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Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh is considered one of the masterpieces of world literature, and although previously there have been competent scholarly translations of it, until now there has not been a version that is a superlative literary text in its own right. Acclaimed translator Stephen Mitchell's lithe, muscular rendering allows us to enter an ancient masterpiece as if for the first time, to see how startlingly beautiful, intelligent, and alive it is. His insightful introduction provides a historical, spiritual, and cultural context for this ancient epic, showing that Gilgamesh is more potent and fascinating than ever.
Gilgamesh dates from as early as 1700 BCE -- a thousand years before the Iliad. Lost for almost two millennia, the eleven clay tablets on which the epic was inscribed were discovered in 1853 in the ruins of Nineveh, and the text was not deciphered and fully translated until the end of the century. When the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke first read Gilgamesh in 1916, he was awestruck. "Gilgamesh is stupendous," he wrote. "I consider it to be among the greatest things that can happen to a person."
The epic is the story of literature's first hero -- the king of Uruk in what is present-day Iraq -- and his journey of self-discovery. Along the way, Gilgamesh discovers that friendship can bring peace to a whole city, that a preemptive attack on a monster can have dire consequences, and that wisdom can be found only when the quest for it is abandoned.
Gilgamesh dates from as early as 1700 BCE -- a thousand years before the Iliad. Lost for almost two millennia, the eleven clay tablets on which the epic was inscribed were discovered in 1853 in the ruins of Nineveh, and the text was not deciphered and fully translated until the end of the century. When the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke first read Gilgamesh in 1916, he was awestruck. "Gilgamesh is stupendous," he wrote. "I consider it to be among the greatest things that can happen to a person."
The epic is the story of literature's first hero -- the king of Uruk in what is present-day Iraq -- and his journey of self-discovery. Along the way, Gilgamesh discovers that friendship can bring peace to a whole city, that a preemptive attack on a monster can have dire consequences, and that wisdom can be found only when the quest for it is abandoned.
Hardcover
Published September 1, 1994
About the author
Stephen Mitchell
177 books591 followersStephen Mitchell was educated at Amherst College, the Sorbonne, and Yale University, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice. He is widely known for his ability to make old classics thrillingly new, to step in where many have tried before and to create versions that are definitive for our time. His many books include The Gospel According to Jesus, The Second Book of the Tao, two books of fiction, and a book of poetry.
Mitchell’s Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke has been called “the most beautiful group of poetic translations [the twentieth] century has produced.” William Arrowsmith said that his Sonnets to Orpheus “instantly makes every other rendering obsolete.” His Book of Job has been called “magnificent.” His bestselling Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, and Gilgamesh—which are not translations from the original text, but rather poetic interpretations that use existing translations into Western languages as their starting point—have also been highly praised by critics, scholars, and common readers. Gilgamesh was Editor’s Choice of The New York Times Book Review, was selected as the Book Sense 2004 Highlight for Poetry, was a finalist for the first annual Quill Award in poetry. His translation of the Iliad was chosen as one of the New Yorker’s favorite books of 2011. He is a two-time winner of the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets.
His books for young readers include The Wishing Bone, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award as the best book of poetry for children published in the United States in 2003, and Jesus: What He Really Said and Did, which was chosen by the American Library Association’s Booklist as one of the top ten religious books for children in 2002.
He is also coauthor of two of his wife Byron Katie’s bestselling books: Loving What Is and A Thousand Names for Joy. www.thework.com
You can read extensive excerpts from all his books on his website, www.stephenmitchellbooks.com.
Mitchell’s Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke has been called “the most beautiful group of poetic translations [the twentieth] century has produced.” William Arrowsmith said that his Sonnets to Orpheus “instantly makes every other rendering obsolete.” His Book of Job has been called “magnificent.” His bestselling Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, and Gilgamesh—which are not translations from the original text, but rather poetic interpretations that use existing translations into Western languages as their starting point—have also been highly praised by critics, scholars, and common readers. Gilgamesh was Editor’s Choice of The New York Times Book Review, was selected as the Book Sense 2004 Highlight for Poetry, was a finalist for the first annual Quill Award in poetry. His translation of the Iliad was chosen as one of the New Yorker’s favorite books of 2011. He is a two-time winner of the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets.
His books for young readers include The Wishing Bone, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award as the best book of poetry for children published in the United States in 2003, and Jesus: What He Really Said and Did, which was chosen by the American Library Association’s Booklist as one of the top ten religious books for children in 2002.
