Customer Reviews

The Epic of Gilgamesh

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think it's safe to say that I've read them all, or at least, all versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh available in English. This is the best. Kovacs builds upon scholarly advances in Ancient Middle Eastern Studies without ever becoming dryly academic. Her background materials are excellent and extensive, and above all, her discrete inclusion of parallel Old Babylonian Version excerpts, as extended footnotes, is a wonderful solution to the problems posed by those numerous clay tablet gaps in the Standard Version narrative.

I'm a professional teller of myth and epic, one of only two tellers (as far as I know) regularly presenting the full Gilgmesh epic in English, and I approach these texts with an eye for integrity of scholarship, beauty of expression, and passionate commitment to the epic itself. Ms. Kovacs' fellow presenters of Gilgamesh often manifest one or two of these qualities, but hers is the only one to satisfyingly combine all three in a contemporary publication that benefits fully from scholarly progress. (Several should definitely be avoided, or checked out from the library first.) I frequently refer back to her work when puzzling over a turn-of-phrase or interpretive challenge in my teller's adaptation.

A final word -- if you've been bitten by the Gilgamesh beast, (and you're in very good company if you have been) you may also wish to purchase The Gilgamesh Reader, edited by long-time Gilgamesh lover and writer, John Maier: it's another jewel. And guess where you can buy it!

I read this with almost no familiarization with things Mesopotamian. The story itself is cryptic and many parts are still missing, but Kovacs organized the book so that there is a seperate chapter for each of the eleven tablets, and provides a one-page summary at the start of each chapter so that it's easy to understand the action and context unfolding.

Keep in mind, however what the purpose of this book is. It is simply an updated translation of the epic. She doesn't provide a lot of commentary about peripherals such as how the epic fits into the broader body of ancient literature, or other historical information about Gilgamesh himself. So, if you're interested in those things, look elsewhere.

I previously wrote a more extensive review of the Andrew George edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh, but I was looking at this version, and there was one thing I liked that Kovacs did, so I thought I would mention it.

In the introduction, on page xxxiv or xxiv, if I recall, Kovacs has a very nice chart showing the chronological history of all the versions we know of for this epic, which is a couple of dozen, ranging from the first known versions around 2700 BC in Uruk down to the Syriac versions more than two millenia later. Although he discusses the various versions in his book in his introduction, George doesn't include this nice timeline and chronology.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is notable for the fact that it's considered the oldest text understandable by a modern reader without special knowledge, and it's also the most ancient text for which we have an author attribution. Around 1200-1300 BC, a Mesopotamian by the name of Sun-Liq-Unnini compiled the well-known "Standard Version" of the epic. He wasn't actually the "author" of the text, but it seems likely he was steeped in the historical tradition and the different versions of the text which had come down over the years in both the Sumerian and Akkadian traditions, and he seems to have gone to some trouble to gather and compile the best versions of the various stories and legends about Gilgamesh in his "edition," which became the most widespread and popular version.

We also know that he was employed as an exorcist, an important job in Mesopotamian society, since they were called on for everything from driving out evil spirits in the ill and sick, to making sure dwellings and new buildings were free of evil spirits, to blessing farmland that was about to be planted for the new season.

I found the Epic of Gilgamesh surprisingly accessible for a modern reader. This is mainly due to the character of Gilgamesh himself, since his concerns are easily understandable to a reader of any day and age. He is motivated by several concerns, such as his fear of mortality and death, the ephemerality of life on earth, the desire to accomplish heroic feats to prove himself worthy of immortality, to protect his friends and loved ones, and to destroy evil and preserve the good.

Overall, a surprisingly interesting tale that was much better than I was expecting, and that was as accessible as has been claimed for such an ancient text.

The epic tells the story of a hero-king (Gilgamesh), who lived in Uruk (Mesopotamia) in the third millennium BCE (before the common era). Predating even the Old Testament (written a thousand years later), the epic is written in cuneiform on clay tablets, in an Akkadian dialect known as Standard Babylonian. Unfortunately, many of the tablets are broken and much of the epic is missing (about 40 percent). However, using fragments found at various archaeological sites to fill in some of the missing pieces, Ms. Kovacs succeeds in making her translation extremely readable, even for the general public ... a task which she says was harder than she had thought when she first took on the project. Although the story line follows a distinct Mesopotamian theme, it addresses characteristics common to modern human relationships and feelings -- loneliness, loss, friendship, love, revenge, and the fear of death. There's even a story of a universal flood, where only Utnapishtim and his family are saved.

The Epic of Gilgamesh dates from the third millennium B.C., making it the oldest epic poem in world literature. It is a relatively short work, which explains why over half of this little volume introduces the ancient text of the first ancient hero. The fullest extant text of the Gilgamesh was found in the Akkadian-language on 12 incomplete clay tablets found at Nineveh in the library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal. The narrative gaps have been filled in, somewhat, by fragments found elsewhere. Historians think that Gilgamesh might have been a ruler in southern Mesopotamia, although there is no historical evidence for any of the exploits covered in this narrative or the five poems written about the hero. Cultural anthropologists believe that Gilgamesh was a great king whose name became associated with pretty much every major legend or mythical tale in that culture.

