The Epic of Gilgamesh

The epic of Gilgamesh is a trip. Dating back to Mesopotamia around 2112 BC, it's one of the oldest works of writing in human history. Older than anything I've ever read. Of course, the original story was written on clay tablets in Akkadian, but today we have these English translations that may or may not be a direct translation. This makes for interesting reading for the modern reader like myself. 

The story is about a ruthless king named Gilgamesh. This guy is such an asshole that he rapes any woman he wants, and even rapes a woman on her wedding day. Gilgamesh is on the war path, treating his subjects like crap. The old Babylonian gods are mad at Gilgamesh, who happens to be 2/3's god but still a mere mortal. So they decide to create an equal to go up against him and show him whats up. Nobody is equal to Gilgamesh in strength or wit until the gods create Enkidu from clay. Enkidu is first a wild man, living with the animals in nature. Eventually, a hunter finds him and takes him to the city, where he joins civilization. After he realizes that the animals don't like him anymore he sees that he has become apart of mankind. 

Enkidu hears about the bad stuff Gilgamesh does so he challenges him to a fight. They wrestle for a long time until Gilgamesh gets the upper hand and defeats him. After that, they see each other as equals and become fast friends. Sounds like the fight I had between my first bully in middle school.

Later, they decide to take up the mantle of heroes. The two embark on a voyage to this forest that is forbidden to mortals. They just want some trees and show off that they are heroes for going where mortals aren't allowed. They go there and find the guardian of the forest, a monster that guides the forest for the gods. They kill the monster, take some trees, and build a boat out of it and go back home to Uruk as heroes.

Later, the goddess Ishtar attempts to seduce Gilgamesh but he's not interested. She gets mad and has her father, Anu, the god of the sky, creates a monster called the Bull of Heaven to fight Gilgamesh but together, Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the beast. However, as punishment for killing the Bull of Heaven the gods decide that one of our two heroes must die. Enkidu draws the shortest straw. Enkidu gets sick and tells Gilgamesh of visions of the afterlife before he croaks.

Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh grief, something he had never experienced before, experiencing the death of a loved one. This causes Gilgamesh to seek out a way to cheat death and live forever. Gilgamesh goes through many trials on his own but finds his way to  Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim is the first Noah as in Noah's ark. The gods created a flood that destroyed all of mankind but Utnapishtim ended up creating an ark that housed two [male/female] of every animal, to save life after the Deluge. After the gods saw that he did this and ended up living after the flood they granted him eternal life. Utnapishtim offers to give Gilgamesh the gift of eternal life but he has to do one thing first: He has to stay awake [without sleeping] for an entire week. Gilgamesh foolishly attempts to do it only to fail spectacularly. He prepares to go home in shame and sorrow. But then Utnapishtim's wife feels sorry for Gilgamesh and has Utnapishtim tell Gilgamesh where he can find this plant that will restore life back to its vibrant youth [pretty much eternal life sort of]. Gilgamesh finds the plant easily, but when he's sleeping a snake comes and steals it [echoes of Satan of the Bible], sheds its skin, and regains its youth, leaving Gilgamesh defeated. 

The story ends with Gilgamesh going back to Uruk and coming to terms with his mortality. He realizes that the city he has will be his everlasting legacy. He realizes that although he and the city may be forgotten the human race will live forever [sort of].  

Well, where do we start? In terms of themes, there's a lot going on here. There's love, friendship, and loss once Gilgamesh becomes best friends with Enkidu, and then Enkidu ends up dying. This is a theme that continues throughout literature even today. When Enkidu becomes a best friend Gilgamesh changes, starts to feel compassion for others. In fact, he had changed so much that when he got the plant that restores youth, he was planning on giving it to the elders of Uruk. I did not see that coming.

Another major theme is the inevitability of death. This is a theme that continues throughout literature today as well. Here we have a guy who tries to overcome death but inevitably realizes that he's a mere mortal like all of us. He comes to grips with reality and sees that the life he has is the only life he will ever have so he should make the most of it and live a fulfilling life. Although Gilgamesh is part god he's still mortal too after all. 

It should also be noted that there are parallels here between Gilgamesh and the Bible. The flood story [called the Deluge here] is completely identical to the story of Noah's ark in the Bible exempting the fact that God didn't make Noah immortal for doing that in the Bible. Also, the poem makes a serpent the thief of eternal life [the youth-restoring plant]. This is identical to when Satan takes the form of a snake and persuades Eve to eat the apple from the forbidden area of the Garden of Eden. It's remarkable that Gilgamesh and the Bible are so similar especially because they were separated by so much time. This shows the legacy of literature. Once something is written down it may last forever [or 4000 years in this case]. And that really shows how important the epic of Gilgamesh is.

