SOURCE: Ray, Benjamin Caleb. “The Gilgamesh Epic: Myth and Meaning.” In Myth and Method, edited by Laurie L. Patton and Wendy Doniger, pp. 300-21. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1996.

In the following essay, Ray discusses what the Epic of Gilgamesh conveys about the meaning of life and death.

The Gilgamesh Epic has attracted scholarly interest since 1872 when parts of the Flood account in the eleventh tablet were first translated by the enterprising George Smith.¹ Subsequent scholarship, the discovery of more tablets, and advances in understanding the Akkadian language have resulted in a series of improved translations. For English readers an important milestone was reached with the publication in 1955 of E. A. Speiser's authoritative version in Ancient Near Eastern Texts. More recent textual progress and further discoveries together with the epic's increasing popularity have resulted in several new, more complete versions. Five English translations have appeared within the last...