World literature is sometimes used to refer to the

sum total of the worlds national literatures, but usually it refers to

the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country
of origin.

In ancient Mesopotamia, the meaning of life was
for one to live in concert with the gods. Humans
were created as co-laborers with their gods to hold
off the forces of chaos and to keep the community
running smoothly. According to the Mesopotamian
creation myth, theEnuma Elish, (meaning,'When on
High') life began after an epic struggle between the
elder gods and the younger. In the beginning there
was only water swirling in chaos and undifferentiated
between fresh and bitter. These waters separated
into two distinct principles: the male principle, Apsu,
which was fresh water and the female principle,
Tiamat, salt water. From the union of these two
principles all the other gods came into being.
These younger gods were so loud in their daily
concourse with each other that they came to annoy
the elders, especially Apsu and, on the advice of his
Vizier, he decided to kill them. Tiamat, however, was
shocked at Apsu's plot and warned one of her sons,
Ea, the god of wisdom and intelligence.]
Unlike the more unified civilizations
of Egypt or Greece, Mesopotamia was a collection
of varied cultures whose only real bonds were
their script, their gods, and their attitude toward
women. The social customs, laws, and even
language of Akkad, for example, cannot be assumed
to correspond to those of Babylon; it does seem,
however, that the rights of women, the importance
of literacy, and the pantheon of the gods were
indeed shared throughout the region (though the
gods had different names in various regions and
periods). As a result of this, Mesopotamia should be
more properly understood as a region that produced
multiple empires and civilizations rather than any
single civilization. Even so, Mesopotamia is known as
the cradle of civilization primarily because of two
developments that occurred there, in the region
of Sumer, in the 4th millenium BCE:
1. the rise of the city as we recognize that
entity today,
2. and the invention of writing (although
writing is also known to have developed in
Egypt, in theIndus Valley, in China, and
to have taken form independently in
Mesoamerica).
An epic in its most specific sense is a genre of classical
poetry originating in Greece..
Each Epic has five characteristics. The first
characteristic is that the main character will be of
national significance and will also have some
legendary or historical significance as well. The
second characteristic of an Epic is that the
setting for the Epic is so large, it may cover an
entire nation or even the world. Third, the
actions of the main character will show great
courage. Fourth, is that style will be sustained in
both tone and language. Finally, supernatural
forces directly intervene with human action.
1. Gilgamesh, the son of a man and a goddess, is king
of the ancient Sumerian city-state of Uruk. Oh, and
he's also the strongest and most handsome man in
the world. Must be nice.Unfortunately, Gilgamesh's
assets have gone to his head, and he spends all his
time wearing out the young men of the city with
endless athleticcontests and sexually exploiting the
young women. When the citizens of Uruk can't take it
anymore, they pray to the gods for help. The
god Anuhears them, and commands the
goddess Aruru to create another human who will be a
match for Gilgamesh. Aruru creates Enkidu, an
uncivilized wild man, and places him in the woods.
There, Enkidu has several run-ins with a trapper who
uses the same watering hole. Terrified, the trapper
goes to Uruk for help. On Gilgamesh's advice, the
trapper goes back to the watering hole with Shamhat,
a temple-prostitute. When Enkidu shows up, Shamhat
entices him to have sex with her.Afterward, Enkidu
finds that he can no longer keep up with the animals,
but that his mind has been opened. He starts living
with Shamhat, who initiates him into human life. When
she mentions Gilgamesh, Enkidu realizes that he
wants a friendand that he wants to
give Gilgamesh a beat-down. (Frenemies!) Oh, what
a coincidenceGilgamesh has been dreaming about
getting a new friend, too. Soon enough, Enkidu goes
to Uruk andfacesdown Gilgamesh. Gilgameshwins,
natch, but there are no hard feelings, and the two
warriors become best buds.Time passes.One
day, Gilgamesh decides to go to the distant Cedar
Forest and kill Humbaba, the monster who guards it.
Because, you know, why not? Against the advice of
the elders of Uruk and Enkidu himself, the two friends
