Epic of Gilgamesh

Examples of Epic of Gilgamesh in the following topics:

• Babylonian Culture

  • In Babylonia, an abundance of clay and lack of stone led to greater use of mudbrick.
  • The use of brick led to the early development of the pilaster and column, and of frescoes and enameled tiles.
  • One of the most famous of these was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translated from the original Sumerian by a certain Sin-liqi-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical principle.
  • Each division contains the story of a single adventure in the career of King Gilgamesh.
  • The origins of Babylonian philosophy can be traced back to early Mesopotamian wisdom literature, which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the forms of dialectic, dialogs, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose, and proverbs.

• The Mesopotamian Cultures

  • By the time of the Uruk period (ca. 4100–2900 BCE), the volume of trade goods transported along the canals and rivers of southern Mesopotamia facilitated the rise of many large, stratified, temple-centered cities where centralized administrations employed specialized workers.
  • The earliest king authenticated through archaeological evidence is Enmebaragesi of Kish, whose name is also mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic (ca. 2100 BCE)—leading to the suggestion that Gilgamesh himself might have been a historical king of Uruk.
  • As the Epic of Gilgamesh shows, the second millennium BCE was associated with increased violence.
  • The unpainted surface of this trough marks it as a production of the Uruk period.
  • Battle formations on a fragment of the Stele of the Vultures.

• Lagash and the Third Dynasty of Ur

  • Lagash was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East.
  • One salient feature of Ur III is its establishment of one of the earliest known law-codes, the Code of Ur-Nammu.
  • Some scholars believe that the Uruk epic of Gilgamesh was written down during this period into its classic Sumerian form.
  • For example, the Ur III kings often claimed Gilgamesh's divine parents, Ninsun and Lugalbanda, as their own, to evoke a comparison to the epic hero.
  • Plan indicating the real estate of the city of Umma, with indications of the surfaces of the parts.

• The Sumerians

  • The Epic of Gilgamesh mentions several leaders, including Gilgamesh himself, who were likely historical kings.
  • The first dynastic king was Etana, the 13th king of  the first dynasty of Kish.
  • Toward the end of the empire, though, Sumerian became increasingly a literary language.
  • Sumerians believed in anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many gods in human form, which were specific to each city-state.
  • This clay tablet shows a bill of sale for a male slave and building, circa 2600 BCE.

• Harappan Culture

  • The Indus Valley Civilization is the earliest known culture of the Indian subcontinent of the kind we call “urban,” or centered on large municipalities, and the largest of the four ancient civilizations, which also included Egypt, Mesopotamia and China.
  • Harappans were thought to have been proficient in seal carving, the cutting of patterns into the bottom face of a seal, and used distinctive seals for the identification of property and to stamp clay on trade goods.
  • Harappan seals and jewelry have been found at archaeological sites in regions of Mesopotamia, which includes most of modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Syria.
  • Long-distance sea trade over bodies of water such as the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Persian Gulf may have become feasible with the development of plank watercraft, equipped with a single central mast supporting a sail of woven rushes or cloth.
  • One seal from Mohenjo-daro shows a half-human, half-buffalo monster attacking a tiger, which may be a reference to the Sumerian myth of a monster created by Aruru, the Sumerian earth and fertility goddess, to fight Gilgamesh, the hero of an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem.

• Classical Greek Poetry and History

  • In the Western classical tradition, Homer is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets.
  • These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.
  • The formative influence of the Homeric epics in shaping Greek culture was widely recognized, and Homer was described as the "Teacher of Greece".
  • The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter.
  • Explain how epic poetry influenced the development of classical Greek historical texts.

• The Mythical Period

  • It encompassed the legends of Pangu, and the rule of the Three Sovereigns, and the Five Emperors.
  • There is also evidence of urbanism and the use of early writing d this time.
  • Chinese mythology tells a different story of the beginning of civilization.
  • While these events are mythological, at their root there may be ancient memories of very early kings and rulers who emerged among the prehistoric Chinese, similar to the tales of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.
  • Portrait of Pangu, the creator of the universe according to Chinese mythology.

• Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

  • Some of the earliest works we possess are historical epics telling the early military history of Rome, similar to the Greek epic narratives of Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides.
  • Virgil, though generally considered to be an Augustan poet, represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry.
  • His Aeneid tells the story of the flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome.
  • Lucretius, in his De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), attempted to explicate science in an epic poem.
  • The most well-known surviving examples of Roman painting consist of the wall paintings from Pompeii and Herculaneum that were preserved in the aftermath of the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.

• Italics

  • The titles of major literary works should be italicized.
  • This includes textbooks, fiction or nonfiction books, newspapers, magazines, academic journals, films, epic poems, plays, operas, musical albums, television shows, movies, works of art, and the names of legal cases.
  • Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey are my two favorite epic poems.
  • The scientific (Latin) names of species are also italicized.
  • Here are a couple of examples.

• Political Critiques of the New Deal

  • Share Our Wealth clubs had millions of members and tens of millions of Americans listened to Long on the radio every week.
  • While not really an opponent of Roosevelt, a socialist writer Upton Sinclair (known for his immensely influential 1906 novel The Jungle) popularized a program known as End Poverty in California (EPIC) that Roosevelt eventually considered to be too radical .
  • EPIC called for public works projects, tax reform, and guaranteed pensions.
  • Many farmers and unemployed workers supported EPIC although Sinclair lost the governorship of California in 1934.
  • Answer this question out of the facts of your own life.