This translation by Stephanie Dally includes a number of Mesopotamian (middle-eastern) sacred, symbolic and historical stories, with the Epic of Gilgamesh-noted by scholars as the oldest known narrative in the world-contained within. The Babylonian and Sumerian Epic of Creation, but also the Descent of Ishtar into the Netherworld have also been translated into english in this Oxford World Classic edition. Although pre-dating Homer's The Odyssey and Beowulf, students will need to assess this collection of stories against the aforementioned texts in order to identify literary techniques, literary devices and forms but also genres and themes which run through the ancient texts of humanity. To study these is to study the Humanities.
"You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they alloted to him death,but life they retained for their own keeping." -Epic of GilgameshAs these collection of ancient writings, sacred scriptures and poetic utterances of myths and legends pre-date most religious canons, students may find it interesting to find stories such as that of a man who put animals on an ark before a universal flood took place (like the biblical Noah's Ark), or perhaps the creation myths which state that the son of the first two humans murdered his brother (like the biblical Cain and Abel), but also the presence of the Jinn notable in the Qu'ran and Islamic beliefs.
Further reading for students:
No comments:
Post a Comment