Gilgamesh Essay
The Epic of Gilgamesh: It’s (usually) good to be the king
The discovery of the Epic of Gilgamesh had huge implications for western understanding of the east, and western culture in general. Not only is this a story with surpassing literary merit, it also has political implications which reflect the maturity of the society that produced it; More than just an adventure, Gilgamesh may be read as a critique of certain aspects of kingship. In this sense, it is far more subversive than any Beowulf or King Arthur. One of the difficulties with recreating Gilgamesh is that no one has unearthed a complete, comprehensive text which may be said to comprise the entire epic. Rather, different sections of the epic are found on cuneiform clay tablets. So far, we have around 80 Gilgamesh tablets, written over the course of a thousand years, and in several different languages. In spite of this, pieces of the plot are still completely obscure to us. Even so, the fact that one story was preserved, copied, and re-copied, albeit with variations, shows us the advanced state of literacy in Mesopotamia; the profusion of copied tablets indicates a thriving industry of professional scribes. The variety of unearthed royal libraries which house these tablets speaks to the importance of literature to Mesopotamian kings. Lastly, Gilgamesh tablets are found all over the Near East, from Ur to Hattusa, showing the overarching influence of Mesopotamian culture, and the success of the cuneiform script. King Gilgamesh’s encounters with various lands and characters reflect his attempt to tread the thin line between the three main duties of a proper Mesopotamian king: conquest, civic life, and religion. At the beginning of the epic, Gilgamesh is portrayed as a peerless individual, more god than man, and herein lays the criticism. The author describes him as “tall, Magnificent, and terrible” (I. 37). He is also responsible for building the splendid city of Uruk (I), but this great edifice comes at
The discovery of the Epic of Gilgamesh had huge implications for western understanding of the east, and western culture in general. Not only is this a story with surpassing literary merit, it also has political implications which reflect the maturity of the society that produced it; More than just an adventure, Gilgamesh may be read as a critique of certain aspects of kingship. In this sense, it is far more subversive than any Beowulf or King Arthur. One of the difficulties with recreating Gilgamesh is that no one has unearthed a complete, comprehensive text which may be said to comprise the entire epic. Rather, different sections of the epic are found on cuneiform clay tablets. So far, we have around 80 Gilgamesh tablets, written over the course of a thousand years, and in several different languages. In spite of this, pieces of the plot are still completely obscure to us. Even so, the fact that one story was preserved, copied, and re-copied, albeit with variations, shows us the advanced state of literacy in Mesopotamia; the profusion of copied tablets indicates a thriving industry of professional scribes. The variety of unearthed royal libraries which house these tablets speaks to the importance of literature to Mesopotamian kings. Lastly, Gilgamesh tablets are found all over the Near East, from Ur to Hattusa, showing the overarching influence of Mesopotamian culture, and the success of the cuneiform script. King Gilgamesh’s encounters with various lands and characters reflect his attempt to tread the thin line between the three main duties of a proper Mesopotamian king: conquest, civic life, and religion. At the beginning of the epic, Gilgamesh is portrayed as a peerless individual, more god than man, and herein lays the criticism. The author describes him as “tall, Magnificent, and terrible” (I. 37). He is also responsible for building the splendid city of Uruk (I), but this great edifice comes at