Meaning of Epic of Gilgamesh
The Development and Meaning of the Epic of Gilgamesh: An Interpretive Essay
Author(s): Tzvi Abusch
Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 121, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2001), pp. 614622
Published by: American Oriental Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/606502 .
Accessed: 16/01/2014 12:21
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the American Oriental Society.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 74.115.237.154 on Thu, 16 Jan 2014 12:21:03 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
THE DEVELOPMENTAND MEANING OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH:
AN INTERPRETIVEESSAY
Tzvi ABUSCH
BRANDEIS
UNIVERSITY
This essay traces the history of the several major versions (Old Babylonian, eleven-tablet, and twelve-tablet) of the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh and examines the development of meaning from one version to the next. The focus is on the underlying conflict or conflicts that define and impart power to the work, that is, the conflict between the extraordinary and the normal. We will notice that in the Epic there is a constant conflict between the heroic values that the warrior-hero
Gilgamesh represents and those other existential values that defined Mesopotamian culture and that appear in the Epic in the form of Gilgamesh's several non-heroic identities: in the Old Babylonian version, the conflict is that of hero versus man; in the eleven-tablet
Author(s): Tzvi Abusch
Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 121, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2001), pp. 614622
Published by: American Oriental Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/606502 .
Accessed: 16/01/2014 12:21
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the American Oriental Society.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 74.115.237.154 on Thu, 16 Jan 2014 12:21:03 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
THE DEVELOPMENTAND MEANING OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH:
AN INTERPRETIVEESSAY
Tzvi ABUSCH
BRANDEIS
UNIVERSITY
This essay traces the history of the several major versions (Old Babylonian, eleven-tablet, and twelve-tablet) of the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh and examines the development of meaning from one version to the next. The focus is on the underlying conflict or conflicts that define and impart power to the work, that is, the conflict between the extraordinary and the normal. We will notice that in the Epic there is a constant conflict between the heroic values that the warrior-hero
Gilgamesh represents and those other existential values that defined Mesopotamian culture and that appear in the Epic in the form of Gilgamesh's several non-heroic identities: in the Old Babylonian version, the conflict is that of hero versus man; in the eleven-tablet