Unlike some translations that go tablet by tablet, this translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs presents the epic as more of a narrative. The two most famous of these would be "The Story of the Flood," with its obvious parallels to the stories of a great flood in the Bible and Ovid's "Metamorphoses," and "The Coming of Enkidu"/"Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Death of Enkidu," which Captain Jean-Luc Picard narrates in the Star Trek: Next Generation episode "Darmok." Both of these are relevant points because in working from the known to the unknown they are both avenues of introducing Gilgamesh to which students will readily await. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the fundamental mythic tale in Western Civilization, but tends to be relegated to the shelf in most classes unless in happens to be included in an anthology. His quests for the Spring of Youth and immortality have been echoed in so many other tales. I have always thought that Gilgamesh is a more important figure than Beowulf (an admittedly minority opinion), but clearly there is much more to "The Epic of Gilgamesh" than a series of fights with beasts.

I have read the Gilgamesh Epic in several literary books and none of them come close to the way that this book translates the story. They are translating not only from the Sumerian Original (coptic) but the Babylonian and several other sources so that it gives you a feel of what the story could have been. Since, at least of this writing, the text is still incomplete and missing some parts, I could not give it a full 5 stars. If you have a good imagination though, you can fill in the blanks with what you yourself believe. Though, that is it's only downfall.

What amazed me is the history that they present in this text. Also, there are several Biblical correspondences and are written in some of the same fashion. If you like the Epic of Gilgamesh, this is a definite book to read because it also gives history along with the story so that you can fully understand what is going on and what the writers were thinking about when they wrote it. Also, it gives a clue to the civilization at the time. This is the Epic of Epics even above the "Oddessy" by Homer, which I may add has correspondences to the Gilgamesh story.

If you have never read the Gilgamesh Epic, this is definitly the book to choose, you will not be bored or disappointed. So...why aren't you adding it to your shopping cart now!?!

There are many characteristics that define epic heroes. They are portrayed as larger than life characters who undergo many perils and temptations. The hero many have godlike features, however, he may also suffer a deep wound. Although epic stories are now very old, and their heroes gone, the virtuous attitudes of the hero teach us very important virtues in life.

One important moral value that one learns from this epic is the impact of suffering a deep lost. Gilgamesh suffered from the terrible death of his best friend Enkidu. After killing the bull of heaven, sent down by the goddess of love, Ishtar, the gods decided that Enkidu should be chosen to die because he wasn't two-third god and one third man like Gilgamesh. In the aftermath of Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh deeply suffered from his lack of presence. It has occured to many of us to lose a very special and dear person to us. To endure life without the presence of that special person is hard, sometime almost impossible to bare. Thus, Gilgamesh who refused to live this sadness undertakes a long journey, commonly referred to as a quest, in search of eternal life in order to revive his greatest pal. Unfortunately, he fails his quest. Conclusively, we learn from this part that it is very tough to lose a person who means so much to us. Especially when we know that we will never see them again.
The search for eternal life teaches a very meaningful message. In order to revive his dead friend, Gilgamesh was strongly determined to face the dangers and perils on his journey in order to find the source of eternal life. Despite his strenght of mind, Gilgamesh fails his search. By this failure, we come to know that eternal life is out of man's reach as long as he lives on earth.
One learns multiple lessons from the story of The Gilgamesh. However, the central importance of the story is the portrayal of the epic hero. Epics are intended to teach a moral value through the epic hero. One learns from The Gilgamesh that death is inescapable, although many may try to break away from its bondage.

This translation is strikingly different than other translations I have seen, but it smacks of reality. In 3200 BC a catastrophe struck Ur of the Chaldees. Wooley discovered a 7ft thick layer of silt laid down at this time. During this century, several large asteroid craters appeared including three in Australia, and one in Saudi Arabia. In the Greenland icecap a unique layer of sulfer dioxide was deposited over the course of a century, which could have been caused by oil fires or a burning sulfer bed, both of which occur near the Persian Gulf. [Science, vol 264, 13 May 1994, pp 948-952]. Ms. Kovacs translation reads like an eyewitness account of a piece of a comet or asteroid landing in the Persian Gulf. I would like to communicate with Ms. Kovacs. Can anyone send me information which would help locate her? --Joseph W. Rudmin

Just discovered Gilgamesh and it blew my mind. I've been reading every book I am able to get on this subject. Maureen Kovacs is excellent and seems to eliminate her personal values and stick, as close as possible, to what was actually written. It has given me a basis for reading other Gilgamesh epics.

I'm 73 years old and can't believe I have never heard of this literature. It is over 2000 years old and before bible literature containing original concepts that are portrayed in the "Bible" in an altered state. I don't consider myself an illiterate and do have a couple of degrees. Why is there not more being taught on this extra ordinary subject?

Thank you, Ms. Kovacs, so very much for your contribution in shedding some light on a well kept secret.

Came in great condition, very little writing. quick read, nice and easy. great transaction.