Closing thoughts 

This is a fast read but an interesting adventure. It's a classic because it's one of the oldest surviving works of fiction and its themes are still being rehashed today. The gods of these ancient times are still talked about today [usually in conspiracies] and they resonant with the Greek/Roman/Norse gods as well. You see a pattern here with the way the gods behave here as well as in the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid. You see a pattern with the savage violence of monsters here as you do in say, Beowulf. However, I'm just comparing these things to each other because I read them all in one fell swoop. They are all very different of course. I think I would understand Gilgamesh better if I knew more about those ancient times but for now, the long introduction of the translation I had [Penguin Classics] will have to suffice. This is a grand tale worth your attention and time. If you like epics, poetry, fiction, and classics then this will definitely take up space on your bookshelf. You don't forget a tale like this easily because it's just that damn good. 

The Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 BC. It tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy and became the ancestor of the Romans. It comprises nearly 10,000 lines dactylic hexameter. The first half of the book tells of the travels he and his fellow Trojans go through. The other half deals with battling the Latins and defeating them.

Aeneas was already known in Greco-Roman legend as he was a character in the Iliad. Virgil took the character and created a compelling national epic that tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified Roman values, and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome and Troy.

Virgil begins his poem with a statement of his theme (Arma virumque cano ..., "Of arms and the man I sing ...") and an invocation to the Muse, falling some seven lines after the poem's inception (Musa, mihi causas memora ..., "O Muse, recount to me the causes ..."). He then explains the reason for the principal conflict in the story: the resentment held by the goddess Juno against the Trojan people. This is consistent with her role throughout the Homeric epics. [wiki]

Now onto my actual ideas on this great work of Western literature. For starters, Virgil grew up in a small town and was taken in by the wealthy to study in the great cities of his day. He's regarded as one of Rome's greatest poets, even being popular in the middle ages, where Dante Alighieri uses Virgil the poet/writer as one of the main characters for his Divine Comedy, another great classic of Western literature. He is described as a tall man, very learned but he spoke like a commoner of his day.

I read the Robert Fagles translation from 2006. It's got a strong modernist sensibility without being too easy to read or understand. I also read Fagles' modern translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey and it should be noted that there is a continuity of style and particular words in usage throughout all three works. I recommend this version for a first read. I'm also interested in reading a more literal and/or different translations, as well as these are the kind of books that I'd like to reread in order to understand more about it and enjoy again.

The beginning of the Aeneid is very slow. In that sense its a lot different from the Odyssey, which is fast-paced. There's the sacking of Troy, the Trojan horse, lots of wandering and sailing, Queen Dido, Sicily, Underworld, and lastly, war. However, the events that happen in the Aeneid are so similar to the Odyssey and the Iliad that you could say that the Aeneid is Virgil's take, putting both the Iliad and the Odyssey together in his own story. After all, he used Homer's works as the template for his creativity here.

One of the most compelling moments is when Aeneas falls in love with Queen Dido but ends up leaving her in order to fulfill his destiny, as prophesized by the gods. It's presumed after they get lost together during a hunting expedition that they have sex, which Dido takes as an indication of marriage between them. However, Jupiter sends Mercury [these gods have different names but are roughly equivalent to the Greek gods] to send Aeneas out to sail, to focus on his task. Her heart crushed and thrown in the garbage, Dido commits suicide, stabbing herself upon a pyre with Aeneas' sword. How tragic.

The fighting in this book is intense, full of heroes fighting valiantly. It's not quite as powerful psychologically as the Iliad but that's my take. The speeches taunting the other champions are aplenty but I found it a little flat compared to the epic chest-beating in the Iliad. The actual fighting was more interesting to me especially the female warrior Camilla, a warrior virgin. It's interesting because I've been reading these epics like Beowulf and Homer and none of them have any female warriors in particular. That really stood out to me. Early feminist overtones? It was sad to see her die to treachery.

Also, it should be noted that during the time of this writing Rome was going through a lot of changes with the Fall of the Republic and the Final War of the Roman Republic having torn through society and many people began to think twice about the "Greatness of Rome". But then the new Emperor Augustus Ceaser brought on an era of prosperity and peace through the reintroduction of traditional Roman values, which Virgil highlights with the utmost detail in the Aeneid. The abrupt ending suggests that Virgil died without finishing the work.

This is one of those all time great books that should be a must-read for anyone interested in great literature. The story itself is grand, eloquent, and contains very expressive and beautiful lines and themes. Although the original text was written in Latin, it comes across very well in English to my young modern mind. Sometimes these epics from the early ages come across sort of flat. Not so here in Fagles' translation, where although it isn't a literal translation, he has taken care to update the writing without losing its edge, its expressive quality. This is why I enjoyed reading it [and Fagle's other translations] so much. Yes, its a very long work and lots of lines and words with little spacing, but it's just so good that reading it is a breeze, a pleasure, stimulating intellectually and aesthetically. Take as long as you need because although its a slow-burn, its fantastic.

