The Epic of Gilgamesh (Volume A)

History
Mesopotamia, 1900
250 B.C.E.
Gilgamesh, priestking of Uruk
written in cuneiform
Ur
revised in Babylonian

Ur

Cuneiform

wedge-shaped script
2100 B.C.E.
clay tablets
Sumerians

Elements of Epic Writing

length
content: historic, mythic
motifs
divine intervention
heroic flaw
orality and performance, writing
language

Binary Themes

death and friendship

nature and civilization
power and violence
travel and homecoming
love and sexuality
physical and intellectual journeys

Death and Friendship

Foil

Dichotomies
Go up, Ur-Shanabi, pace out the walls of
Uruk. Study the foundation terrace and
examine the brickwork. Is not its masonry
of kiln-fired brick? And did not seven
masters lay its foundations? (Tablet X,
151)

Physical and Intellectual Journeys

Shall I not die too? Am I not like Enkidu?
(Tablet IX, 135)
For whom, Ur-Shanabi, have my hands
been toiling? For whom has my hearts
blood been poured out? For myself I have
obtained no benefit, I have done a good
deed for a reptile! (Tablet X, 150)

Gods

Women

Flood Myths

Discussion Questions
Consider the etymology of the name
Gilgamesh (the old man is still a young
man OR the offspring is a hero). Is
Gilgameshs name significant, despite the
fact that he loses the plant that would
return him to his youth? In what ways is it
a fitting name despite his failure in the
quest for immortality. How, in fact, has he
actually accomplished immortality?

Discussion Questions
Throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh, many
dreams occur, and often their meaning is
unclear, or at least inscrutable for the
characters who have them. Is there a
general unity of the dreams? What is their
purport? Do they come from the gods?
Are they true? Are they good?

This concludes the Lecture

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