to recover some items and is trapped there Gilgamesh is allowed by the Sun god Utu (Akkadian Shamash) to reunite momentarily with his friend, and the poem relates their conversation about what Enkidu sees in the Netherworld, especially the fates of people who lived and died in particular ways. These were not long epic poems but independent short stories about Gilgamesh (called “Bilgamesh” in Sumerian). The oldest fragments of poems about Gilgamesh are those written in Sumerian, stemming from traditions dated to the Ur III period or Third Dynasty of Ur, that is, at the end of the third millennium BCE (2094–2047 BCE). What follows explains the main phases of this “textual epic journey.” The textual history of what we call the Epic of Gilgamesh, therefore, is wonderfully complicated, as the texts we have do not come from a single version but are fragmentary texts from different times and places. Unlike with the Homeric and other epics, which have come to us through medieval manuscripts at the end of a long process of editing and copying, thanks to the Mesopotamian writing system in clay tablets and to archaeological excavations we have physical copies of several versions of the epic going back to the second and first millennium BCE. Indeed, we can see the influence of some of its motifs even in Greek epic and myth. Stories about Gilgamesh circulated broadly throughout the ancient Near East and became enormously popular beyond Mesopotamia. Stephanie Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others, Oxford, 2000, p. You will not find the eternal life that you seek.ĭay and night enjoy yourself in every way,Īppreciate the child who holds your hand, ![]() In a text preserved from the Old Babylonian Version, she offers Gilgamesh the most poignant piece of advice, and our first preserved version of the carpe diem idea (“collect the day”): Along the way, Gilgamesh finds guidance from various gods and lone characters like Siduri the female tavern keeper. This realization comes after he speaks to Ut-napishtim and hears his story of how he and his family survived the Flood, after which the god Enlil made him and his wife immortal, a fate not available to even semi-divine heroes. In the process, he also reaches his full acceptance of the inevitability of death. Only when Gilgamesh crosses beyond the world of the living and comes back does he become the king he was meant to be. The physical and spiritual journey of Gilgamesh also involves suffering the harsh consequences of divine punishment, which bring the death of the beloved friend, and the experience of pain and uncertainty, which pushes the hero into seeking the limits of the known world in search for answers. Among his featured exploits are battles with monstrous creatures such as the cedar-forest guardian Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven and the dangerous rejection of the love goddess Ishtart. This journey includes the hero’s initial conflict and strong friendship with his “alter ego” in the figure of the wild man Enkidu (a perfect partnership that captures the dichotomy between nature and culture) and the heroic quest to attain glory. ![]() The main theme in the Epic of Gilgamesh is the transformation of a hybristic arrogant king into a noble leader through a journey of pain and self-discovery. Hence it is surmised that this is a case where a historical figure became semi-legendary and eventually a hero around whom fantastic epic stories grew. The name of Gilgamesh appears among the early monarchs recorded in the king lists of the Sumerian city of Uruk, which is Gilgamesh’s city in the epic.
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