In Our Time Epic of Gilgamesh
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Nov 3, 2016 Follow the rediscovery of humanity’s oldest great work, pieced together from ancient clay tablets. Meet Gilgamesh and Enkidu as they battle a monstrous forest guardian, challenge the gods, and confront a flood survivor on a quest for immortality. Their story explores friendship, kingship, and the limits of human life.
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George Smith's Discovery Sparked Modern Gilgamesh Studies
- The clay tablets reached the British Museum in the 1850s and sat largely unstudied until George Smith began sorting them in the 1860s.
- George Smith deciphered and translated major fragments within about ten years, launching modern Gilgamesh scholarship.
Enkidu's Humanization Through Shamhat
- Enkidu is created to check Gilgamesh's tyranny and is humanized by a temple prostitute through six days and seven nights of intimacy.
- Frances Reynolds highlights the civilizing power of prolonged human contact that transforms a wild man.
Friendship Drives The Epic's Early Heroics
- Gilgamesh and Enkidu's friendship deepens after their duel and leads them to heroic exploits like killing Humbaba.
- Their bond becomes central: they complement physically and emotionally and share adventures that define the poem's first half.