Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative by Herbert Mason is a partial translation of what could arguably

be called the oldest story in the history of man. Not only does it predate any other known literary work,
but it contains the essential primitive elements that evoke catharsis. It originated in Mesopotamia
about 5,000 years ago, and was written on stone tablets in the native Sumerian language Cuneiform,
and these tables were later collected and translated into various languages for all cultures to enjoy.
Herbert Mason's version of Gilgamesh may not be an entire translation, but it is a good one as it is
written in free verse and communicates a great deal of the story.
In terms of the plot, Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative starts off relatively normal and slow, as it
introduces the main character, King Gilgamesh, who is 2/3 man and 1/3 human. Enkidu is introduced as
a man of the wilds, so to speak. These are the two protagonists of the Narrative, two opposing men with
different lifestyles and social statuses. Gilgamesh is initially described as "a tyrant to his people",
because of the way he ruled his kingdom. Not only did he demand to sleep with the bride of any new
union before their husbands as per an old birthright which he invoked regularly, but he mistreated his
people. He drove them to work hard for him; he had them build walls for the city that were very tall,
and then failed to keep them under regular maintenance, thus resulting in the decay of the older walls
and the building of new walls. His people were growing dissatisfied with his rulings, and perhaps this
was because Gilgamesh himself was dissatisfied with life.
Enter Enkidu, a man of the wild. He is a man with no worries, and no cares. He does not have
the responsibility of ruling an entire Kingdom, nor does he look like a man. We are first introduced to
Enkidu as such: a man who looked like a beast, who ran with the animals as if they were family. A
hunter spots him freeing one of the animals from his traps, and at first he was confused. The hunter
thought that Enkidu was an animal, but then he realized that he was in fact a human, which made him
angry to say the least. He sent his son to Uruk, the city which Gilgamesh ruled, to beg for assistance.
According to the hunter, Gilgamesh should send a prostitute to seduce Enkidu, thus breaking his
attachment to the animals by taking away his virginity; his purity/innocence. Although Gilgamesh grants
the permission for this to happen, he was only half paying attention to the hunter, and quickly forgot
the whole affair.
The prostitute was sent to seduce Enkidu, and the hunter's plans worked out exactly the way he
intended them to. Enkidu was shaved, dressed in actual clothes, and taught the mannerisms of a regular
human being at the time. His connection with the animals was broken once he consented to sleep with
the prostitute. Upon making him a man and teaching him how to speak, she brought Enkidu to the city
of Uruk, where she said he would live a normal life. In this city, he ends up meeting Gilgamesh, who at
this point is on edge because he is being plagued by dreams which foretold of the arrival of someone
new who was not only his equal, but most likely better than him. The two wrestled and were evenly
matched, and somehow they ended up calling it a tie. That was the beginning of the friendship which
fueled this Epic; for in this very moment their fates were intertwined forever. Gilgamesh and Enkidu
became best friends, almost like brothers. They both backed each other up and loved each other dearly,
which is why when one of them decided to do something potentially dangerous, the other would be
expected to offer his assistance.
The two faced various trials together, the first being the slaying of the evil one Humbaba. Enkidu
was against this plan; he did not want to venture into Humbaba's forest for when he was connected to
the animals they warned him of its evils. He could not understand why Gilgamesh wanted to complete
this task, and although he had his reservations, he went along with the plan. When they got there they
both kept each other strong, and when one faltered the other usually reassured him. They killed
Humbaba, although it was no easy feat. Enkidu became ill from touching a gate. The illness spread over
time, but didn't kill him until after he killed The Bull of Heaven, which was sent because the Gods were
angry with both Gilgamesh and Enkidu for killing Humbaba. This final battle ended up claiming Enkidu's
life, leaving Gilgamesh alone.
Gilgamesh, who before Enkidu was nothing but a tyrant without a soul, who had never loved
anything the way he loved Enkidu, was devastated by this loss. He spends the rest of the narrative
searching for the secret of immortality, for a way to bring his best friend, his companion, back to life.
