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AnonymousThe Epic of Gilgamesh
Fiction | Poem | AdultA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer (circa 8th Century BCE)
"The Epic of Gilgamesh" likely influenced Homer’s epic poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". There are some narrative and thematic similarities: confrontation with a monster (Ulysses’s Cyclops versus Gilgamesh’s Humbaba), a voyage to an underworld, an insulted goddess who runs to her parents for revenge, and the loss of a dear companion (Achilles’s Patroclus versus Gilgamesh’s Enkidu).
"The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri (1320)
Dante Alighieri’s "Divine Comedy", written in the early 14th century, is a three-part narrative poem following a man into the underworld of the afterlife and beyond. While not in direct dialogue with "Gilgamesh", the poem deals with many similar themes and tropes. Like Gilgamesh, Alighieri’s traveler seeks to consult the immortals and face his own mortality (and salvation) after the loss of a beloved (Beatrice).
Gilgamesh: A Verse Play by Yusef Komunyakaa and Chad Gracia (2009)
In this version of the epic published in 2009, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa and playwright Chad Gracia use spare, contemporary language to adapt the "Gilgamesh" legend for the stage. Publishers’ Weekly wrote: “Komunyakaa’s short lines and taciturn bearing fit the gravity of the warriors’ tragedy, and he strikes the right balance between contemporary directness and antique grace.”
Further Literary Resources
The Book of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Christian Old Testament, presents many striking parallels with "Gilgamesh". Both are ancient texts, anonymously written, that tell of a great flood wiping out mankind except for one man and woman who build an ark and fill it with animals that repopulate a new world. The parallels continue: In Genesis, Adam loses his innocence through seduction, sexual awakening, and the actions of a serpent. In "Gilgamesh", Enkidu also experiences a civilizing sexual awakening and Gilgamesh loses immortality to a crafty snake.
Ancient Mythologies: India, Persia, Babylon, Egypt by Charles Kovacs (1999)
Originally written for students in grade school, Kovacs’s collection of ancient myths provides a useful resource for students of any age interested in learning more about the timeless themes, characters, and legends from the cradle of civilization and beyond.
Gilgamesh Among Us: Modern Encounters with the Ancient Epic by Theodore Ziolkowski (2011)
Ziolkowski’s study provides a deep dive into reader’s engagement with the Gilgamesh myth over time: first, through its early adaptations, translations, and poetry in Germany from the late 1800s to World War II, to its growing popularity in the English-speaking world, and its most recent interpretations in light of the Gulf Wars, and including the Mitchell translation used for this study guide.
"An Ancient Tablet, Stolen then Acquired by Hobby Lobby, Will be Returned to Iraq" by James Doubek (2021)
The millennia-surviving tablets on which "Gilgamesh" was written continue to have their own adventures even into the 21st century, as recently, the United States Department of Justice tracked and located a tablet stolen from Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991. Doubek’s article summarizes the history of the tablet—called the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet—from its theft to the present day, and the legal outcomes for Hobby Lobby who acquired the tablet for $1.67 million and later agreed to return it to Iraq.
Listen to Poem
English classical actor Richard Pasco, best known for his work on stage in Shakespearian roles, reads "The Epic of Gilgamesh" for the 1996 Penguin Classics Audiobook rendition of the poem.
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