Gilgamesh, an epic from the east.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh#cite_note-3][/url]

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=3]edit[/url]] Content of the standard version tablets[/b]



[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=4]edit[/url]] Tablet one[/b]


The story starts with an introduction of Gilgamesh of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruk]Uruk[/url],
the greatest king on earth, two-thirds god and one-third human, as the
strongest King-God who ever existed. The introduction describes his
glory and praises the brick city walls of Uruk. The people in the time
of Gilgamesh, however, are not happy. They complain that he is too
harsh and abuses his power by sleeping with women before their husbands
do, so the goddess of creation [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aruru]Aruru[/url] creates the mighty wild-man [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enkidu]Enkidu[/url].
Enkidu starts bothering the shepherds and jostles the animals at the
watering hole. A trapper complains to Gilgamesh, the king sends the
woman [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamhat]Shamhat[/url] who was a temple prostitute—a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nad%C4%ABtu]nadītu[/url] or [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierodule]hierodule[/url]
in Greek. The body contact with Shamhat civilizes Enkidu, and after six
days and seven nights, he is no longer a wild beast who lives with
animals. Shamhat convinces Enkidu to come to Uruk and be a man of
society. Meanwhile, Gilgamesh has some strange dreams; his mother [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninsun]Rimat Ninsun[/url] explains them by telling him that a mighty friend will come to him.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=5]edit[/url]] Tablet two[/b]


Enkidu and Shamhat leave the wilderness for Uruk to attend a
wedding. When Gilgamesh comes to the party to sleep with the bride, he
finds his way blocked by the mighty Enkidu who opposes Gilgamesh's ego,
his treatment of women and the defamation of the sacred bonds of
marriage Enkidu has come to honor (in at least one standard version
Enkidu's only stated concern is proving he is stronger than Gilgamesh).
Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight each other. After a mighty battle, Gilgamesh
breaks off from the fight after defeating Enkidu, sparing his life yet
also heeding what Enkidu has said. The event teaches Gilgamesh the
virtues of mercy and humility, along with courage and nobility.
Gilgamesh is transformed for the better through his friendship with
Enkidu, and vice-versa, as they have many lessons to learn from each
other. They even begin to see each other as brothers in time.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=6]edit[/url]] Tablet three[/b]


Years later, becoming bored of peaceful life in Uruk, and wanting to
make an ever-lasting name for himself, Gilgamesh proposes to travel to
the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Forest]Cedar Forest[/url] to cut some great trees and kill the guardian, the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon]demon[/url] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbaba]Humbaba[/url].
Gilgamesh wants to do this for glory and reknown, and to make great
things from the wood of the Cedar Forest. Enkidu objects as the Cedar
Forest is the sacred realm of the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anunnaki]Anunnaki[/url]
and not meant for mortals, but Enkidu cannot convince his friend. They
seek the wisdom of the Elder Council, but Gilgamesh remains stubborn.
Enkidu gives in and both prepare to journey to Cedar Forest. Gilgamesh
tells his mother, who complains about it, but then asks the sun-god [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamash]Shamash[/url] for support and gives Enkidu some advice. She also adopts Enkidu as her second son.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=7]edit[/url]] Tablet four[/b]


Gilgamesh and Enkidu journey to the Cedar Forest. On the way,
Gilgamesh has five bad dreams, but due to the bad construction of the
tablet, the dreams are difficult to reconstruct. Enkidu, each time,
explains the dreams as a good omen. When they reach the forest,
Gilgamesh becomes afraid again and Enkidu must encourage him.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=8]edit[/url]] Tablet five[/b]


