The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic

by Jeffrey H. Tigay

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the world's oldest known epics-it predates Homer by several centuries and is recognized as seminal to the cultural history of the Ancient Near East. Interpretation and decipherment of the story of Gilgamesh--fragmentary and contradictory as its several variants are--has been a monumental scholarly task, spanning more than a century...until Jeffrey Tigay teased out the epic's evolution. In this volume, Tigay traces the development of the composition of The Gilgamesh Epic over nearly two millennia and through the several languages in which it has been transmitted. The result is a study both comprehensive in breadth and impressive in methodology. The author breaks from his scholarly predecessors in relying on documented textual evidence rather than on critical analysis and hypotheses.
The immense contribution represented by this study has been acknowledged since its first publication in 1982. This reprint edition once again makes Tigay's groundbreaking work readily available to humanists, historians of literature and religion, biblical and classical scholars, anthropologists, and folklorists.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Literature

384 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1982

Reviews

[Sense of History]

Awesome overview of all that was known about the Gilgamesh epic, at the date of publication, 1982. Needless to say it is outdated now, as since then regularly new cuneiform fragments of the epic have been found. I guess the overall sketch of the evolution of the texts (there are multiple versions) in broad lines still is valuable.
For a shorter, but much more up-to-date introduction see: Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem and Gilgamesh: A New Translation of the Ancient Epic.

[Queme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventure, loyalty, politics, religion, so many genres are touched upon by "Gilgamesh." Tigay has done an amazing job in presenting the history of the creation, compilation, and development of the Gilgamesh stories and epics. He keeps clear the various editions and renditions, and variant readings. He addresses many philological notes. Transliteration of various texts are in the Appendix. He gives a wonderful, detailed summary of the stories/epic. There are over 20 pages of works cited. The indices are rich though not all-inclusive, and include sections on Sumerian terms, Akkadian terms, and one or two from Hittite, Amorite, etc. An absolutely indispensable book in understanding the so-called Gilgamesh epic and especially its creation, development, and directed mutations.