There are two parts to this review, and they could not disagree with one another more. To begin with, I would like to voice my frustration with the choices of the editors, Gardner and Maier, who have managed to turn a vibrant, exotic story completely sterile. The edition I chose to read was so needlessly scholarly as to be nearly unreadable.
Fortunately, enough of the story's beauty and passion made its way through to spite the editors that I fell completely in love with it. I want to find (or create) a version which conflates the Babylonian, Sumerian and akkadian versions of the story to create a flowing narrative uninterrupted by missing fragments or editorial commentary.
Of course, the theme I found most personally relevant was that of brotherly love. The connection between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, the passion they felt for each other, was intoxicating. Likewise, I relate to Gilgamesh's quest for immortality, but do not agree with the editorial conclusion that he exhausted all means of escaping death and failed at each. Surely, his pursuit of love, conquest, offspring, worship and even his journey to the bottom of the abyss to retrieve a life-sustaining plant were all unsuccessful attempts to live indefinitely.
But if he can reach across the page and touch me, especially among general scholarly agreement that his story is based on actual events, does he not still live? Furthermore, are not his experiences reflective of Biblical stories--the flood, the life-giving plant stolen by a snake, etc.--and therefore practically still occurring?
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