After many trials, he finally succeeds in obtaining a plant that will help him accomplish the task that he
set out to do, but a snake eats the plant when he turns his back, causing him to despair again. When
Gilgamesh reaches Uruk, without his plant or a way to revive his friend, he notices the things his people
has accomplished, and that is where the narrative ends.
Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative can not only be viewed as a literary work, but can also be taken
apart and viewed in terms of its historical context. Granted, its roots predate 2,000B.C.E, but through
archeology and extensive research, and even through the narrative we learn a lot about the way of life
and the societal structure of Mesopotamia during this time. For one, Gilgamesh was the king of a
Babylonia, and although his people respected him because they were forced to, they also respect him
because of his status as 2/3 God. Polytheism was a major part of religion in Mesopotamia at this time;
we can see that by the various Gods mentioned all throughout the narrative. Religion in Mesopotamia
was something huge: it was a part of their everyday life. People would build shrines for the greater Gods
and lesser Gods, and these shrines were in fact believed to embody the life force of that God. In
essence, the shrine or temple would represent that deity because it was believed that it was the place
where they resided. Many people during this time would pray to the different Gods and ask them for
different things; for example they would pray to Enlil, the God of earth, wind, and spirit if they wanted a
good harvest that year, or they would pay tribute to some other God in an effort to gain some kind of an
advantage in their lives.
In terms of their societal structure, we can already gather from the Narrative that there is an
absolute monarchy in Mesopotamia at this time. The citizens of Mesopotamia followed the Law Code of
Hammurabi, which divided the citizens into three social classes: The first being the land owning class, or
the free, which included Royalty and Priests, the second being the class of dependent farmers and
artisans, and the third and final class was the slave class. The way the Code of Hammurabi worked is
that the lower you were in terms of your status the severer your punishment would be. So for example
if I was a slave and I committed a crime, I would receive the maximum sentence because of my social
class.
Another notable thing in terms of the Narrative is the fact that Cuneiform, the language that
was developed before 3300B.C.E., was existent, and if it wasn't for this innovative invention of a written
language, we would not have this epic today. Unlike the Egyptians who used Papyrus, the people of
Mesopotamia used stone to carve their writings in soft clay, which would later solidify, thus preserving
their work.
A literary work that I find is very similar to Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative is Things Fall Apart by
Chinua Achebe. At first, it might not appear that these two works of art are related, but they do have
their similarities. In Things Fall Apart by China Achebe, the protagonist Okonkwo who lives in a small
village called Mbanta, rises through the ranks of his local village only to be outcast and then return
several years later to find that thing weren't exactly the way they were before. In terms of the plot, I
think these two works are related in various ways. For one, both Okonkwo and Enkidu end up dying for
what they believe in, Enkidu for Gilgamesh and his friendship, and Okonkwo for his belief in the old way
and his refusal to conform to the European aggression which was quickly overtaking Nigeria at the time.
Both Gilgamesh and Okonkwo enter a journey of sorts; Okonkwo is banished from his village
and ends up reflecting on his deeds and his actions while he is gone from his home village. He plans on
ways to make things better, and ways to get himself back to where he was before he was thrown out of
the village. Gilgamesh went on a journey to find a way to bring his friend back to life; in short, he too
wanted things to return to the way that they were before his friend's death. He wanted to have Enkidu
alive and well by his side, and Okonkwo wanted his status back in his village, he also wanted to restore it
to its former glory, which was now being threatened by the European missionaries.
There are also some differences in terms of characterization. Gilgamesh may have been a
heartless tyrant and the beginning of the narrative, but by the end of it we see a more greif stricken and
understanding king, one who will hopefully upon his return to the throne operate in the best interest of
his subjects. Okonkwo on the other hand refuses to change; it is embedded in his very being that he
must not change, he must cling onto the old ways of the village, thus leaving him stuck in the past.
Although they are both stuck, one of them, Gilgamesh, looks as though he may be able to redeem
himself, while Okonkwo ends up committing suicide and dying for his beliefs.