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5.2: Epic of Gilgamesh

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    Epic of Gilgamesh

    1.png

    Artist: Unknown
    Medium: Clay tablets, written text
    Art Historical Time Period: Ancient Mesopotamia (c. 2100 BCE)

    The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient poem from Mesopotamia that tells the story of King Gilgamesh's journey to find immortality. This artwork reflects the Sumerian culture's interest in the ideas of life, death, and the search for meaning. The people of Mesopotamia believed in the gods and the afterlife, but they also wanted to understand their place in the world. This story was made to entertain, educate, and explore important themes about human existence.

    The innovation of the Epic of Gilgamesh is that it combined mythology, history, and philosophy in a way that had never been done before. It also gave a detailed portrayal of a heroic journey, which influenced many future epic stories, such as The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Epic of Gilgamesh also impacted the development of literature by introducing ideas about fate, friendship, and the search for knowledge. Its themes are still relevant today, showing how early art and writing continue to shape the way we think about life and death

    Vocabulary

    • Epic A long poem that tells the story of a hero’s adventures.
    • Mythology A collection of traditional stories belonging to a particular culture, often involving gods, heroes, and the origins of the world.

    Student Authors

    • Sofia Cortez ’24 and Victor Martinez ’23

    References and Image Attribution

    • Tigay, Jeffrey H. The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982.

    • George, Andrew. The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation. W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.

    • Image: “The Newly Discovered Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Meeting Humbaba, with Enkidu, at the Cedar Forest. The Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan” via Wikimedia Commons by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. Modified from original.

     

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    5.2: Epic of Gilgamesh is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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