The Landmark Library
1 total work
Three thousand years ago, a Sumerian epic was inscribed on twelve clay tablets, the exalted verse tale of a king of Uruk, a king 'surpassing all other kings'. It tells the story of his great building projects, of a great flood, and of his doomed friendship with the wild man Enkiddu, their violent adventures on Mount Lebanon and Enkiddu's death. Gilgamesh, inconsolable, journeys to the Underworld to rescue his friend and find eternal life, but he discovers instead the bitter truth that all men must die.