Explores the question of why we die14 July 2012tWith the possible exception of sections of the Bible (and many of the dates that we ascribe to the various books are speculative at best) this would be the oldest piece of literature that I have read and reviewed. The epic was discovered in 1853 and was first translated in 1870 which means that we have not had the actual story for very long, however its influences do stretch out over all recorded history, particularly with the similarities between the flood story here and the flood story in Genesis (though as previously mentioned it is my position that the flood story in Genesis supersedes this flood story, as I shall explain).tThe problem with this epic is that unlike the Bible or Homer we do not have a standard text. The date that I have given the poem is the earliest recorded date of tablets that have been found, however these tablets, and many of the other tablets that we have do not provide a standard telling of the story, and even by creating an outline of how we understand the story progresses, it is still incredibly corrupt and trying to piece the story together is a method of trial and error.tThe story begins with Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, who was using his kingly powers to pretty much have his way with all of the women of the city, and in particular he would deny the husband the right to sleep with their new brides until after Gilgamesh had had the pleasure. It is an indication of the nature of Babylonian tyranny in that it appears that there was no law that bound the king, and the fact that he was two-thirds god appeared to make him even more authoritarian. I actually believe that there is a biblical reference to Gilgamesh in Genesis, namely a character known as Nimrod, who was a mighty hunter before the lord, and ironically appears to have had a number of cities attributed to him which are similar to the cities that Gilgamesh was said to have established.tAnyway, the people of Uruk cry out to the gods to deal with Gilgamesh's actions, so they create a wild man named Enkidu. However Enkidu proves to be quite difficult in that it appears that he is roaming the land destroying civilisation, so they send a prostitute to him to teach him about sex. After seven days of passionate love making, Enkidu is broken of his wild ways. This story has some interesting aspects to it in the nature of civilisation verses the wild. The people of Uruk represent civilisation while Enkidu represents the uncivilised man, and it appears that even as far back as then the constant conflict between civilisation and barbarity was in full swing. Even though Enkidu is only one man, it appears that he could be a representation of uncivilised tribal cultures and bandits who have no respect for the hard work of honest men.tHowever, the use of the prostitute is something that is reflective of a civilised nature. Tribal cultures, particularly those without a form of commerce, would unlikely have had prostitutes, therefore the existence of the prostitute reflects a civilised society because for a prostitute to be able to exist there must be some form of commerce to allow her to make a gain from the services that she provides. I do not believe that the poem is reflective of sex as being a mechanism of civilisation, however the use of a prostitute is. Since her services must be paid for, if no payment is forthcoming, then the person is in her debt. This is what happens to Enkidu.tEnkidu and Gilgamesh become friends after Enkidu confronts the king on one of his nightly escapades. One wonders if this is reflective of a homosexual relationship, however I don't feel that this is the case. It appears that the problem was that Gilgamesh was lonely, which is the nature of kingship. As a king he has total authority and he can have what he wants when he wants, as is indicated by his sexual escapades. However, what they do not create is a sense of companionship, especially when you are stealing other people's wives. What Enkidu does is to give Gilgamesh a companion and a sense of companionship, and as such, he has what he wants, and like the prostitute served to civilise Enkidu, the pact of friendship that Gilgamesh and Enkidu form, serves to civilise Gilgamesh.tThey go on adventures together, though only two of them are mentioned: the trek to Lebanon to defeat the ogre Humbaba, and then the fight against Ishtar's bull that is sent to destroy the city of Uruk. I will not go into much more details of these adventures with the exception to flag them as a very early adventure story. Considering that the adventures appear to be complete in themselves, it is quite possible that these stories are shortened versions of longer texts, and examples of other stories, in which the two characters star. In a way, this is probably a very early example of the modern serialised novel. In fact, we could change Gilgamesh and Enkidu to Sherlock Holmes and Watson.tThe main part of the text though deals with Gilgamesh's quest for immortality and his