From Epic of Gilgamesh
Two dramatic passages from the Epic of Gilgamesh from Babylon
(2000 - 3000 years ago) - the oldest epic ever written - , emphasizing our mortality.
Who is there my friend can climb to the sky?
Only the gods dwell forever in sunlight.
As for man, his days are numbered,
whatever he may do it is but wind.
(Tablet III of the Old-Babylonian version)
What should I do, and where should I go,
a thief has taken hold of my flesh,
for there in my bed-chamber death does abide,
and wherever I turn there too will be death.
(Tablet XI)
[Hero mastering a lion.
Relief from the facade of the throne room,
Palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad (Dur Sharrukin), 713–706 BCE]
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). Presumably these early stories were handed down orally and recited by bards at the royal courts. They were put in writing at the time of King Šulgi of Ur (Third Dynasty), who had also established a library. This cycle was translated into Akkadian with the result that as early as the 18th century BCE. a coherent epic consisting of five to eight tablets and 2,000 verses came into being. Fragments of it have been found in excavations in Central and South Mesopotamia.Source: both poems cited from Wikiquote
Great Poetry Around the World Index
