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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a splendid work--and so is Andrew George's new translation of it. Powerful, moving and intensely readable, this great Babylonian story about man's fear of mortality, first written down more than four thousand years ago, was rediscovered in 1872. Since then it has grown piece by piece, as scholars translate the cuneiform text on more and more pieces of clay tablets discovered by archaeologists: jigsaw puzzles with many of the pieces missing.
This new edition, the most complete ever published, is the culmination of a dozen years of research by a dedicated academic at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. It contains the standard version of the Epic, with many of the gaps in the fragmentary clay tablets filled by painstaking comparison with parallel passages from earlier versions, including the first time five very early Sumerian poems of a quiet different version in which Gilgamesh is known as Bilgames. It is a tribute both to the translator and to the unknown authors of the original that the whole work is a sometimes painful, sometimes joyous, but always stimulating read, as fascinating, and surely just as relevant today, as it was four thousand years ago. --David V. Barrett --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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This work talks about a great king, strong as the stars in Heaven. Enkidu, a wild and mighty hero, is created by the gods to challenge the arrogant King Gilgamesh. But instead of killing each other, the two become friends. Travelling together to the Cedar Forest, they fight and slay the evil monster Humbaba. But when Enkidu is killed, his death haunts and breaks the mighty Gilgamesh. Terrified of mortality, he resolves to find the secret of eternal life.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
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This whole series "Penguin Epics" consists of nothing but excerpts. What you get here is the text of the 1972 Sandars Penguin Classic without any of the introduction at the front or any of the glossary of names at the back.
Don't buy it - if you are interested in Gilgamesh, buy the complete 1972 Sandars Penguin Classic AND the 1999 Andrew George Penguin Classic. Notice that two of the reviews here are actually for Andrew George's edition - that's a big blunder by Amazon!
Don't buy it - if you are interested in Gilgamesh, buy the complete 1972 Sandars Penguin Classic AND the 1999 Andrew George Penguin Classic. Notice that two of the reviews here are actually for Andrew George's edition - that's a big blunder by Amazon!
Amazon Verified Purchase
I was impressed with the time it took to get the book to me, packaged very well, good price and imaculate condition. I am impressed!
The first textual story we have, written on clay tablets and only translated in the C19th, Gilgamesh is 1500-2000 years older than Homer therefore dated to around the 10th century BC.
It tells the epic story of Gilgamesh and his friendship with Enkidu, a prototype for other masculine epic friendships such as Achilles and Patroclus. This isn't a particularly complicated story but it is interesting both for its version of the biblical flood, and for a glimpse into pre-Homeric literate cultures which would themselves have influenced the Greeks.
It tells the epic story of Gilgamesh and his friendship with Enkidu, a prototype for other masculine epic friendships such as Achilles and Patroclus. This isn't a particularly complicated story but it is interesting both for its version of the biblical flood, and for a glimpse into pre-Homeric literate cultures which would themselves have influenced the Greeks.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fascinating Window Into Ancient Civilization - but not an epic
The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest recorded stories, arising out of the ancient civilization of Sumeria. Read more
Published 22 months ago by MLA
Gilgamesh revisited
Its some times very difficult to get obscure titles at reasonable prices but at least this vendor sold good quality at a fair price. T
Published on 28 July 2009 by Unicorn 336
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