Background to Gilgamesh

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Background to Gilgamesh

• World Literature

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Types of Epics

• Folk epicsstories about heroes recited or sung
• Literary Epicsborrow same characteristics of
  folk epics usually written down by one author
  some based on well-known characters or stories
  from oral tradition.

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Elements of the Epic

• Epic Hero
• Epic Conflict
• Heroic Quest
• Divine Intervention

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Epic Conventions-Invocation-in medias
res-serious tone-contain epic similes
(elaborated comparisons) and epithets
(poetic renamings. For exampleloud-sounding
sea)-Archetypes (recurring plot, character,
symbol, idea)
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Elevated language or elevated style

• formal, dignified language it often uses more
  elaborate figures of speech.
• Purpose
• to give dignity to a hero (note the speeches of
  heroes like Achilles or Agamemnon in the Iliad),
• to express the superiority of God and religious
  matters generally (as in prayers or in the King
  James version of the Bible),
• to indicate the importance of certain events (the
  ritual language of the traditional marriage
  ceremony), etc.
• It can also be used to reveal a self-important or
  a pretentious character, for humor and/or for
  satire.

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Example of Elevated Style

• Now Come! Let us go forward together. Be of
  good courage! When we come face to face with
  Humbaba, if we are afraid, we will conquer our
  fear!
• (Come on lets go kill Humbaba! I know youre
  scared out of your mind, but well deal with it
  when we get there!)

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Mythology/ Epics timeline
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From the Prologue we learn that Gilgamesh is the
King of Uruk, a city in ancient
Mesopotamia--modern day Iraq.Earliest
Civilization (Sumer, Egypt, Akkad) from 3200 to
2052 BC
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Gilgamesh Background

• Both MYTH and LEGEND
• Supernatural 2/3 god 1/3 man based on a real
  king
• Story is 4,000 years oldancient Sumeria (modern
  Iraq)
• Written on 12 clay tablets in Cuneiform.
• Mesopotamia (Greek for between two
  rivers)between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
• One of the earliest URBAN civilizations we know
  of. This culture enjoyed a very sophisticated
  lifestyle over 4,000 years ago.

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Topics/Themes

• Good vs. Evil
• Spirituality
• Immortalitywhy do we have to die? How do we
  attain everlasting life?
• Friendship
• What makes a good leader?
• Responsibility
• Balance/Harmony

Cuneiform tablet