failure to find it. He is part god, but his human nature means that he must die like every other human. Enkidu dies of a wasting disease and this sends Gilgamesh into a long period of mourning, however he does not seek immortality to bring Enkidu back, but rather to stop himself from dying. It is not the loss of a loved one that drives him, but his fear of death, and this fear of death is something that is prevalent in literature throughout recorded history.tGilgamesh then goes on a long journey to find Umpashtim, the sole survior of the flood, and also the last human to be gifted with immortality, however while Gilgamesh learns the secret, he does not gain immortality. There are reasons for this flagged elsewhere, but note that Gilgamesh is not the wisest of characters. Umpashtim is a wise sage and his discussions with Gilgamesh indicate this. One of his tests is to stay awake for seven days (the number seven appears very regularly in Babylonian mythology, and this has come down to us in the Bible), and this he fails, with the explanation that if he cannot stay awake for seven days, how is he to fight death, which is a much more powerful opponent than sleep. We also note that as mentioned he is foolish, particularly when he goes off half-cocked to kill some giants only to discover that these giants were the only way to allow him to move forward (but his cunning allows him to do so anyway).tFinally, we have the rather nasty ending to the story. Gilgamesh sees the flower that will make him young again, and thus give him immortality, and it is within his reach, only to have it taken away from him by a serpent (which I read as a dragon). Here is another biblical parallel, as in this epic, Gilgamesh has immortality in his grasp, only to have it taken away from him at the last moment by a serpent. In the Genesis account, we have the serpent steal immortality from Adam and Eve by lying to them and getting them to disobey God. So it appears that in this mythology, the serpent is represented by the loss of immortality.tThis was probably a popular and well known story to the Mesopotamians, in that it answers, or tries to answer, the question of 'why do we die'. In a sense it could also be a nursery rhyme of some sort, with the child asking the question and the nursemaid responding with this story. Mesopotamia, while a civilised state for his period, was still a violent and nasty place where life was cheap. As such death would be all around them, and there was a need and a desire to understand why this was the case.
"The common man, the noble man,Once they have reached the end of life,Are all gathered in as one..."--"Immortal under the Sun are the gods alone,As for mortals their days must end -What they achieve is but the wind!"--"I must face battle strange to me,Travel a road unknown to me."--"He who leads the way preserves himselfAnd keeps his companion safe."--"Fixing his gaze on me, he led me to the House of DarknessThere where Irkalla lives, He, the God of the Dead.No one who enters that house comes forth again.It is the one-way road from which there is no return;Those residing there are bereft of the light for ever,Where dust is their food and mud their sustenance.They are dressed as birds, with garments of wing feathers.They see no light but crouch in darkness,There in the House of Dust, into which I came,I saw kings, their crowns set aside -Those who had once ruled on earth through the ages, humbled,No longer were they born to the crown."--"What is this sleep that has now come over you?You have gone dark and cannot hear me!"--"The Refresher said to him, said to Gilgamesh:'Gilgamesh, whence do you direct yourself?You shall not find the life you seek,For at the creation of mankindThe gods allotted Death to men.They retained life in their own hands.Gilgamesh, let your belly be full,Make you merry by day and by night.Make everyday a day of feasting and of rejoicingDance and play, by day, by night,Let your clothes be sparkling and freshWash your hairBathe your bodyAttend to the babe who holds you by the handTake your wife and let her rejoice in you.For this is the lot of mankind to enjoyBut immortal life is not for men."-----Such wisdom from deepest darkest antiquity."The Epic of Gilgamesh" is the oldest of all stories set down in writing -- dating back thousands of years and predating the Old Testament -- and what we know of it today comes from many sources in many languages. Assyrian stone tablets being one, but the story is found in fragmentary form in many records that have survived. Fortunately, though large chunks of the story are lost, it is not hard to surmise the likely plot directions.I read it today and was, quite simply, blown away by how wise and even sophisticated it is.It also happens to be a rollicking good adventure.The lowdown:* Three stars for being such an entertaining story* Four stars for being beautiful and relevant even after 2,000-5,000 years* Five stars for surviving through the millenia.