Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Gilgamesh!
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient poem from Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literature. It is the representative of the ancient Babylonian Literature, and it originated at the Sumerian period. It is not just the Epic about the mythopoet, because the name Gilgamesh was recorded at the oldest list of the Kings' names, so the Epic has the true stories as the foundation. From the abundant and complex content of this epic, we can tell it not came from only one writer. It is a production of the people living in that period of time. At the beginning, it was carried orally, and later people curved them into twelve different clay tablets. Scholars always devided the epic into four parts based on the plots. The first part describes the epic hero Gilgamesh's brutal rule in the Uruk City, as well as Gilgamesh and Enkidu's friendship. With his power, he forcing city residents to build his city wall, built the temple which led to hard times.People pray to the gods of heaven to save themselves.The create half-human half-animal forms Enkidu to confront with Gilgamesh.After fierce fighting the two sides, regardless of the outcome and they became friends.This part of the hero Gilgamesh criticism than praise component composition. The second part describes Gilgamesh and Enkidu have formed friendships, and benefit to the people as beloved by them.They have defeated the Lions in the desert, killing the forest damage people. The third part of the description of Gilgamesh to explore the "death and life" issues for th long-distance journey. Enkidu are due to offend god and punished by death. Enkidu's sudden deathcaused great grief for Gilgamesh.He recalled the expedition together with Enkidu all the years, feeling that he was distraught. Part four accounted the conversation between Gilgamesh and Enkidu's ghost. Gilgamesh missed Enkidu so much, then he returned to the city, ask the God if he can meet Enkidu's ghost. The Epic of Gilgamesh vividly reflects the history features from primitive society to slave society of the transition period. It shows the life of the ancient Mesopotamia people, and it has a great achievement in terms of both ideology and art.
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