Book contents
- Achilles beside Gilgamesh
- Achilles beside Gilgamesh
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Additional material
- Preface
- Diagrams
- Figures
- Abbreviations
- Sources for primary texts
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Divinity, humanity and wisdom
- 3 Gilgamesh and glory
- 4 Gilgamesh confronts death
- 5 Interlude on Homer and the Muse
- 6 The race of half-gods
- 7 The plan of Zeus
- 8 The coming of Achilles
- 9 The strife of the Iliad
- 10 Achilles looks inward
- 11 The death of the friend
- 12 Achilles responds
- 13 From lamentation to vengeance
- 14 Achilles like a lion
- 15 Mortality and wisdom
- 16 The truths of lamentation
- Conclusion The slender-winged fly
- Bibliography
- Index of Passages Cited
- General Index
3 - Gilgamesh and glory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2019
- Achilles beside Gilgamesh
- Achilles beside Gilgamesh
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Additional material
- Preface
- Diagrams
- Figures
- Abbreviations
- Sources for primary texts
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Divinity, humanity and wisdom
- 3 Gilgamesh and glory
- 4 Gilgamesh confronts death
- 5 Interlude on Homer and the Muse
- 6 The race of half-gods
- 7 The plan of Zeus
- 8 The coming of Achilles
- 9 The strife of the Iliad
- 10 Achilles looks inward
- 11 The death of the friend
- 12 Achilles responds
- 13 From lamentation to vengeance
- 14 Achilles like a lion
- 15 Mortality and wisdom
- 16 The truths of lamentation
- Conclusion The slender-winged fly
- Bibliography
- Index of Passages Cited
- General Index
Summary
In contrast to later Western traditions that are classed as heroic epic, great deeds done in battle are not the central focus of the early cuneiform literature that we are studying. Sure enough, excellence in battle is one of the characteristic glories of the great king, and this finds its place (for example) in the lamentation in The Death of Gilgamesh
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Achilles beside GilgameshMortality and Wisdom in Early Epic Poetry, pp. 57 - 88Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019