-------The parallels to Greek mythology and to stories much later set down in the Bible are striking.In "Gilgamesh..." the gods are scheming, petty, vengeful, capricious and political, just like humans and just like the gods of the later Greeks - playing with the lives of mortals and tweaking the noses of fellow gods and goddesses.The pre-Biblical content is striking: there's a long passage describing the Flood and a character just like Noah who is called on by the gods to build an ark to carry the seed of all creatures for survival. There's also a dove set out to find land. As in the bible, man is compared to a reed in the wind. As in the Bible, a serpent snatches the key to immortality (not unlike the Genesis story). As in the Bible, the "main" character is part God and part man.Along the way, we encounter an instance of very sophisticated time narrative, two characters thinking the same thoughts or being told the same thing in parallel.In a nutshell, this is the "plot": Gilgamesh (2/3rds god and 1/3rd man) is an arrogant, out-of-control king - too strong to be challenged - and he has a tendency to fuck everyone else's wives and girlfriends, leaving no virgins for any other mortal man. The gods hear the complaints of his subjects and decide to challenge him with a rival. They select an animal-man of the forest, Enkidu, and "convert" him to humanity after he sleeps with a whore. Thus, the animals having seen him become human via this strategy, reject him from their world. (The idea of taming or domesticating a wild man via sex may be a metaphor for marriage, I'm guessing). He challenges Gilgamesh and loses, but his bravery endears him to Gilgamesh and they become virtual soul brothers. In the first test of their mutual strength and loyalty, the two decide to take on a monster named Humbaba who guards a forest (much like Grendel guarding the cave in the much-later "Beowulf").Enkidu's bravery comes to the fore when he has to prod bravery out of the cowering Gilgamesh, who wavers at the forest entrance. Enkidu is, in effect, Gilgamesh's rock, his strength and conscience, prodding him to heed his own words. In the midst of this, there are dream portents and interpretation. Afterward, Gilgamesh pisses off a goddess who wants to marry him, the result is that Enkidu is sentenced to die. Enkidu denounces the Gods initially for this in an incredible fit of cursing, but then comes to perspective about life and death. (It is kind of poignant to consider that, here was a creature left to his own devices, an innocent in the woods who was "civilized", in a sense, and made almost a god, and then having it all pulled out from under him, at the cost of his life. Gilgamesh's laments of his friend's death are very moving.) As a result, Gilgamesh comes to fear death and sets out on an epic journey in search of immortality, which comprises the latter tablets of the story. He seeks Ziusudra, the man who built the ark and was thus was spared death by the gods. Along the way, he meets Siduri, also known as the Refresher, a kind of barkeep at the crossroads of earth and heaven, who directs him to a boatman named Urshanabi who leads him across the Waters of Death to Ziusudra. Once there, Gilgamesh is told the immortality is not meant for men. Nonetheless, he is given several tests and chances to earn immortality, but fails. Dejected, he goes home but comes to see the value of what he has built in his life (particularly the great city to which he returns), and the good things of life and the wisdom to appreciate them while he lives.So, in that, you can see timeless issues that humans will always ponder: the mystery of death, the appreciation of life, the value of friendship, the journey to wisdom, the poetry of grief.As weird as it was at times, I loved the deep humanity of this story - coming from so far across the years to us.
What do You think about The Epic Of Gilgamesh (2006)?
The Epic pulses with primitive rhythm and the mesmeric quality of repeating structures constructed under the oral tradition. Some lines of this translation feel as if they could be chanted and accompanied by drums. It was scary, as well as fascinating: here is a voice from a time when life everywhere was harsher, when values were different - 1500-2000 years before Buddha or Jesus - and so many things we know wouldn't exist for millennia hence. We are very very far from home. At the same time the larger than life characters are still recognisably human, prone to raw emotions of anger, lust, friendship, sorrow, fear of death.The book was unexpectedly easy to read in terms of actual structure, though the deep strangeness of the work demanded attention. I feel driven to write this review whilst uploading some books I read a long time ago. The Epic of Gilgamesh is still haunting, five years after reading. On a practical note, it's also usefully short and doesn't require the time commitment you need to read Homer unabridged, for example.Not that I know about ancient Sumerian, but this book reads as if the translator, Andrew George, has done a very good job. His version is highly evocative.
