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Epic of Gilgamesh: An Annotated Prose Rendition Based upon the Original Akkadian, Babylonian, Hittite and Sumerian Tablets with Supplementary Text .
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest written chronicle in the world, composed two to three thousand years before Christ. It tells events in the life of a king in an ancient Sumerian city of Mesopotamia.In the tradition of the Greek Iliad or the medieval Beowulf, the heroic central figure is admired for his prowess and power; he is a warrior, whose greatest adventures are here recounted, sometimes fantastic and ultimately magical, as he ventures beyond the bounds of the world. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an artifact of the first civilization, that which is the father and mother of our own civilization. It is like the great-great-great-grandparent whose name you do not know but without whom you would not exist. There are many matters that are not believable to us—monsters, deities, and places that we do not think exist, nor ever existed. Yet we can perceive in Gilgamesh a person like ourselves. This is the story of a man, not a god. We understand him, even if we do not understand or believe all that he does. Gilgamesh is the first literature of mankind to express the human condition.
194 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 2, 2021
Having never really read any of the ancient works of early humans I decided it was time to start to right the omission. I had come across a few references to the Epic of Gilgamesh - the "oldest written chronicle in the world" - in other things I had read and had also come across the Sumarian civilisation in a number of contexts. The Epic of Gilgamesh seemed like a good place to start. Not being an expert in the subject, and not wanting to have to become one, I wanted a modern annotated version of the tale with notes. This version amply met my expectations.
I had no proper idea of the epic before reading it and did not know what to expect. I was actually quite surprised by how familiar the text was and how easy to read and identify with the story which while having the supernatural element remains concerned with primarily human concerns around mortality and how life is lived. John Harris, who presents this version, notes "whether such tales were ever believed in a literal sense" or were "always recognised as metaphor or allegory" is open to question.
The tale has all you can want from an epic, sex, violence, lots of brow beating and grumpy gods. My favourite passage has to be the stroppy Ishtar, daughter of the god Anu, who threatens her father with a zombie apocalypse if she doesn't get her way: "I will go down to the underworld, I will bring back the dead; I will bring them into the daylight and they will eat all the living", which just shows parenting can be a tricky business even for gods.
In this tale, and the appendixes of additional Summarian material, it is possible to see how the later monothistic based religions found their foundational materials in what had gone before. Some Biblical stories are arguably infringements of Summarian copyright including the story of the Great Flood "...build a boat. Leave these possessions, but search all living things. Reject property but save lives. Put aboard the boat the seed of all living things". It is interesting to see how the oral tradition kept alive and developed themes perhaps even better than the written word which was/is dependent upon the preservation of what were often a very limited number of copies subject to loss and destruction and unlikely to be committed to memory in the same way.
The version presented here is assembled from the best available versions and where segments are missing or have required reconstruction or a degree of guess work this is indicated and it is noted that parts of the text are reconstructed "using context and understanding of the literature and culture to make sense of it". This collection is a good place to start if you are after a "beginners guide" to ancient literature!
I had no proper idea of the epic before reading it and did not know what to expect. I was actually quite surprised by how familiar the text was and how easy to read and identify with the story which while having the supernatural element remains concerned with primarily human concerns around mortality and how life is lived. John Harris, who presents this version, notes "whether such tales were ever believed in a literal sense" or were "always recognised as metaphor or allegory" is open to question.
The tale has all you can want from an epic, sex, violence, lots of brow beating and grumpy gods. My favourite passage has to be the stroppy Ishtar, daughter of the god Anu, who threatens her father with a zombie apocalypse if she doesn't get her way: "I will go down to the underworld, I will bring back the dead; I will bring them into the daylight and they will eat all the living", which just shows parenting can be a tricky business even for gods.
In this tale, and the appendixes of additional Summarian material, it is possible to see how the later monothistic based religions found their foundational materials in what had gone before. Some Biblical stories are arguably infringements of Summarian copyright including the story of the Great Flood "...build a boat. Leave these possessions, but search all living things. Reject property but save lives. Put aboard the boat the seed of all living things". It is interesting to see how the oral tradition kept alive and developed themes perhaps even better than the written word which was/is dependent upon the preservation of what were often a very limited number of copies subject to loss and destruction and unlikely to be committed to memory in the same way.
The version presented here is assembled from the best available versions and where segments are missing or have required reconstruction or a degree of guess work this is indicated and it is noted that parts of the text are reconstructed "using context and understanding of the literature and culture to make sense of it". This collection is a good place to start if you are after a "beginners guide" to ancient literature!
May 21, 2019
(Audio Version) I really like Harris's voice and the explanation that he puts into each part of the story. I can appreciate the historical beauty of this piece of literature, but when there are sections that continue for a while with high repetition, it highlights a difference in how we consume media today and how it must have been several thousand years ago.
December 22, 2023
I do not know if it is the translation or simply the passage of time but I recall when I first read the epic some 6 years ago I quite enjoyed it, and while this one became more enjoyable as I got further into it much of it felt like a chore to read more than anything else
January 2, 2020
This is perhaps the best rendering of the Epic. I enjoyed the supplementary sections on Gilgamesh's father and Sumerian proverbs.
December 21, 2014
I'll be teaching the Flood portion of Gilgamesh in a few weeks, so I'm using this translator's podcast version to prepare. It is not the work of a professional; his commentary reveals a crude conception of the Bible; but he obviously loves the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations that contributed to the development of the story. The supplemental texts and artworks made a nice contrast with the primary tale.
December 16, 2015
Listened to the podcast; it was quite enjoyable. The language is poetic without sounding overly antiquarian or jarringly modern. The story is amazing. The explanations were informative without being disruptive.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews