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The Epic of Gilgamesh Paperback – December 30, 1960

by Anonymous (Author), N. K. Sandars (Translator)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,762 ratings
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N. K. Sandars's landmark translation of one of the first and greatest works of Western literature

A Penguin Classic

Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his companion Enkidu are the only heroes to have survived from the ancient literature of Babylon, immortalized in this epic poem that dates back to the third millennium BC. Together they journey to the Spring of Youth, defeat the Bull of Heaven and slay the monster Humbaba. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s grief and fear of death are such that they lead him to undertake a quest for eternal life. A timeless tale of morality, tragedy and pure adventure, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a landmark literary exploration of man’s search for immortality.
N. K. Sandars’s lucid, accessible translation is prefaced by a detailed introduction that examines the narrative and historical context of the work. In addition, there is a glossary of names and a map of the Ancient Orient.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    128 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Classics
  4. Publication date
    December 30, 1960
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    7.7 x 5 x 0.3 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    014044100X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0140441000
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This edition provides a prose rendering of The Epic of Gilgamesh, the cycle of poems preserved on clay tablets surviving from ancient Mesopotamia of the third mi llennium B.C. One of the best and most important pieces of epic poetry from human history, predating even Homer's Iliad by roughly 1,500 years, the Gilgamesh epic tells of the various adventures of that hero-king, including his quest for immortality, and an account of a great flood similar in many details to the Old Testament's story of Noah. The translator also provides an interesting and useful introduction explaining much about the historical context of the poem and the archeological discovery of th e tablets.

Review

"The work of synthesis has been accomplished, and with a remarkable degree of tact and imagination."
--Times Literary Supplement

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics; Revised edition (December 30, 1960)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 014044100X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140441000
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.7 x 5 x 0.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,762 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,762 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Helen M Hennigan
5.0 out of 5 stars The Epic is still worth reading despite it's age
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2024
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The story is intriguing as well as unique; it also gives an insight into the religious views and world of the ancient Mesopotamians. The story may be incomplete, as some tablets of the original cuneiform text are yet to be discovered, but this book still does a great job at translating and compiling the texts into a coherent, understandable story. Definitely worth a read.
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Daniel R. Pinto
5.0 out of 5 stars This version by N. K. Sandars is magnificent
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2021
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First, a word of warning: if you want a scholarly edition, look elsewhere. There is no complete extant version of the epic of Gilgamesh, and the cuneiform tablets that reached us are more or less damaged, so there are many gaps in the story. What the great N. K. Sandars did was to compile a full narrative based on tablets from different times and places. Each of these, if complete, would probably reveal a story very different in detail from the one we have here. In short, this is a patchwork.

But what a patchwork! In addition to the sheer literary joy of reading beautiful and elegant English prose, this version rings true. My first serious introduction to the legend (or myth, or tale, whatever you prefer) of Gilgamesh was the outstanding course "Between the Rivers - A History of Ancient Mesopotamia", by Professor Alexis Castor (The Teaching Company). From all I learned there and elsewhere about this masterpiece of ancient literature, Professor Sandars's version seems to be absolutely faithful to the message of the Mesopotamian sage(s) who first put the story down on... tablet.

In short, by all means look for a more scholarly version, perhaps in poetry (as the original), if you can get over all those indications of "[text missing]". But do not pass this one up. It is a version to be read and reread, to be enjoyed, and to be pondered. There is wisdom and there is beauty and there is truth. What could be more faithful than that?
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Guillermo Maynez
5.0 out of 5 stars The origins of civilization
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2006
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This poem is perhaps the oldest "book" known so far. It is supposed to have been first conceived by the end of the Third Millenium B.C. It tells, in a direct and somewhat naive way, the adventures of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, in Mesopotamia. In the beginning we are told of how Gilgamesh got to be king, and how he felt lonely, since he lacked a friend worthy of him. The gods listen to him, and tell him to send a whore to seduce Enkidu, a savage man who lives with the beasts and behaves as such. He is the "good savage", totally in a natural state and without a civilizatory stain. It is chilling to think of this particular story as an ancient memory of our life in pre-civilization times. The prostitute manages to seduce him (any resemblance to Adam and Eve is granted), and then the beasts reject him. He has become fully human. This passage is a wonderful metaphore of the civilizatory process which we humans experienced in immemorial ages. Enkidu has to learn to drink milk from a jar and not directly from the breasts of animals. He has to learn to wear clothes, drink wine and sleep on a bed.

Enkidu fights Gilgamesh, showing him his strength and courage, which makes him the inseparable friend. After that, Gilgamesh feels the urgency to leave his legacy in this world before his inevitable death, another humanizing feature, since the individual already shows a full conscience of his mortality and of himself, and thinks of the future. So, both friends depart for the Woods, presumably current Lebanon (the Cedar Forest), where Ancient Mesopotamians got their timber, so scarce in their country. To conquer the Woods, they must kill the giant Humbaba, guardian of the forest, incarnation of Evil and presumably the first reference to the Devil in literature. In doing so they infuriate all the gods except one, and one of them must die. This is how Enkidu gets sick and dies after an excruciating agony. This fact turns out to be devastating for Gilgamesh, because it confirms the inevitability of his own demise. Ravaged by his friend's death, Gilgamesh sets out on a journey to try and find a way to escape from mortality. He travels to the East, beyond the mountains, to the Country of Sun, to try to cross the Sea and reach the land of Dilmun (kind of a preserved Garden of Eden), where Utnapishtim lives, the only human to have survived the Flood (it raises your hair to see a reference to this cataclism, centuries before the Bible), and consequently granted immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh reaches the "garden by the sea" where a young female vineyard tender lives. She tells him frankly that he will never find what he's looking for, since Death is unavoidable. It is humans' Fate, but to humans it has also been granted the possibility of happiness, and so the girl advises him to "fill your belly with good things... have fun and rejoice. Wear clean clothes, bathe in fresh water, caress yout little cildren and embrace and make your woman happy", for that is also the Fate of Man. Gilgamesh can't give up and convinces the oarsman to take him to Dilmun. Utnapishtim, puzzled, receives him and tells him he'll live forever if he stays awake six days and seven nights. Of course he can't make it, and when he wakes up Utnapishtim tells him the story of the Flood, suprisingly and suspiciously similar to that told later in the hebrew Genesis (let's not forget the long years of Hebrew exile in Babilonia). Gilgamesh makes a final effort, ripping from the bottom of the sea the "plant that gives you your youth back" but later, while bathing in a well, a snake steals the plant, changes skin and leaves. Unconsoled, Gilgamesh returns to Uruk and dies.

It is difficult to exaggerate the historical and literary importance of this work, since in its brief span it collects all that makes us human: civilization, glory, the conscience of Death. It also gathers primeval memories, the process of going out of the African plains and building cities, the search for supplies and the fear of the beasts of the forests. The tale of the Flood confirms for us the memory of cosmic catastrophes which since the remote past left an indelible mark upon us. Indispensable reading.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A short and sweet tale from history.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
The epic of gilgamesh is not a long epic like Homers works are but it's an enjoyable read.

The penguin translation is very easy to digest considering the age of source text.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Good.
Reviewed in India on April 24, 2019
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Good
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Hamed
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on June 19, 2016
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How can one not love this book?
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Yen Il S
3.0 out of 5 stars Special
Reviewed in France on December 30, 2012
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For those interested on mythology in the middle east .
Very easy to read , sometime sound like a children book.
2 people found this helpful
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Charles Helm
5.0 out of 5 stars Overcome with the multitude of gods.
Reviewed in Australia on October 2, 2015
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Now I know where the Biblical story of the flood came from.
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