Gilgamesh: Translated from the Sin-Leqi-Unninni Version

by John ed Gardner

Paperback

Reviews

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impossible to rate this . . .am I rating the Epic of Gilgamesh? It is amazing for its importance in non-Classical ancient world over thousands of years and then its rediscovery and popularity in the last 150 years. Or am I rating this translated version by John Gardner with notes and extra information provided by John Maier, with the assistance of Richard Henshaw (an Assyriologist, an expert in reading cuneiform)? It was John Gardner’s last work; finished in a rush to be a text for class he was to teach. Gardner died in road accident before he could teach from it. I came to the text without a literary background and no knowledge to make much of a judgment on this version. I did read parts of another 2019 translation in verse which had more text reconstruction (even a bit more text available than this work published in 1984 had. I liked Gardner’s word choices much better; this text (in verse) has vibrancy. Its first description of Gilgamesh as “one who saw the abyss” somehow sums up his whole journey of trying to gain immortality. The theme of deep friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu was a good one and the Flood story, too.

I came to this reading project (it included reading a middle grades version of story in prose and various bits from various scholars on area’s historytranslations/discoveries and connections to Genesis) because of Elif Safak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky, which threads bits about Gilgamesh’s rediscovery throughout the novel. And I read it with a friend which made me take notes and think deeper than I might otherwise have.

Lots to think about — maybe I will return for a reread at some point, maybe I will read more Sumerian/Mesopotamian history. If anyone has another preferred version to read, let me know. It also reminded me that although I am not good about enjoying poetry, I have always liked narrative verse and should seek out more. Maybe I’ll even try some of Gardner’s fiction or literary criticism.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd; the mythology is be interesting.