No. 2 of 200 · Great Authors
2100 BC
Major worksThe Epic of Gilgamesh
The oldest surviving great work of literature, this Mesopotamian poem follows the reckless king Gilgamesh of Uruk and his wild companion Enkidu through adventure, loss, and a desperate quest for immortality. Compiled in Akkadian on clay tablets over a thousand years before Homer, it gives us the earliest known flood narrative and humanity's first sustained meditation on mortality.
The epic & translations
Companions & reference
Episodes and essays that touch on Gilgamesh.
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