He is also coauthor of two of his wife Byron Katie’s bestselling books: Loving What Is and A Thousand Names for Joy. www.thework.com
You can read extensive excerpts from all his books on his website, www.stephenmitchellbooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
February 3, 2026
I read this because my roommate's drone-building lizard man situationship from Arizona stole her copy directly off her bookshelf, so I had to know what the hype was about. Needless to say, The Epic of Gilgamesh is about as wild as that backstory.
It oscillates between being hilariously absurd (i.e. protagonist having sex for 7 days straight at the top of the poem) to incredibly beautiful and deeply moving. It was also a lot more homoerotic than I anticipated, which always helps. Stephen Mitchell's translation was very accessible and easy to read, and his introduction (which I would recommend reading after the poem itself) was both humorous and insightful. Humanity really did peak with literature on the first try.
It oscillates between being hilariously absurd (i.e. protagonist having sex for 7 days straight at the top of the poem) to incredibly beautiful and deeply moving. It was also a lot more homoerotic than I anticipated, which always helps. Stephen Mitchell's translation was very accessible and easy to read, and his introduction (which I would recommend reading after the poem itself) was both humorous and insightful. Humanity really did peak with literature on the first try.
May 15, 2026
A unique read which honestly was mostly done for the sake of curiosity.
The genres for me made this story far more interesting. I am baffled that this book is read in school for some because it is crazy graphic, and slightly cultish too.
The fact that its considered non fiction led to a fun little experiment to try and decipher what part of these stories could have been something that the previous civilization just misunderstood to be the case versus what was just make belief moral stories.
Im kind of glad ended up reading the Stephen Mitchell version despite it taking some artistic expression in how the story goes, though in all fairness I wasnt aware of the case when I started reading, because as someone who needs some level of closure, Id be annoyed as heck if part of the poems/tablets/story just got discontinued because the rock was missing.
The genres for me made this story far more interesting. I am baffled that this book is read in school for some because it is crazy graphic, and slightly cultish too.
The fact that its considered non fiction led to a fun little experiment to try and decipher what part of these stories could have been something that the previous civilization just misunderstood to be the case versus what was just make belief moral stories.
Im kind of glad ended up reading the Stephen Mitchell version despite it taking some artistic expression in how the story goes, though in all fairness I wasnt aware of the case when I started reading, because as someone who needs some level of closure, Id be annoyed as heck if part of the poems/tablets/story just got discontinued because the rock was missing.
December 12, 2025
it’s hard to rate a book that was written centuries ago in ancient mesopotamia. there’s nothing to make you feel more pretentious than judging things written on clay tablets !
it feels like an injustice to judge by the standards of the big 25.
the message was mind swirling, but i’m left wondering if something was lost in translation
it feels like an injustice to judge by the standards of the big 25.
the message was mind swirling, but i’m left wondering if something was lost in translation
January 3, 2026
It’s honestly wild realizing this is the oldest story we have—and somehow it still feels familiar. What’s even crazier is that it was lost for centuries, yet so many stories clearly trace back to it. You can see its influence everywhere once you read it.
The themes of friendship, loss, mortality, and the search for meaning feel timeless. Gilgamesh’s grief after Enkidu’s death and his desperate attempt to escape death itself are things we still write about today. The flood story alone made me pause and think about how many later myths and religions echo this exact narrative.
Reading Gilgamesh feels like finding the root of storytelling. It’s not just ancient—it’s foundational. A reminder that humans have been asking the same questions since the very beginning.
The themes of friendship, loss, mortality, and the search for meaning feel timeless. Gilgamesh’s grief after Enkidu’s death and his desperate attempt to escape death itself are things we still write about today. The flood story alone made me pause and think about how many later myths and religions echo this exact narrative.
Reading Gilgamesh feels like finding the root of storytelling. It’s not just ancient—it’s foundational. A reminder that humans have been asking the same questions since the very beginning.
December 22, 2025
This is the only translation of Gilgamesh I’ve ever read, so can’t compare it to other translations.
But honestly, I really loved this story. It’s not told in as grand or poetic a style as The Odyssey or modern stories, but it really packs a punch in terms of the depth and humanness of its message. This story really drove home for me that the people in ancient civilizations were far from being dumb, barbaric idiots as I feel we have a tendency to believe in today’s society. People were ultimately wrestling with the same themes and questions as us back then, and that really comes through in this story.
The age and influence of this story is also kinda mind-boggling to think about, considering it is literally the oldest known epic, and predates (by a long ways) all of Greek mythology, the Hebrew Bible, and any other text most people are familiar with. The parallels with the Hebrew Bible are also so interesting and striking.
