Introduction & Overview of The Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous

The Epic of Gilgamesh Introduction

Although several thousand years old and written on tablets of clay, the Epic ofGilgamesh continues to fascinate contemporary readers with its account of Gilgamesh, ruler of Uruk; his companion, the "wild man" Enkidu; and their exploits together. Generally recognized as the earliest epic cycle yet known— prior to even The Iliad or The Odyssey —Gilgamesh was discovered and translated relatively recently. The Epic of Gilgamesh initially caught the attention of biblical critics for its episode of the "Mesopotamian Noah," that is, the character Utnapishtim, who, like his later biblical counterpart, was warned to build a great boat and stock it with animals and his family to avoid a disastrous flood. However, the epic is equally fascinating for the window it opens to the ancient and far-removed Sumerian and Babylonian cultures. Gilgamesh's struggle against the gods, the forces of nature, and his own mortality mirrors the always-contemporary endeavor to find one's...
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