Whyte's ENG 255 Course Playbook

An English-language rendering of the world's oldest epic follows the journey of conquest and self-discovery by the king of Uruk, in an edition that includes an introduction that places the story in its historical and cultural context.

"The Buried Book" begins with the rediscovery of the epic and its deciphering in 1872 by George Smith. From there the story goes back in time, all t he way to Gilgamesh himself at the dawn of recorded history. This is an illuminating, fast-paced tale of history as it was written, stolen, lost, and -- after countless battles, fevered digs, conspiracies, and revelations -- finally found again. -- From publisher's description.

This essay discusses Gilgamesh and the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, exploring the role of the trickster and her figures in both works and stressing the poems' focus on mortality.

Article by Tzivi Abusch in the Journal of the American Oriental Society.

An article by Hope Nash Wolff in the Journal of the American Oriental Society.

In this essay, Westenholz and Koch-Westenholz discuss “Man in relation to Culture” as an existential problem with a specifically Babylonian formation and answer in Gilgamesh. They note that the Babylonian worldview did not allow for the concept of the “noble savage,” arguing that though Enkidu fits some stereotypes of that literary image, he also incorporates aspects of a “subhuman beast” in his character, and that he dies as a result of his contact with civilization.