Check out my Fagle's translation reviews for the Iliad and the Odyssey below
http://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-iliad.html
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-odysee.html

The Odyssey

The Odyssey is one of the best books ever. Written some 2,700 years ago by Homer, the story contains everything you'd want in a good story. In fact, it's hard for writers or story tellers in any medium not to be influenced by this monumental masterpiece. How does one go about and review the best book, one of the most original books, the most copied book? Rather than answer that I think I'll improvise and see what I can make of it. Make a go of it shall we? 

First of all, a lot happens in the Odyssey. Fundamentally this is ancient fiction, epic poetry about a guy struggling to get home. That's all it's about. But along the way, all these things happen. Where shall we start? There's a cyclops who eats Odysseus' crew-members alive. Circe, the goddess witch turns his crew into pigs, making them forget about going home. There's the sea monster Scylla, lying in wait in the wayward seas. The only way past Scylla is to just sail on past her, there was no chance of killing it. There are sirens that sing a beautiful tune, making the men go to them, and forget about going home. Zeus himself strikes a thunder bolt that hits Odysseus' ship, sending him lost at sea, alone, and helpless. 

The big question for the reader is why is all this happening to Odysseus? Well, for one thing, Poseidon is trying to stop him from getting home because Odysseus took out his cyclops sons' eye, stabbing it out with a sharp stick. Zeus himself intervenes sometimes against Odysseus but it isn't clear why. Odysseus never thought himself greater than the gods, quite the contrary. The only good thing Odysseus has going for himself is that he is Athena's champion. Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, loves Odysseus and does everything in his power to see that he gets home. She intervenes throughout the story, helping immensely. 

I read the Robert Fagles modern style translation from 1996. It reads like butter, meaning that it flows effortlessly. Everything makes sense. I was never confused or puzzled by anything. This is one of the better translations you can find out there. Better in the sense that its a modern take on the classic. There's no classical English phrasing or the archaic language of antiquity. Rather, this is an inspired translation based on the original Greek text. Meaning this is an authentic rendition but it's been updated to fit the modern reader's taste. All in all, this means that this is a great version of the Odyssey for your first read through of the epic. It's so inspiring that I'm already planning on buying other translations so I can compare and contrast them with this. Robert Fagles is a true master of bringing works of antiquity to the modern era. What a guy. 

On a side note if you want to read the Odyssey you should read the Iliad first. It just makes more sense to do that because the events in the Iliad happen before the Odyssey. Also, it will help prepare you for Greek mythology in a nutshell. All the basics are there in the Iliad and appear again or in different shades in the Odyssey.

Back to our plot synopsis. So the Odyssey is a man going through many trials. He even goes down to the House of the Dead on some errand, one of my favorite parts. But the most difficult trial is still at hand after that. Odysseus goes back home only to find that his palace has been overtaken by many suitors, who have been wooing his wife, trying to win her hand in marriage, never knowing if the king of Ithaca will ever return, the champion from the Trojan War This part is interesting. 

All those events that everybody knows about happen in the first half of the book. The entire second half is dedicated solely to Odysseus getting his revenge against the suitors in Ithica. Athena turns him into an old man, begging for scraps at the palace. Eventually, old man Odysseus and his son Telemachus, and two farmhands take up arms and kill all the suitors, a real blood bath. To be quite frank, it ends like how you expect it to end. With him getting him but barely making it, and taking his revenge against these suitors. He also kills the maids who were whores and slept with the suitors. The guy has no mercy. He even cuts off the ears and nose of a guy, tears off his genitals, and feeds it to the dogs! My name is reek anyone? After going through the intense violence that is the Iliad, going through this was a walk in the park. Intense violence isn't really my thing but the Iliad is a much more fucked up and violent story, showcasing the complexities of war in the most aggressive way possible. 

Lastly, what you can come to expect is that you'll see and rehear these tales rehashed over and over again. In other books like fantasy novels in particular, in video games [like Warcraft], in movies, TV shows, and even in music [Symphony X, Odyssey]. What I've learned through my fascination with epic poetry, ancient fiction is that everything you'd ever want in a story is already written. It's all either in the Bible or Greek mythology. Everything is variations of those themes. It's the job of the writer to make these variations better and more interesting. This is one of those books you must read. Even if you don't like ancient fiction literature there's something for everybody here. The fact that its a straight narrative of one man makes it a simpler story to tell than the Iliad. A lot of writers have been copying the tales here in endless variations. Of course, in the end, nothing is better than the original source.

Check out my review for the Iliad https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-iliad.html