Product Description

Miraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back as much as four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is the world's oldest epic, predating Homer by many centuries. The story tells of Gilgamesh's adventures with the wild man Enkidu, and of his arduous journey to the ends of the earth in quest of the Babylonian Noah and the secret of immortality. Alongside its themes of family, friendship and the duties of kings, the Epic of Gilgamesh is, above all, about mankind's eternal struggle with the fear of death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26467 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author
Andrew George is Reader in Assyriology at SOAS (the School of Oriential and African Studies) in London, and is also an Honorary Lecturer at the University's Institute of Archaeology. His research has taken him many times to Iraq to visit Babylon and other ancient sites, and to museums in Baghdad, Europe and North America to read the original clay tablets on which the scribes of ancient Iraq wrote.

Customer Reviews

Excellent purchase
Penguin Classics have produced here a wonderful new edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh. A lucid translation brings the epic to life, and it is backed up by a wealth of extra material that add depth and understanding to a reading of the text. There is an extensive introduction to the historical, literary and archaeological background: the Babylonian, Akkadian and Sumerian contexts are explored clearly and succinctly, and there is also a fascinating history of how the text itself has been pieced together. In addition, and making this new edition even more worthy, the translator collects together fragments from variant traditions - some of them for the first time in English - which expand or give slightly different perspectives upon the core text. This rounds out the picture perfectly, giving an intriguing glimpse into how the story and image of Gilgamesh evolved over time and in different contexts.

Finally, the text is peppered with line drawings of contemporary tablet illustrations. All this, and pictures too! Highly recommended.

1500 years before Homer
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a fascinating tale of great historical importance. Composed 1500 years before Homer's epics, the story is one that modern man can readily understand and appreciate. Gilgamesh was the more than capable ruler of the ancient town of Uruk; his strength and physical beauty were unmatched by any in the land, and his subjects adored him. Although he possessed so much, Gilgamesh wanted desperately to live forever like a god. He was two-thirds god and one-third human, but he refused to accept his destiny to die. If it were his lot to die, he wanted to perform great deeds so that his name would never be forgotten.

The story opens with the story of Enkidu, a wild man of nature who was to become Gilgamesh's best friend and accompany him on his dangerous journeys. The first trip takes them to the Land of the Cedars where Gilgamesh sets out to kill Humbaba, the guardian of the forest. When he later slays the Bull of Heaven, the anger of the gods is turned upon him and Enkidu, leading to new suffering by Gilgamesh. In desperation, he seeks Utnapishtim in the land of the gods; Utnapishtim was granted eternal life after preserving mankind in the wake of a great flood. Gilgamesh again finds only heartache for his troubles. Returning to Uruk, he preserves the story of his journeys and deeds in writing, and it is, perhaps ironically, in this written record that Gilgamesh is recognized today for the great man he was.

One learns much about the ancient gods in this tale, and the story of the great goddess Ishtar's role in the related events is pretty amazing. When Ishtar invited Gilgamesh to be her husband, he issued forth a litany of former lovers whom Ishtar had turned out and cursed, boldly rebuffing Ishtar's advances. It is this brave act that led to most of Gilgamesh's later troubles. Even Enkidu, whose reported bravery is belied by his reluctance to aid his noble friend in several situations, is rather astonishingly disrespectful to the goddess.

N. K. Sandars does a remarkable job of putting the epic in its proper historical and literary perspective. A glossary of relevant gods and characters is particularly helpful. Along with providing a short history of the man, the gods, and the epic itself, she goes to great lengths to explain her method of producing this modern translation. There is no one extant copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh; a number of tablets, in varying degrees of condition and legibility and differing somewhat in the details of the story, have been compared and contrasted in order to produce the story as she presents it. Perhaps the most useful part of the introduction is an explanation of the form and style of the text. The text was originally told in verse, and Sandars explains that she chose to produce the text in narrative form in the interest of readability. As the order of events is not universally agreed upon, she explains why she chose the order she did for events. One annoying feature of the text, at least to the modern reader, is the constant word for word repetition of speeches between characters, and Sandars does the reader a great service by alerting him/her to this and explaining the rationale behind its use by the ancient writers.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest written texts in history, yet its theme is timeless, its characters all too human, and its appeal universal. Sandars' modern, narrative translation transforms the historically important epic into an eminently readable, quite enjoyable story. The tale of a great flood in this incredibly ancient tale has raised eyebrows ever since the text was discovered. The parallels to the Biblical tale of Noah are obvious, adding great strength to the argument that the legend or memory of a cataclysmic flood was common to diverse cultures in the ancient Near East. Those familiar with the ideas of Zechariah Sitchin will find this story especially fascinating and illuminating.

A simple retelling of a complex story
If you want to read the story of Gilgamesh without worrying too much about where that story came from, then this is the book for you. Unlike the newer Penguin edition, this is a straightforward retelling of the epic in prose form, and no attempt is made to reflect the complexity of the many fragmentary versions of the text.

The story is told in six chapters, based on the Standard Version of the epic, but without following its line and verse structure. It's short and snappy and by the time you've finished you'll have seen Gilgamesh's adventures in the Forest of Cedar, in the Underworld, and at the end of the world as he is instructed by Uta-napishti, the only survivor of the Deluge. You'll see Gilgamesh progress from haughty despot to responsible ruler, as he realises that the only way to immortality is through the good works you leave behind.

This is a story of gradual realisation and painfully acquired insight which we can all relate to. Though it lacks the sure touch of the Iliad or the Odyssey, which may be due to the extremely fragmentary and disparate sources, there is a real humanity to Gilgamesh and his inner turmoil which goes to show that human nature hasn't changed that much.

It also comes with an excellent short introduction to ancient Mesopotamia and its geography, history and culture.