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Title: The Epic of Gilgamesh by Maureen Gallery Kovacs ISBN: 0-8047-1711-7 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr Pub. Date: December, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.24 (17 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Universal Tale Worth the Investment
Comment: The EPIC of GILGAMESH
Translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs
I first learned about The Epic of Gilgamesh in my 9th Grade Ancient History class. At the time, I was intrigued by the reported similarities between Utanapishtim and Noah. I finally decided to give it a read. On the surface, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a simple myth which exhibits similarities to other classic myths and stories. However, despite the many missing lines and lost passages, the story retains a power and universiality which speaks to us even today.
Gilgamesh is a god-like king, but he oppresses his people. To bring him into line, a rival is created in the woods -- a natural man named Enkidu whose path takes him to the city of Uruk to confront the tyrant. Instead of conflict, a friendship blooms between the two men. They adventure together, but anger the gods, who take their revenge on Enkidu. Gilgamesh is left alive and alone to face his own mortality. His fear and grief lead him across the world to seek the only man who has ever been granted immortality, Utanapishtim, survivor of the Great Flood.
Kovacs has done a good job with her translation, which is accessable even though it is fragmentary. One has to be prepared to work with this poem, because so much has been lost since it was written down in 800 BC. But if you are willing to put some effort into reading the (or one of the) oldest surviving work(s) of literature, it is well worth your time.
I recommend this work.
Rating: 4
Summary: The first epic hero in the history of world literature
Comment: The Epic of Gilgamesh dates from the third millennium B.C., making it the oldest epic poem in world literature. It is a relatively short work, which explains why over half of this little volume introduces the ancient text of the first ancient hero. The fullest extant text of the Gilgamesh was found in the Akkadian-language on 12 incomplete clay tablets found at Nineveh in the library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal. The narrative gaps have been filled in, somewhat, by fragments found elsewhere. Historians think that Gilgamesh might have been a ruler in southern Mesopotamia, although there is no historical evidence for any of the exploits covered in this narrative or the five poems written about the hero. Cultural anthropologists believe that Gilgamesh was a great king whose name became associated with pretty much every major legend or mythical tale in that culture.
Unlike some translations that go tablet by tablet, this translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs presents the epic as more of a narrative. The two most famous of these would be "The Story of the Flood," with its obvious parallels to the stories of a great flood in the Bible and Ovid's "Metamorphoses," and "The Coming of Enkidu"/"Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Death of Enkidu," which Captain Jean-Luc Picard narrates in the Star Trek: Next Generation episode "Darmok." Both of these are relevant points because in working from the known to the unknown they are both avenues of introducing Gilgamesh to which students will readily await. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the fundamental mythic tale in Western Civilization, but tends to be relegated to the shelf in most classes unless in happens to be included in an anthology. His quests for the Spring of Youth and immortality have been echoed in so many other tales. I have always thought that Gilgamesh is a more important figure than Beowulf (an admittedly minority opinion), but clearly there is much more to "The Epic of Gilgamesh" than a series of fights with beasts.
Rating: 4
Summary: A riviting tale about bravery honor and adventure
Comment: Gilgamesh is a Babylonian king, two-thirds god and one-third man. He is tyrannical and conceited. Enkidu is a hairy creature, half man and half animal, who lives in the steppe. Enkidu opens a trap set by a hunter, who reports this illicit activity to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh sends a prostitute to put Enkidu to shame in front of the animals. The prostitute brings Enkidu to the city and "humanizes" him. Enkidu and Gilgamesh meet, fight, stalemate, and then befriend each other, "seeing each other in their eyes". Gilgamesh persuades Enkidu to travel with him and fight to the evil monster Humbaba in the tall cedar forest. They go, and Gilgamesh kills Humbaba, but Enkidu is wounded. A maddened goddess Ishtar sends a bull to kill Gilgamesh because he refused her proposal, and Enkidu saves Gilgamesh from the animal.
Enkidu's condition worsens. He prophesies that Gilgamesh's life and world is changed forever, and dies. Gilgamesh mourns and travels to seek Utnapishtim, the survivor of the universal flood, in the hopes that he will be able to bring Enkidu back to life. Gilgamesh is able to get past the Scorpion people at the gate of Mashu, he treads the dark Road of the Sun, and enters a valley. He lives for a while with a barmaid named Siduri on the coast, and she tries to persuade him to stay. He leaves her, however, and in a rage destroys the stone images that might have led him across the sea to Utnapishtim. Ultimately Urshanabi the boatman permits him to cross. Gilgamesh finds Utnapishtim and they become friends. Utnapishtim does not like immortality, and tells Gilgamesh about the flood. He later becomes annoyed at Gilgamesh's insistence on finding immortality for Enkidu, and sends him back without his friend. At the last minute, Utnapishtim is convinced by his wife to tell Gilgamesh of the immortality plant at the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh finds it, but it pricks him as he grabs it. He places it on the shore while he bathes. Unfortunately, a serpent eats the precious plant while he is in the water. Gilgamesh returns to his city of Uruk, where all have forgotten who Enkidu was. Gilgamesh decides that he must abandon his own grief as well.
The tale of Gilgamesh is interesting because it addresses many of humanity's eternal questions, including the meaning of friendship and the desire to be immortal. It also reflects ancient history, religion, and culture
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