I also love a story with good character development, and Gilgamesh definitely encompassed that. Especially when compared to other “Hero’s Journey” characters, he grows to show a lot of depth, but also, importantly, vulnerability, which can be so absent in these types of stories.
But honestly, I really loved this story. It’s not told in as grand or poetic a style as The Odyssey or modern stories, but it really packs a punch in terms of the depth and humanness of its message. This story really drove home for me that the people in ancient civilizations were far from being dumb, barbaric idiots as I feel we have a tendency to believe in today’s society. People were ultimately wrestling with the same themes and questions as us back then, and that really comes through in this story.
The age and influence of this story is also kinda mind-boggling to think about, considering it is literally the oldest known epic, and predates (by a long ways) all of Greek mythology, the Hebrew Bible, and any other text most people are familiar with. The parallels with the Hebrew Bible are also so interesting and striking.
I also love a story with good character development, and Gilgamesh definitely encompassed that. Especially when compared to other “Hero’s Journey” characters, he grows to show a lot of depth, but also, importantly, vulnerability, which can be so absent in these types of stories.
November 26, 2025
In my epics era. I love that humans have been writing for so long, I love that we can read stories from people who lived so long ago, I love that we can figure out that myths were based on real people. Humans are cool.
February 3, 2026
This blows my mind: 5000 years ago - before the Iliad and the Bible - human beings huddled around the fire and while a bard told them the epic of Gilgamesh. The same one I just listened to on audiobook.
In it, King Gilgamesh, the human son of 2 gods, grows up, and through relationship with another, becomes a better king.
Being 2/3 divine - a mortal with Gods as parents - Gilgamesh has gotten arrogant and tyrannical toward the people of Urek. When they cry out asking the Gods to temper the unruly brat, the Gods create Enkidu, a "friend/rival" for Gilgamesh to "balance", himself against; a "wild man" for him to fight, befriend, love, and lose - that good old struggle with mortality.
I was not at all familiar with this story - which, again, was one of the first stories human beings passed from person to person - but I was trying to read Emily Wilson's "Inanna" and realized I didn't have enough background to fully appreciate her characters. Now that I get the story, I'm excited to go back to Inanna and try again.
The author's extended essay on Gilgamesh (after his translation of the work itself) is super interesting. The overt sexuality in these Greek myths is so interesting. I was delighted with Shamat being told to have sex with Enkidu - and happily doing so - FOR SEVEN DAYS in order to "civilize" him.
Again, if you choose to consume this early human story, do get the audiobook and listen to it the way it was meant to be received.
In it, King Gilgamesh, the human son of 2 gods, grows up, and through relationship with another, becomes a better king.
Being 2/3 divine - a mortal with Gods as parents - Gilgamesh has gotten arrogant and tyrannical toward the people of Urek. When they cry out asking the Gods to temper the unruly brat, the Gods create Enkidu, a "friend/rival" for Gilgamesh to "balance", himself against; a "wild man" for him to fight, befriend, love, and lose - that good old struggle with mortality.
I was not at all familiar with this story - which, again, was one of the first stories human beings passed from person to person - but I was trying to read Emily Wilson's "Inanna" and realized I didn't have enough background to fully appreciate her characters. Now that I get the story, I'm excited to go back to Inanna and try again.
The author's extended essay on Gilgamesh (after his translation of the work itself) is super interesting. The overt sexuality in these Greek myths is so interesting. I was delighted with Shamat being told to have sex with Enkidu - and happily doing so - FOR SEVEN DAYS in order to "civilize" him.
Again, if you choose to consume this early human story, do get the audiobook and listen to it the way it was meant to be received.
Read
May 15, 2026Amazing - I’ll definitely revisit. There are many unique aspects to Gilgamesh’s anti hero story which I found fascinating. The story is fantastical and at times almost ridiculous in its hilarity, and then it is so deeply moving and real.
Death - pursuing a heroic death, denying death of a loved one, being afraid of death, avoiding and fighting death, studying death and arguing with a sense of futility. Oh so many things going on in this book! And this is just the death part.
Then there is love and life, power. Gilgamesh who is our tyrant overlord acting like the most entitled, but also brave and scared, and lonely, restless and violent, loving and clumsy (like when he loses the plant of youth while bathing in the river). Love as friendship, eroticism, friendship, homoerotic, and so much more.
The afterward is a must, written in plain English helps to put the pieces of the story together.
Ah it was so good
Death - pursuing a heroic death, denying death of a loved one, being afraid of death, avoiding and fighting death, studying death and arguing with a sense of futility. Oh so many things going on in this book! And this is just the death part.
