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Summary: Ah, mortality
Review: "Sit down and weep: my body, which once you used to touch and made your heart's delight, vermin devour like an old coat."One thing interesting to me about this epic is that it illustrates that even thousands of years ago, thousands of miles away from anywhere I've ever been, people were still people. This book has some gems, one, Gilgamesh's amazing retort to the goddess Ishtar's proposition at the beginning of chapter three; he rejects her, telling her in part: "Your lovers have found you like a brazier which smolders in the cold, a backdoor which keeps out neither squall of wind nor storm, a castle which crushes the garrison, pitch that blackens the bearer, a water-skin that chafes the carrier, a stone which falls from the parapet, a battering-ram turned back from the enemy, a sandal that trips the wearer." Harsh! Towards the end of the epic Gilgamesh's passage through the mountain, with its bold repetition, was strangely affecting, as was Gilgamesh's lament for his dead friend Enkidu. And the flood narritive with its incredible similarity to the biblical flood narritive (just with different gods)--base your own conclusions on that.
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Summary: How could it be rated less than 5 stars?
Review: This is a 5,000 year old poem, the first traces of which were discovered in 1839 by a young Englishman, Austen Layard, who was
intent upon working in Ceylon but on the way there he and a friend stopped at Nineveh, on the Tigris River, and began an excavation hoping to find inscriptions. They
found a library of clay tablets! What was to have been a few days excavation became
years. He subsequently brought back to London thousands of clay tablets with their wedge shaped cuneiforms, which were eventually
deciphered, including part of The Epic of Gilgamesh. New finds in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by others, and their laborious interpretation followed. One of the results was this ancient epic poem, which contains,
among other things, one of the earliest tales of a great deluge and flood which is eerily similar to the flood described in the Hebrew Bible. The perpetrators of the flood,
though, were not the solitary God of the Hebrews, but one of the multiple Gods worshipped in those days, Enlil, god of earth, wind and air, and counselor to the other
Gods, of which there were a multitude. Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk, a great city in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq.) Although blessed with remarkable beauty ("a perfect body") and great strength, he was
but two-thirds god and one third mortal--which does present some serious questions! The poem was his epic, and there was indeed an historical figure of the same
name. This is an interesting artifact for its insight into human history, if nothing else. This particular translation is more bland in the explicit ... references, etc., than others,
but it faithfully retains the story. A valuable piece of literature.
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Summary: The Journeys that will change his life.
Review: A half god and half human, Gilgamesh was a King of the city of Uruk. Always wanting to find fame and knowledge, Gilgamesh set out on two Journeys in search of wide fame and for immortality. Gilgamesh's first journey was the forest journey. His goal was to defeat the gaurdian of the forest, Humbaba. After defeating Humbaba, Gilgamesh also defeated the Bull of Heaven. With this fame Gilgamesh gained, Gilgamesh had to pay a price and it was the life of his best friend Enkidu. After the death of his friend, Gilgamesh realized that he too will die someday; therefore, his next journey was to search for immortality. Gilgamesh set out in search of a man name Utnapishtim who can help him find immortality. I like this book because as you read on it becomes more interesting. Its like watching a show and wanting to know what happens next.
Rating: 
Summary: Good intro from diverse sources
Review: Although not an original translation, this redaction by N.K. Sanders combines versions Sumerian, Akkadian and Hittite texts. The prose flows very well (almost like the King James Bible). The introductory history and map provide helpful background information.
Its amazing though over 4,000 years old, that there are very modern elements. Here man first begins to define a "self". There is dream interpretation that historically is continued with Joseph in the Bible and still alive with Carl Jung. Some symbols, such as the slaying of the Lion are ancient and almost universal. The Flood story shows up here, and perhaps latter repeated (or in a new form) in the Bible and Noah, with new meaning. What's fun about these myths is that they are compact and open to interpretation. For example, I perhaps see the defeat of Humbaba (the guardian of the Cedar Forest), as the start of our environmental crisis.
Rating:
Summary: Nicely worded and a great recommendation!
Review: As I have mentioned above, this book is very descriptive of infinitesmial details and even though it may be a myth, it certainly is very vividly entertaining. Myths are generally thought to be boring but this one's a classic. It is narrated as a daily journal and that's what makes it even more detailed and makes the reader feel like he or she is present in that moment of time. A great gift for a myth lover!
