Gilgamesh

[oldandhappy]

Am reading Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell. Outstanding. From the fly "Gilgamesh is considered one of the masterpieces of world literature ..." Dates from before the Iliad. Really wonderful and I want some of you to read it with me so we can talk about it!! Please!! Please!!

[SheilaT]

1. Darn. I just went to the website of my local library

and all three copies are checked out.

Perhaps there are three people in my city who are planning to read and respond to you.

[oldandhappy]

8. Put yourself on the wait list!

Wonder what prompted three people to want the books. It is a mind opener for me. Hope you had a chance to look at the book soon -- or one like it. I am now going to investigate the other Gilgamesh books in our library system.

[Javaman]

2. I've been looking for a good translation. Thanks!

I will check his out.

[oldandhappy]

7. He gives so much good discussion in the beginning.

Just as a warning, he does not do his own translation. He sort of melds several translations. I am new to this so do not know if it is well done. But wow, I have really enjoyed it. Read the whole book in one day. Well, not the notes at the back, smile. But planning to read it straight thru again.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Next time, give me a couple of weeks notice

and I will join you in a discussion of a book.....maybe. Gilgamesh might not have been that book, but I am not at a point to drop everything I am reading now.

But I love to discuss with people as I am reading as well. I just finished re-reading Orwell's 1984 and was dying to have discussions with someone else who was reading it.

[oldandhappy]

5. Respond when you are ready.

I am having a great time with this. Thinking about buying the book, but want to check out some others before making a decision.

Hope what you are reading is good, smile.

[pscot]

4. One of the oldest stories we know

I think the taming of Enkidu is my favorite part.

[oldandhappy]

6. I am too new to know

The loyalty of each of them is amazing.
thanks.

[closeupready]

9. I have a copy on my Kindle, IIRC - look on Gutenberg Project

for a free copy - I'm not sure if they have it, but probably. Let me check real quick.

Here you go, but it's not the version you refer to in your opening post:

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11000/pg11000.txt

[oldandhappy]

10. Hi Thanks

Seem to be lots of versions. The one I mentioned is actually a meld of several versions. I just got two others from the library. fun! I am enjoying discovering this story and the information about it. I have now looked at three sources and each has a different set of dates, so I will take it all with a smile. I have heard about Gilgamesh at different times of my life but never checked into it. Now I have time and I am enjoying the discovery. Thanks for the link.

[closeupready]

11. You're very welcome.

[LWolf]

12. I have two different versions for young readers

that I sometimes use with 6th graders. They study Mesopotamia.

I have a stack I'm working on, so by the time I get to this one, you'll be done.

Here are the versions I've got:

[oldandhappy]

13. Thanks. Love the art on those covers.

In the end I got four books from the library. One was a 400-page novel based on the poem. I loved all of it. I am glad you use it with young kids. Keeps their brains open and live. Congratulations! You are a star.

[OxQQme]

14. Two thirds divine

http://www.sitchin.com/landplace.htm

<snip> Having been the son of the goddess Ninsun and the high priest of Uruk, Gilgamesh was considered not just a demigod but “two thirds divine.” This, he asserted, entitled him to avoid the death of a mortal. Yes, his mother told him - but to attain our longevity you have to go to our planet, Nibiru (where one year equals 3,600 Earth-years). So Gilgamesh journeyed from Sumer (now southern Iraq) to ‘The Landing Place” in the cedar mountains where the rocketships of the gods were lofted.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, a text found inscribed on clay tablets, actually describes how Gilgamesh witnessed a rocketship being launched from the Landing Place. A later Phoenician coin depicted such a rocket standing on a launching pad

<snip>


Sitchin's translation of 'The Epic of Gilgamesh' continues on, after Enkidu's death, to the sacred place of Tilmun where he meets up with Utnapishtim (the 'Noah' of biblical Deluge fame) in his search for the immortality of the gods to which he feels entitled.

Also see: The King Who Refused to Die http://www.sitchin.com/kindle_books.htm

[oldandhappy]

15. thank you

thank you , lots