set out on their quest. Once they make it to the Cedar
Forest, the sun god Shamash helps them overpower
Humbaba, who starts pleading for
mercy. Gilgamesh is about to grant it, but then gives
in to peer pressure from Enkidu, and kills him. (Just
say no, you guys.)The friends cut down the tallest tree
in the forest, which Enkidu plans to dedicate to the
god Enlil. They build a raft and sail home down the
River Euphrates, taking Humbaba's head along for
the ride. Fun!At this point, the goddess Ishtar
develops a crush on Gilgamesh and asks him to
marry her. Gilgamesh rejects her, pointing out that all
of her previous lovers have come to bad ends.
Seriously pissed off, Ishtar borrows the Bull of
Heaven from her dad, Anu, and sends it to earth to
punish the friends. But they kill the Bull, and, when
Ishtar appears on the ramparts of Uruk, Enkidu
throws one of its legs in her face.Not long afterwards,
Enkidu dreams that the gods have decided that, for
killing Humbaba, chopping down the cedar, and killing
the Bull of Heaven, either he or Gilgamesh must die
and that Enlil picked Enkidu. In no time, Enkidu falls
mysteriously ill, and dies after much
suffering.Gilgamesh is majorly bummed. Finally, he
decides to travel beyond the ends of the earth to
speak to Utanapishtim, the one human who has been
granted immortality. An exhausting journey
brings Gilgamesh to Mount Mashu, where two
scorpion-beings guard the rising of the sun. Allowed
to continue, Gilgamesh makes a harrowing journey to
the underside of the world, barely a voiding being
burned to a crisp by the sun.Upon arrival, he meets
Siduri the innkeeper, who directs him to Urshanabi
the ferryman. Despite getting a bad first impression,
Urshanabi helpsGilgamesh cross the Waters of
Death. On the other side, Gilgamesh meets
Utanapishtim, who tells him, "Tough luck: humans just
can't escape death."See, long ago, the gods decided
to destroy all of humanity with a Flood. But he and his
wife got some advance warning from the god Ea, and
built a giant ship, on which they stored all kinds of
living creatures, as well as some craftsmen. When the
Flood was over, the god Enlil granted Utanapishtim
and his wife immortality. Utanapishtim doesn't
thinkGilgamesh is worthy of such a gift; to prove it, he
challenges our hero to a staying-awake
contest.Gilgamesh fails miserably. (We feel you, Gil.
We fail our staying-awakecontests every night.)
Utanapishtim tells him to take a hike, and fires
Urshanabi for good measure. After those two sail off,
however, Utanapishtim's wife makes her husband call
them back. This time, Utanapishtim
tells Gilgamesh about a plant that will restore the
youth of whoever eats it.Gilgamesh finds the plant on
the bottom of the sea and decides to take it home to
Uruk and test it on an old man. (Wisetry it on
someone else, first.) At the first rest stop on the way
home, Gilgamesh takes a bath and leaves the
flower on the ground. A snake comes by and eats the
flower. D'oh! Unperturbed, Gilgamesh and Urshanabi
keep journeying toward Uruk. When they reach
it, Gilgamesh boasts about the city's architecture,
echoing the opening of the poem
2. Gilgamesh a legendary Sumerian king
whowas the hero of an epic collection of
mythic stories
3. allot give out
4. barmaid a female bartender
5. semi a truck consisting of a tractor and
trailer together
6. god any supernatural being worshipped as
controlling some part of the world or some
aspect of life or who is the personification of
a force
7. Shamash
8. The god of light and the sun, he aids Enkidu and
Gilgamesh in their fight with Humbaba
Character List
Gilgamesh
The protagonist of the story and the King of Uruk. He is
credited with having built the city walls of Uruk to protect its
people. In most translations, he is described as being one-
third man and two-thirds god. His mother is Ninsun, a
goddess. His father is Lugalbanda, a past King of Uruk.
Enkidu
A wild man who becomes Gilgamesh's best friend. After
being visited by Shamhat, the prostitute, Enkidu is civilized
and leaves the animal world behind to journey with Shamhat
to Uruk. Enkidu accompanies Gilgamesh to defeat Humbaba
before he passes away. Gilgamesh journeys to the
Underworld to try to bring Enkidu back to life.
Shamhat
A temple prostitute sent by Gilgamesh to civilize Enkidu.
Shamhat seduces Enkidu and he sleeps with her for six days
and seven nights. She brings him back to Uruk with her
where he first encounters Gilgamesh.
Humbaba/Huwawa
9. The Guardian of the cedar forest. Humbaba is defeated
and killed by Gilgamesh and Enkidu.