Download The Epic of Gilgamesh – General Notes

The Epic of Gilgamesh – General Notes
 The Epic of Gilgamesh has many elements that recur in literature (i.e. a
journey to the underworld to see what lies beyond this life; seeking the
equivalent of the ‘fountain of youth’ to cheat death and find immortality).
 It asks ETERNAL QUESTIONS which have yet to be answered AND it is
also the FIRST GREAT HERO story.
HERO: defined as ‘someone who has given his life for the sake of something
bigger than himself, or other than himself’ (i.e. one who performs physical or
spiritual deeds on behalf of others).
 City states of Sumer were founded around 3500–3000 BCE.:
 The Sumerians were a people with their own pantheon of gods and
goddesses (a fully developed system of beliefs that we would now
consider a mythology). They were replaced in the Mesopotamian
region by the Babylonian and Assyrian Civilizations.
 They also had their own form of written language: cuneiform
( it was a pictographic form of writing usually inscribed on clay using
wedge-shaped writing). It was later refined by the Babylonians.
 The story of the Sumerian king Gilgamesh was first discovered on many
clay tablets in Mesopotamia by George Smith (b. 1840).
 Around 2700 BCE the following were simultaneously created:
1) Stonehenge (England)
2) Pyramids (Egypt)
3) Gilgamesh Epic (Sumerian version)
[2600 BCE accepted for older oral versions & 2100BCE for first written form]
Gilgamesh’s Epic Pattern includes:
 Quest for fame
 The “double” (the other or “doppelganger”)
 A Fall from Nature (wild man)
 Dark forest (giant)
 Enticing feminine figure (Ishtar)
 Descent into Underworld
 Garden of gods (images of light)
 Waters of death (Dil)
 Paradise (Dilmon)
 Boon / loss of boon (snake)
 Story of worldwide flood
 Return of hero
There are really two quests underway:
1) QUEST FOR FAME (i.e. how to become known and respected);
and
2) QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE OTHER WORLD (i.e. death and
immortality). Gilgamesh is particularly interested in these things as a result of
having to cope with the loss of his dear friend Enkidu.