Has any one read the book "Gilgamesh"?

Question

I have read a book called Gilgamesh about ancient gods, and I am still trying to figure out its exact plot. I need to know it for school. Anybody know what the book is exactly about??

Answer 1

It's called "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and it's not very long actually.

It's from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq area), it may go back to the 7th cent. BC but scholars think the story it tells may be about a real king from as far back as the 27th century B.C. which would make it the oldest known story we have written down.

It deals with a guy named Gilgamesh, happened to be the King, and he was going through some rough times emotionally, having some issues dealing with what a tough time he was having being king and all.

He teams up with his buddy and sidekick Enkidu, and they go off on various adventures like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in those Lethal Weapon flicks. Sadly, Enkidu bites the big one and Gilgamesh is depressed over this. He's determined to find the key to immortality as a result.

Answer 2

You may be having trouble with the plot, because it is essentially a history book.  History books have no plot.

They are not novels, but records of things that really happened.

There have been several books just called Gilgamesh, but as far as I know they are all stories from the "Epic of Gilgamesh" which is the story of an ancient king.

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According to the Sumerian king list, Gilgamesh was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk (which was in modern-day Iraq).

Gilgamesh's supposed historical reign is believed to have been approximately 2700 BC, shortly before the earliest known written stories. The discovery of artifacts associated with Aga and Enmebaragesi of Kish, two other kings named in the stories, has lent credibility to the historical existence of Gilgamesh.

The earliest Sumerian versions of the epic date from as early as the Third dynasty of Ur (2100 BC-2000 BC).

Centuries after his kingship, he was given "demi-god" status, (a man with godlike abilities) but it appears there was no such thing during his lifetime.

There were ten original books in the Gilgamesh (or Bilgamesh) saga.  The 11th, which holds the story of the flood was not written until a thousand years later, and seems to have been copied from a story from around 1500 BC - the Epic of Atrahasis. (the wording is practically identical, except for a few words changing between them.)

In that story the flood was the flooding of a single river which took 7 days and 7 nights to go down.

In the Gilgamesh version the word river was changed to ocean and the flood lasted for 6 days and 7 nights

In the Noah version it was expanded to 40 days and 40 nights.

If taken as histories, the first ten Gilgameş books are more likely to be factual.  The flood story seems to have been taken from the earlier Atrahasis story.  It may have been a true account, but happened to Atrahasis instead of to those mentioned in the later versions.