Last week I read Prometheus Bound. This week I traveled over 1,000 years further in the past to read the Epic of Gilgamesh. The exact date that it was written is unknown but I have seen it anywhere from the range of 2150 BC to 1400 BC. Whatever the actual date is it was a very long time ago.

As with Prometheus Bound this is a short read and can easily be finished in one sitting. The epic is divided into 11 parts. One for each of the tablets that it was engraved on.

Gilgamesh was a great king with no rivals. Enkidu grew up in the wilderness as wild as an animal and was of equal size to Gilgamesh. First they are rivals before becoming best of friends. They go to battle together and are victorious. Then Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh is forced to confront his own mortality.

There were a couple of things that I found interesting about this story including the reference to the flood. First at the beginning of the epic and then in greater detail towards the end. The author notes “He brought information of (the time) before the flood.”

The second thing that stood out to me was that when confronted with his own mortality Gilgamesh went in search for a way to prevent his own death. When confronted with the possibility of his own death he sought ways to prevent it.

The Epic of Gilgamesh provides some important questions to ponder about. First, how do rivals become friends? Second, what is the importance of true friendship? Third, how do you confront death?

As with Prometheus Bound I believe the epic of Gilgamesh was able to survive for so long because it touches on questions of importance no matter when or where you live.