The Epic of Gilgamesh

Fiction | Poem | Adult

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Epic

As the source material for this guide is a work in translation, much of the form and meter have been sacrificed for readability in English. In its original form, "Gilgamesh" is an epic poem: a long narrative poem with roots in oral tradition and which describes the actions of a culturally important hero. As Odysseus is a Greek hero in Homer’s "The Odyssey" and Aeneas is a Trojan-born founder of Rome in Virgil’s "The Aeneid", Gilgamesh is a hero of ancient Mesopotamia. While "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is the oldest written story known to exist, it was likely orally told for generations before it was ever transcribed as individual poems and then in the Akkadian epic poem version that has survived to the present.

Structure

"Gilgamesh" is recorded on 11 tablets. These 11 “books” allow the hero’s life to be told in episodic moments easy for an oral storyteller to remember and recount. Each book narrates pivotal moments in the friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, followed by Gilgamesh’s encounters and exploits as he searches for immortality. These separate vignettes also combine to form the arc of Gilgamesh’s transformation from powerful despot to companion, warrior, and heartbroken hero on a journey to defeat death itself. The death of Enkidu in Book 8 serves as a climactic turning point in the structure of the narrative, shifting Gilgamesh’s personal transformation from a man seeking adventure and glory, to an individual struggling with his own failures and questions of life and mortality. As such, the first seven books of the epic could be read as action projected outward, while Gilgamesh’s action in Books 8-11 turn inward to a more emotional journey.

Repetition

While much of the prosody and formal elements of "Gilgamesh" are lost in translation, there remain some structural elements that remain. Repetition is a defining feature of ancient texts, seen throughout Gilgamesh. For example, in Book 4, Gilgamesh has multiple dreams as they travel to battle Humbaba. Each time, Gilgamesh wakes, tells Enkidu about the dream, and Enkidu interprets the meaning of the dream. This formula helps to establish an episodic element to Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s travels, marking time on their journey as they draw closer to the terrifying monster Humbaba.