The Epic of Gilgamesh: A Prose Rendition Based upon the Original Akkadian, Babylonian, Hittite and Sumerian Tablets - Softcover

Harris, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0595178634 ISBN 13: 9780595178636

Publisher: iUniverse, 2001

Synopsis

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 usmonsters, 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.

About this title

About the Author

Currently teaching for Minnesota State Colleges in Rochester, Winona and Red Wing, John creates annotations and translations of literature for his classes. He lives with his wife, 9 cats and one dog in the Mississippi river town of Wabasha whose local waters, Mark Twain claimed, will cure the ague.

Edition details

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0595178634
• ISBN 13: 9780595178636
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 124