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Article: An epic in flux: Gilgamesh, the world's first great literaly work, is still being pieced together.(The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh)(Book review)
- Article from:
- American Scholar
- Article date:
- March 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Phi Beta Kappa Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE BURIED BOOK The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh By David Damrosch Henry Holt | $26
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest of the world's ancient classics, and though it influenced so much of the literature that came after it, the poem can frustrate its reader in a way that the Iliad or the Bible does not. Gilgamesh most likely has its roots in the oral tradition--imagine bearded bards roaming Mesopotamia, singing of the exploits of a heroic king and his quest for immortality. Over time, the epic was written down, recorded on clay tablets in cuneiform. What must have been a wide range of related poems more or less coalesced into a single epic ...