Then there is love and life, power. Gilgamesh who is our tyrant overlord acting like the most entitled, but also brave and scared, and lonely, restless and violent, loving and clumsy (like when he loses the plant of youth while bathing in the river). Love as friendship, eroticism, friendship, homoerotic, and so much more.
The afterward is a must, written in plain English helps to put the pieces of the story together.
Ah it was so good
May 9, 2026
Something really special about reading a story that people 3000+ years ago would’ve also enjoyed. As the intro explains, this isn’t a direct, academic translation, it uses the direct, academic translations and then further ‘translates’ it into how it would’ve sounded to native speakers when it was originally performed. The result is a beautiful story about dealing with grief and how to move on from such a loss. Very comforting to know that humans 3000+ years ago were also worried about this, turns out what has always mattered to humanity is other people.
P.S anyone who doesn’t think that Gilgamesh and Enkidu were gay lovers can fight me.
P.S anyone who doesn’t think that Gilgamesh and Enkidu were gay lovers can fight me.
February 5, 2026
I read this my sophomore year of high school and now again my freshman year of college. Both times I didn’t really enjoy it. This is most likely due to the fact that I read it for school rather than my own personal pleasure, however it could also be because it’s not up my alley of things I usually read, or it could be a mix of both. What I’m trying to get here is my personal rating is 1 ⭐️ but take this with a grain of salt.
March 7, 2026
Read the oldest bromance ever told as part of a buddy-read ‘pre-Katabasis’ syllabus. Having just read Beowulf, it was interesting to have that fresh in my mind, since Mitchell makes comparisons in his introduction.
Some highlights for me were the prophetic dreams (particularly the first), the “not circular but spiral” nature of the epic, thinking Gilgamesh dissing Ishtar would make a great duet in a song, and “wow, should I read the Bible?!?”
Some highlights for me were the prophetic dreams (particularly the first), the “not circular but spiral” nature of the epic, thinking Gilgamesh dissing Ishtar would make a great duet in a song, and “wow, should I read the Bible?!?”
November 7, 2025
not until i read elif shafak’s there are rivers in the sky, i knew about gilgamesh. a bit if embarrassment since it is the oldest story ever written, but better late than never.
listened to the audio book and i like both the story and the essay. the brilliance of our predecessors thousand years ago never ceases to amaze me.
listened to the audio book and i like both the story and the essay. the brilliance of our predecessors thousand years ago never ceases to amaze me.
August 11, 2025
Audio. Since this is the only version I've experienced this far, I'm not sure how the translation conveys the original text, but the story, the characters, the depth, wow. I will look for other versions. I appreciated the history and connect provided in the intro and translator's notes.
December 29, 2025
In my ratings,3= average. I’d give this 3.5. The book presents an easy and very clear version of the ancient story and an analysis of it. I enjoyed both, but if you’re going to read it, I recommend you start with the story and read the analysis after (opposite to the book).
January 5, 2026
Gilgamesh is SMUT I love it
This translation was pretty cool, essay afterword was also good had some salient points, didn’t glorify bad behavior, and was much more progressive an analysis I expected from something written in 2004
This translation was pretty cool, essay afterword was also good had some salient points, didn’t glorify bad behavior, and was much more progressive an analysis I expected from something written in 2004
October 13, 2025
This translation is accessible and the story is obviously great.
November 22, 2025
Vivid and accessible translation of the classic.
December 22, 2025
Introduction was very captivating and I loved learning all the historical background and context. The poem itself wasn’t as exciting but still good!
December 22, 2025
A beautiful, dramatic version that fills in the gaps with care, making the epic flow smoothly and more enjoyable to read. This is artistic license done correctly.
January 9, 2026
My favorite version.
January 11, 2026
The Iraq War comparisons were dumb but that's only like 1 dumb paragraph in an otherwise fine translation/commentary.
January 28, 2026
really splendid and astonishingly fresh for something composed nearly 5000 years ago. Excellent version with a good accompanying essay. I have the audiobook version.
February 17, 2026
glad to be in a class that forces me to read
Read
February 17, 2026Reread this epic after it was mentioned in a book I read. Lots of notes and easy to read translation.
March 30, 2026
A story of a legendary hero doesn't survive 5,000 years without being—at least—pretty good. And this is.
April 3, 2026
a classic for a reason
Read
April 26, 2026A thematically complex epic that deals with the meaning of of humanity and the reality of death.
April 29, 2026
A fresh story for the modern age
May 2, 2026
I mean, how do you rate the earliest story of mankind? I don't have the background to compate translations or versions. It was interesting to say the least.
May 9, 2026
the first written documentation of “and they were best friends” in history
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews