The Epic of Gilgamesh
by Anonymous
Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 1200 BCE, from stories of c. 2100 BCE
- Form
- Epic poetry
- Language
- Akkadian
- Length
- Short · 100 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Andrew GeorgePenguin Classics, 2003The standard scholarly translation, honest about gaps in the tablets, with the older Sumerian poems included.
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Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is two-thirds god and oppresses his people until the gods create the wild man Enkidu to match him. The two fight, become friends, and travel together to kill the monster Humbaba in the Cedar Forest and then the Bull of Heaven. The gods punish Enkidu with death, and Gilgamesh, terrified of dying, journeys to the ends of the earth to find Utnapishtim, the survivor of the flood, who tells him that immortality is not for men. He returns to Uruk and looks at its walls.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Epic of Gilgamesh are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
