The Epic of Gilgamesh (Volume A)

History

• Mesopotamia, 1900–250 B.C.E.

• Gilgamesh, priest-king of Uruk

• written in cuneiform• Ur• revised in Babylonian

Ur

Cuneiform

• wedge-shaped script• 2100 B.C.E.

• clay tablets• Sumerians

• length

• content: historic, mythic

• motifs

• divine intervention

• heroic flaw

• orality and performance, writing

• language

Elements of Epic Writing

• death and friendship

• nature and civilization

• power and violence

• travel and homecoming

• love and sexuality

• physical and intellectual journeys

Binary Themes

Death and Friendship

Foil

“Go up, Ur-Shanabi, pace out the walls of Uruk. Study the foundation terrace and examine the brickwork. Is not its masonry of kiln-fired brick? And did not seven masters lay its foundations?” (Tablet X, 151)

Dichotomies

“Shall I not die too? Am I not like Enkidu?” (Tablet IX, 135)

“For whom, Ur-Shanabi, have my hands been toiling? For whom has my heart’s blood been poured out? For myself I have obtained no benefit, I have done a good deed for a reptile!” (Tablet X, 150)

Physical and Intellectual Journeys

Gods

Women

Flood Myths

Consider the etymology of the name “Gilgamesh” (“the old man is still a young man” OR “the offspring is a hero”). Is Gilgamesh’s name significant, despite the fact that he loses the plant that would return him to his youth? In what ways is it a fitting name despite his failure in the quest for immortality. How, in fact, has he actually accomplished immortality?

Discussion Questions

Throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh, many dreams occur, and often their meaning is unclear, or at least inscrutable for the characters who have them. Is there a general unity of the dreams? What is their purport? Do they come from the gods? Are they true? Are they good?

Discussion Questions

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The Norton Anthology Of World Literature.

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The Norton Anthology

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