—Antonomasia
Sometimes I feel very naïve about life: I see all the people heading to work each day, buying their coffee, shuffling across the street, or just staring into the ether while marching onward—I see the genuinely earnest looks that carry people forward and wonder how they do it, how they keep going when there’s so much uncertainty, so many problems and so little time to reflect and come to grips with existence. It’s no wonder that the majority of people believe in an afterlife. It simply fills out that gigantic white space at the end of their calendar, where all the things they didn’t have time for are supposed to happen. I, on the other hand, find life terribly complicated and confusing. I’m astounded by how little I know, and my ambition is continually cut down by realities, so much so that, indeed, it seems that I should simply be thankful to bear that earnest face on my way to work every day and be satisfied with, as Samuel Butler says, being ‘maybe’ just a little bit better than average. I’m certain I’m not the only one who feels this way about life. In fact, having just finished Gilgamesh, it’s clear that people have had this feeling and weighty curiosity about existence since the dawn of civilization. For some reason this book really spoke to me: the tale of an immature tyrant (Gilgamesh—or He Who Saw the Deep!) who quests after immortality, and on the way gets a serious lesson in humility. The story is actually rather simple, and there are strong archetypes throughout that will resonate for anyone with an interest in world literature (the obvious example being the great flood from the Bible and Noah’s Ark). Embedded in the larger quest narrative, however, is also a story about friendship—the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Enkidu was created by the gods to take on Gilgamesh after his people complained about his tyrannical ways. But the two end up becoming best mates and together take off towards the Cedar Forest and make swift work of its guardian, Humbab. Anyway, to make a long story short, Enkidu eventually dies and that unsettles Gilgamesh, and he goes off in search of Uta-napishti, the sole survivor of the great deluge which the gods sent to wipe out humanity. Uta-napishti, having survived the flood, is granted immortality. But when Gilgamesh finally meets Uta-napishti, instead of immortality, he gets the ultimate let down. He's told he'll die just like everyone else. And after holding a brief pity party with himself he heads back to Uruk, his kingdom, enlightened and satisfied that, even though he shall perish, the great wall he’s built around his city will endure.It’s a simple but effective story that does what all good literature should do: make us feel at home in the world by showing us how the things we struggle after and grieve over are not passing anomalies but universal, and that because they are shared the discourse we contrive to deal with adversities and limitations symbolize the very fabric of human existence, and that it is our task to mend and re-adorn its patterns so as to acquaint the next generation with the living substance that each of our minds has played a minute part in knitting together.
—James
What can I do to win eternal life? Wherever I go - even here - I am drawn back to death.I always thought Gilgamesh was the monster that was slain in his eponymous epic poem; likewise, Beowulf. Both protagonists have monsterish, evil-ish sounding names. So what I expected to discover in Gilgamesh was an action-packed hero story akin to Beowulf, but I was pleasantly surprised to find much more depth here. This epic poem is a treatise on suffering, friendship, mortality, loss, and redemption. And rather than Beowulf, it has the flavor of the Bible, Homer, and Hans Christian Andersen's folk tales.The story of Gilgamesh focuses on the characters of Gilgamesh the oppressive king of Uruk and Enkidu the feral man-beast, between whom the greatest bromance ever known is struck. Together they slay a couple monsters and heavenly beasts, but for their impudence Enkidu is sentenced to death by the gods. Gilgamesh then wanders the earth in search of relief from his intense loss, which is where the story gets good. And not only is the story emotionally and philosophically interesting; being so old, it's got a lot of historical and religious significance in its parallels to the Bible. Could Gilgamesh's account of a primal flood be a precursor to Noah's flood? Is the serpent who tricks Gilgamesh out of something very important an analogue of Adam and Eve's serpent? If you're scared off by the word "epic", don't be. It's not epic in the sense of Lord of the Rings or The Iliad, because it's very short. I read it in about an hour and a half. So instead of watching a crappy movie on Netflix tonight, take a while to read one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world. It's worth it.
—Christopher