When the heroes finally run into [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbaba]Humbaba[/url],
the demon-ogre guardian of the trees, the monster starts to offend
them. This time, Gilgamesh is the one to become afraid. After some
brave words of Enkidu, the battle commences. Their rage separates the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria]Syria[/url] mountains from [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon]Lebanon[/url].
Gilgamesh distracts the monster into giving away his seven layers of
armor, or "radiances", by offering his sisters as wives and concubines.
Finally, Shamash sends his 13 winds to help the two heroes, and Humbaba
is defeated. The monster begs Gilgamesh for his life, and Gilgamesh
pities the creature. Enkidu, however, gets mad with [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh]Gilgamesh[/url]
and asks him to kill the beast. Humbaba then turns to Enkidu and begs
him to persuade his friend to spare his life. When Enkidu repeats his
request to Gilgamesh, Humbaba curses them both before Gilgamesh puts an
end to it. When the two heroes cut a huge cedar tree, Enkidu makes a
huge door of it for the gods and lets it float down the river.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=9]edit[/url]] Tablet six[/b]


Gilgamesh rejects the sexual advances of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anu]Anu[/url] (the sky-god)'s daughter, the goddess [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar]Ishtar[/url] (goddess of love and war), because of her mistreatment of her previous lovers like [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumuzi]Dumuzi[/url]. Ishtar asks her father Anu to send the "[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_of_Heaven]Bull of Heaven[/url]"
to avenge the rejected sexual advances. When Anu rejects her
complaints, Ishtar threatens to raise the dead. Anu becomes frightened
and gives in. The bull of heaven is a plague for the lands. Apparently
the creature has something to do with drought because, according to the
epic, the water disappeared and the vegetation died. Whatever the case,
Gilgamesh and Enkidu, this time without divine help, slay the beast and
offer its heart to Shamash. When they hear Ishtar cry out in agony,
Enkidu tears off the bull's hindquarter and throws it in her face and
threatens her. The city of Uruk celebrates, but Enkidu has a bad dream
detailed in the next tablet.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=10]edit[/url]] Tablet seven[/b]


In Enkidu's dream, the gods decide that somebody must be punished
for killing the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba, and in the end they decide
to punish Enkidu. All of this is much against the will of Shamash.
Enkidu tells Gilgamesh all about it, then curses the door he made for
the gods. Gilgamesh is shocked and goes to temple to pray to Shamash
for the health of his friend. Enkidu then starts to curse the trapper
and Shamhat because now he regrets the day that he became human.
Shamash speaks from heaven and points out how unfair Enkidu is; he also
tells him that Gilgamesh will become a shadow of his former self
because of his death. Enkidu regrets his curses and blesses Shamhat. He
becomes more and more ill and describes his descent into the horrific [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherworld]Netherworld[/url] as he is dying, which he calls the "House of Dust" where the dead wear feathers like birds, they eat clay and do without light.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=11]edit[/url]] Tablet eight[/b]


Gilgamesh delivers a lamentation for Enkidu, offering gifts to the
many gods, in order that he might walk beside Enkidu in the
netherworld. He orders the people of Uruk to also mourn Enkidu, from
the lowest farmer to the highest temple priests, and orders statues of
Enkidu to be built. Gilgamesh is so full of grief and sorrow over his
friend that he refuses to leave Enkidu's side, or allow his corpse to
be buried, until six days and seven nights after his death when a
maggot falls from Enkidu's nose.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=12]edit[/url]] Tablet nine[/b]


Gilgamesh sets out to avoid Enkidu's fate and makes a perilous
journey to visit Utnapishtim (the Faraway, a Sumerian mythology
counterpart of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah]Noah[/url]) and his wife, the only humans to have survived the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_%28mythology%29]Great Flood[/url]
and who were granted immortality by the gods, in the hope that he too
can attain immortality. The ageless Utnapishtim and his wife now reside
in a beautiful country in another world, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilmun]Dilmun[/url],
and Gilgamesh travels far to the east, crossing great rivers and
oceans, to the mountain passes at the ends of the earth where he
grapples and slays monstrous mountain lions, bears and others.
Eventually he comes to the twin peaks of Mount Mashu at the end of the
earth, from where the sun rises from the other world, the gate of which
is guarded by two terrible scorpion-beings. They allow him to proceed
after Gilgamesh convinces them to let him pass, stating his divinity
and desperation, and he travels through the dark tunnel where the sun
travels every night. Just before the sun is about to catch up with him,
and with the North Wind and ice lashing him, he reaches the end. The
world at the end of the tunnel is a bright wonderland full of trees
with leaves of jewels.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=13]edit[/url]] Tablet ten[/b]