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Summary: Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk
Review: Dating from the third millennium B.C., "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is one of the earliest surviving epic poems in world literature, and like some of its obvious counterparts, to wit, Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," Virgil's "Aeneid," and "Beowulf," still has the power to attract and fascinate readers even at the dawn of the 21st century. Like "Beowulf," Gilgamesh is a king whose initial goal is to establish his own eternal fame. Gilgamesh, the child of a goddess and a priest, is, at the start of the epic, driving the people of Uruk crazy with his boundless energy and restless enthusiasm. The people beseech the gods to send a companion for their king. This companion comes in the form of Enkidu, a wild man who communes with beasts in the forest. Gradually, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become the closest of friends. While the search for fame and glory continues, it becomes only too clear that the focal point of the epic is the relationship between the king and the wild man. Without peers or equals, the two live almost exclusively for each other and through each other. Other ancient epics, of course, feature complicated relationships, but "Gilgamesh" is rare in the sheer intensity of the homosocial bond. The wanderings and quests of Gilgamesh and Enkidu find their highest purpose in the pursuit of eternal life, which, again, surfaces because of Gilgamesh's relationship with Enkidu. Mortality becomes the overarching theme of the epic. A theme which we continue to deal with, the epic intersects the drive of science, pseudoscience, and magic throughout human history. Stylistically, the most notable feature of "Gilgamesh" is repetition of phrases. Even in conversation, one sees the same sentence, sometimes modified, come from two or more characters, even at relatively great distance from each other in the actual text. This demonstrates very powerfully the oral origins of the epic. Repetition, which could become tiresome, draws us further into the story, as it forces us to pay closer attention to the significance of what is being said, as well as important numbers (7 and 12 appear most frequently), and images. The adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu amongst gods, beasts, and natural forces, are compelling, interesting reading. Certain parallels between the ancient Mesopotamian epic and the Judeo-Christian biblical narratives that post-date it, have been well-documented. N.K. Sandars' introduction is extremely detailed, giving the history of the region surrounding Uruk, the history of the text itself and how it has been read, compiled, and studied since the 19th century, provides excellent background on the complicated mythology of the ancient Mesopotamians. A solid read altogether.
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Summary: The first book ever written remains a treat
Review: Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk (and in real life he was the king of Uruk), is the first tragic hero recorded by the human race. Though many of the epic's tablets were discovered in Assurbanipal's Assyrian library (7th century B.C), parts of this book appear to originate from around 3000 B.C. Long before the Assyrians, 1800 years before the Hebrews, and, in fact, before anybody as this story originated with the hard-bitten people of Sumer, the first civilization, who happened to have been utterly lost from history until the 19th century A.D. The very civilization to invent the wheel, the city, the sexigesimal system governing the sweep of hands on your watch and, most importantly, writing. Say "alcohol", and you speak Sumerian - as they apparently invented that too, while the word has not changed for over 5000 years. "Hard-bitten" because while the Egyptians would celebrate Nile floods, Sumerians cursed themselves for having deserved such punishment as a flooded Tigris or Euphrates. To Egyptians the sun was life. To Sumerians the sun was relentless. Suffering is an excellent source of creativity (though the Egyptians did well with less) and Gilgamesh reflects this in both its creativity and diagnosis. Although very old, his story is forever new. Gilgamesh is - as stated in the introduction - emblematic of our concern with mortality, the struggle for knowledge and escape from the common lot of man. As a mortal, Gilgamesh is condemned to death, but he doesn't take his fate lying down. So, like all good mythologies, he sets out on a great adventure to rectify his problem, encountering gods, monsters and his best friend, Enkidu, the "savage man", who is at home with the animals, until enticed by the civilized Gilgamesh with a woman - something he never saw before. Perhaps a symbol of man's complications when leaving his natural state. Most interestingly Gilgamesh reaches "where the sun rises" to meet Upnapishtim. Upnapishtim is by now famous for saving "the seed of all living creatures" on a boat, whose dimensions are given by a rogue god friendly to man, all before a great worldwide flood sent by other capricious gods because humans were making too much noise, keeping the gods from sleep. (That Noah mimics the Upnapishtim myth should be no surprise as Sumer influenced the Levant for thousands of years after it's passing.) When Enkidu dies Gilgamesh morns, "How can I rest when Enkidu, whom I love is dust and I too shall die and be laid in the earth forever." In the end Gilgamesh is "mocked by fate, lost opportunities, wasted hopes and swallowed by death". Apparently, no matter how many gods you have - and the Sumerians had hundreds, one even for the pick-axe - death remains a mystery and confidence of reward a hunch. A wonderful journey into the mind of humanities first civilization, greater understanding of scriptures to follow and a clear signal that the deepest concerns of our human condition remain unaltered no matter where or when.
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Summary: Allegory of humankind's search for meaning
Review: Great edition of one of the greatest epics of all time! The introduction will benefit those who are unfamiliar with the epic.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you think
Review: I often ponder about what the ancients saw and this book clears nothing up at all BUT it was very interesting indeed, what did they mean by Gods or the great flood? I treasure this book and all the questions that brought it up.
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Summary: Gilgamesh links the Ancient World with the Modern World.
Review: I very much enjoyed reading the Epic of Gilgamesh, and I must write a review to do this book justice. I will only discuss its content peripherally to allow people who haven't read it to discover its pleasures for themselves. Despite thousands of years of social and technological changes that separate the ancient and modern worlds, Gilgamesh definitively illustrates the similarities that humans of all ages share. Who doesn't desire to become more than average and to test his or her limits? Don't people yearn for a friend whom they can trust implicitly? And how many of us must eventually confront and despair about our mortality? I can just imagine a cold night in the desert thousands of years ago, where a group of people gathered together to listen attentively to the exploits of Gilgamesh. As the storyteller reenact the epic members of the audience feel their emotions alternate between elation and grief. I hope that prospective readers of this book will not pass it by. It is world literature.
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