The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Verison with an Introduction

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Penguin, Dec 30, 1960 - Poetry - 128 pages
N. K. Sandars's landmark translation of one of the first and greatest works of Western literature

A Penguin Classic

Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his companion Enkidu are the only heroes to have survived from the ancient literature of Babylon, immortalized in this epic poem that dates back to the third millennium BC. Together they journey to the Spring of Youth, defeat the Bull of Heaven and slay the monster Humbaba. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s grief and fear of death are such that they lead him to undertake a quest for eternal life. A timeless tale of morality, tragedy and pure adventure, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a landmark literary exploration of man’s search for immortality.
N. K. Sandars’s lucid, accessible translation is prefaced by a detailed introduction that examines the narrative and historical context of the work. In addition, there is a glossary of names and a map of the Ancient Orient.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
 

Selected pages

Contents

INTRODUCTION
5
The Discovery of the Tablets
7
The Historical Background
11
The Literary Background
15
The Hero of the Epic
18
The Principal Gods of the Epic
21
The Story
28
Survival
42
THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH
59
THE COMING OF ENKIDU
60
THE FOREST JOURNEY
68
ISHTAR AND GILGAMESH AND THE DEATH OF ENKIDU
83
THE SEARCH FOR EVERLASTING LIFE
95
THE STORY OF THE FLOOD
106
THE RETURN
112
THE DEATH OF GILGAMESH
116

The Diction of the Epic
45
Remarks on this Version
47
Acknowledgements
57
Glossary of Names
118
Sources
124
Copyright

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About the author (1960)

N. K. Sandars studied, soon after the war, with Professor Gordon Childe at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London, and took the diploma of the Institute. She continued to work at Oxford, taking a B.Litt. degree in the prehistory of Europe, and thereafter she worked on the prehistory of the Aegean, receiving a studentship at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, a scholarship from Oxford University and a travelling prize from the University of Liverpool. She has travelled extensively in Europe and in the Near and Middle East, and has taken part in excavations in the British Isles and overseas. She has contributed article to various journals and is the author of Bronze Age Cultures in FrancePrehistoric Art in EuropePoems of Heaven and Hell from Ancient Mesopotamia, and The Sea Peoples. She is a fellow the British Academy and of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute.

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