Gilgamesh meets the alewife [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siduri]Siduri[/url],
who first believes Gilgamesh is a murderer from his dishevelled
appearance, and tells her the purpose of his journey. Siduri attempts
to dissuade him from his quest but sends him to Urshanabi the ferryman
to help him cross the sea to Utnapishtim. Urshanabi is in the company
of stone-giants. Gilgamesh considers them hostile and kills them. When
he tells Urshanabi his story and asks for help, he is told that he just
killed the only creatures able to cross the Waters of Death. The Waters
of Death are not to be touched, or even passing your hand over them is
death, so Urshanabi asks Gilgamesh to cut 300 trees and fashion them
into punting poles so that they can cross the waters by picking a new
pole each time, and also uses his garment as a sail. Finally, they
reach [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilmun]Dilmun[/url],
the island of Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim sees that there is someone else
in the boat, and asks Gilgamesh who he is. Gilgamesh tells him his
story and asks for help, but Utnapishtim reprimands him because
fighting the fate of humans is futile and ruins the joy in life.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=14]edit[/url]] Tablet eleven[/b]


Gilgamesh argues that Utnapishtim is not different from him and asks
him his story, and why he has a different fate. Utnapishtim tells him
about the great flood. His story is a summary of the story of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrahasis]Atrahasis[/url] (see also [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh_flood_myth]Gilgamesh flood myth[/url])
but skips the previous plagues sent by the gods. He reluctantly offers
Gilgamesh a chance for immortality, but questions why the gods would
give the same honour as himself, the flood hero, to Gilgamesh and
challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for six days and seven nights first.
However, just when Utnapishtim finishes his words Gilgamesh falls
asleep. Utnapishtim ridicules the sleeping Gilgamesh in the presence of
his wife and tells her to bake a loaf of bread for every day he is
asleep so that Gilgamesh cannot deny his failure. When Gilgamesh, after
seven days, discovers his failure, Utnapishtim is furious with him and
sends him back to Uruk with Urshanabi in exile. The moment that they
leave, Utnapishtim's wife asks her husband to have mercy on Gilgamesh
for his long journey. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh of a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxthorn]boxthorn[/url]-like
plant at the very bottom of the ocean that will make him young again.
Gilgamesh obtains the plant by binding stones to his feet so he can
walk the bottom of the sea. He does not trust the plant and plans to
test it on an old man's back when he returns to Uruk. Unfortunately he
places the plant on the shore of a lake while he bathes, and it is
stolen by a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_%28symbolism%29]serpent[/url]
who loses his old skin and thus is reborn. Gilgamesh weeps in the
presence of Urshanabi. Having failed at both opportunities, he returns
to Uruk, where the sight of its massive walls prompts him to praise
this enduring work to Urshanabi.

[b][[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epic_of_Gilgamesh&action=edit&section=15]edit[/url]] Tablet twelve[/b]


Note that the content of this last tablet is not connected with
previous ones, and appears to be written by a different author at a
much later date than the previous tablets. Gilgamesh complains to
Enkidu that his ball-game-toys fell in the underworld. Enkidu offers to
bring them back. Delighted, Gilgamesh tells Enkidu what he must and
must not do in the underworld in order to come back. Enkidu forgets the
advice and does everything he was told not to do. The underworld keeps
him. Gilgamesh prays to the gods to give him his friend back. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlil]Enlil[/url] and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suen]Suen[/url] don’t bother to reply but [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enki]Ea[/url] and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamash]Shamash[/url]
decide to help. Shamash cracks a hole in the earth and Enkidu jumps out
of it. The tablet ends with Gilgamesh questioning Enkidu about what he
has seen in the underworld. The story doesn’t make clear whether Enkidu
reappears only as a ghost or really comes back to life.

[b]man...what an epic....very impressive...
but from my point of view, i preffer the Greek epics more, they have more imagination and better names ....try reading the Odyssie[/b]

i've read the Odyssie, it's a piece of art!