Transcript The Epic of Gilgamesh - John C. Fremont High School

The Epic of Gilgamesh
A Survey of perhaps the oldest
story in Ancient World Literature
What is an Epic?
An Epic is…
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Full-scale epics do more than tell a story in poetic language
Often center on the founding or defense of a city and its society
Contains extensive battle scenes
A great hero attempts to overcome heavy odds (often human
opponents and divine antagonism)
• Often deal with a voyage of travel, exploration, or escape
• Written in an elevated, grand style
“I will reveal to you a thing that is hidden, a secret of the gods I will
tell you.”
Who is Gilgamesh?
• Bilgames was the King that became
Gilgamesh
• King of Uruk in Southern Mesopotamia
• Ruled around 2750 B.C.E.
• Known for building a great wall
• Posthumously, He became honored as
judge of the underworld by cult following
From Legend to Epic Poem
• 2000-1600 B.C.E songs were sung/poems
were written about the late King Bilgames
• Poems were written in Akkadian
• Around 1200 B.C.E., Babylonian priest, Sinliqe-unninni (SEEN-LEE-kay-ooh-NEE-nee),
compiled poems into The Epic of Gilgamesh
• The poem was lost for two thousand years
• In the 1850s, an Iraqi Archaeologist
discovered the tablets while excavating A 7th
century Assyrian kings library.
• In the 19th century, readers debated whether
Connections To Gilgamesh
• Acclaimed to have been written 1000
years before the Greeks or Hebrews
learned to write
• Genesis
The Garden of Eden and flood account
• Odysseus
• Thousand and One Nights
What are some modern day connections?
Common Themes, Motifs and
Archetypes
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The quest for eternal life
Pondering mortality
Epic heroes
How does society define civilization?
Recurring dreams/visions
War
Dreams
Miracles
serpents
Censorship
• What is censorship?
• SOPAS & the internet protest
• What you missed in your censored
books?
• The goddess, Ishtar loves Gilgamesh
but…
So…
• The gods have the demon Humbaba
guarding the forests and they send a
bull from heaven to terrorize the land…
• Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill both then…
Gilgamesh Ponders his death
“Over his friend, Enkidu, Gilgamesh cried
bitterly, roaming the wilderness.
“I am going to die!- am I not like Enkidu?!
Deep sadness penetrates my core,
I fear death, and now roam the
wilderness- I will set out to the region of
Utanapishtim…” (Tablet 9, Lines 1-5)
Read about the Quest for
Eternal Life
Tablet 10, lines 38-64, 175-192
& Tablet 11, lines 202-210
The Flood
-Noah’s arc (Genesis 6-9)
Compare and Contrast the Two Accounts
Fountain of Youth? Forever
Young?
• Plant that caused old to be young again
• Serpent snatched the plant
Conclusion
King Gilgamesh’s Accomplishments/
legacy