Invitation to World Literature
The Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh: Connections

In the Images of World Literature slideshow, you saw ancient images inspired by The Epic of Gilgamesh. Here at Connections, you can find modern interpretations, analyses, and performances of the Gilgamesh story.
Movies/Popular Interpretations/TV/Performance
- An excerpt of the “Darmok” episode, from Star Trek: The Next Generation, broadcast in the United States on September 30, 1991, where the retelling of the Gilgamesh story facilitates communication with aliens (briefly featured in the program).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukMNfTnI5M8 - The 2006 play “Gilgamesh” by Yusef Komunyakaa and Chad Gracia (both appear in the program)
http://books.google.com/books?id=dIIsOFACM6gC&
printsec=frontcover&
dq=gilgamesh+yusef+komunyakaa+gracia&source=bl&
ots=fSada0MixD&sig=-XXf47-E-FCD7q8I_iafkkqecz8&hl=en&
ei=JjBwS4L1FZOVtgePzfCIBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&
ct=result#v=onepage&q=&f=false - The Forgotten One, by Marvel Comics, with a hero named Gilgamesh
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/gilgamesh.htm - Gilgamesh II, 1989 comic book by Jim Starlin, featured in the program
http://www.amazon.com/Gilgamesh-II-Jim-Starlin/dp/B00071S7T8 - BBC radio serial of Gilgamesh at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/dramaon3/pip/gci75/ - Izumi Ashizawa performance of Gilgamesh.
http://izumiashizawa.tripod.com/ - Ludmilla Zeman, The Gilgamesh Trilogy, Tundra Books, 1998.
http://www.amazon.com/Gilgamesh-King-Trilogy-Ludmila-Zeman/dp/0887764371/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643769&sr=1-1
Art
- Many of the world’s great museums have art and artifacts relating to the Ancient Near East, including:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
http://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?ft=ancient+near+east&x=0&y=0 - The British Museum (has an image of the Flood Tablet that George Smith translated)
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights
/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/GOe8Mt6vRdSNcg-yeivrEA
Music
- Reading of Gilgamesh with ancient lyre accompaniment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSWEeBGhz4M
Books
- Stephanie Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia, 1989. An excellent one-volume collection of major Babylonian poems in clear and engaging translations, including the Babylonian creation epic, The Descent of Ishtar, and other fascinating works of the period.
http://www.amazon.com/Myths-Mesopotamia-Creation-Gilgamesh-Classics/dp/0199538360/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643797&sr=1-1 - David Damrosch, The Buried Book: The Loss and Recovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh, 2007.
http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Book-Rediscovery-Great-Gilgamesh/dp/B002PJ4GNQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643818&sr=1-1 - Rivkah Harris, Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia: The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature, 2000.
http://www.amazon.com/Gender-Aging-Mesopotamia-Gilgamesh-Literature/dp/0806135395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643837&sr=1-1 - Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey. The great Greek epics, heirs to the themes pioneered by Gilgamesh.
http://www.amazon.com/Iliad-Odyssey-Homer/dp/1934451436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643859&sr=1-1 - Thorkild Jacobsen The Treasurers of Darkness, 1976.
http://www.amazon.com/Treasures-Darkness-History-Mesopotamian-Religion/dp/0300022913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1281386616&sr=8-1 - Gwendolyn Leick, The Babylonians: An Introduction, 2003.
http://www.amazon.com/Babylonians-Introduction-Peoples-Ancient-World/dp/0415253152/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643900&sr=1-2 - Joan London, Gilgamesh, 2001. An Australian novel in which the epic inspires a young single mother to venture from Australia to Soviet Armenia in search of the father of her child.
http://www.amazon.com/Gilgamesh-Novel-Joan-London/dp/0802141218/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643919&sr=1-1 - John Maier, ed., Gilgamesh: A Reader, 1997.
http://www.amazon.com/Gilgamesh-Reader-John-Maier/dp/0865163391/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643952&sr=1-2 - Jeffrey H. Tigay, The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic, 2002.
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Gilgamesh-Epic-Jeffrey-Tigay/dp/0865165467/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&=books&qid=1265643973&sr=1-2 - ETCSL: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. The most up-to-date presentation of the world’s oldest texts, including prose translations of all Sumerian lyric and narrative poetry, regularly updated as new fragments are found and linguistic puzzles are solved.
Images

This image of Gilgamesh and Enkidu by modern-day artist Neil Dalrymple is inspired by ancient images of the two friends; notice Enkidu is part-animal, and smaller than the king whom he loves and serves.
These ceramic relief tablets were designed and hand sculpted by Neil Dalrymple, Ceramic Sculptor, UK.

David Damrosch talks about this image

Humbaba’s demonic face was a popular subject for sculptors; this ancient Assyrian representation follows the usual practice of depicting the creature’s face as one swirling line.
The Schoyen Collection, MS 4573/1

David Damrosch talks about this image

The king’s great prowess as a rider and a marksman is celebrated in this carving from his capital city of Nineveh. The city was his greatest achievement, just as Uruk was Gilgamesh’s.

David Damrosch talks about this image