An epic on friendship and trust

Gilgamesh
Translated by Somapala Arandara
Rathna Book Publication,
Colombo 10

Reviewed by Sureshni Pilapitiya

An epic is a poem or book which is long and contains a lot of action, usually dealing with a historical subject. We have heard of epic poems, journeys and struggles.

Even the Mahawamsa can be considered an epic. An epic usually includes humour, tragedy, revenge and anger, a combination of everything which is included in human nature. The word epic, derived from Greek, is a lengthy, narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Although we call Shakespearean plays heroic epics, they were really tragi- comedies. His plays also show the instability of the human mind which changes rapidly from kindness to hatred.

Journey

Milman Parry and Albert Lord have argued that the Homeric epics, the earliest works of Western literature, were fundamentally an oral poetic form. The works form the basis of the epic genre in Western literature. Nearly all Western epic (including Virgil's Aeneid and Dante's Divine Comedy) self-consciously presents itself as a continuation of the tradition begun by the poems.

Classical epic continues to employ dactylic hexameter and centres its plots around the theme of a journey, either physical (as typified by Odysseus in the Odyssey) or mental (as typified by Achilles in the Iliad). Epics tend also to highlight cultural norms and to define or call into question cultural values, particularly as they pertain to heroism.

Epic poetry includes the ancient Indian Ramayana and Mahabharata, the ancient Greek Iliad and the Odyssey, the Old English Beowulf and the Portuguese Lusiads. Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is also somewhat similar, but it is not completely an epic. His celebrated book reveals the society during that era, the upper class, middle class and also the lower class.

He portrays the behaviour of many odd people, beggars, nuns and knights. Nations have a culture or a history of their own and according to their tradition and culture, they have untold epics of their own.

Gilgamesh is also an epic which belongs to the Sumerian-Babylonian culture and is translated by Herbert Mason. Because of its unique content and poetic language, the author of the Sinhala translation, Somapala Arandara decided to translate it into Sinhala.

Hindu culture

The Hindu culture boasts of epics such as Mahabharatha and Ramayana. We can see similarities in all these epics. They include gods, goddesses and humans but give priority to the “divined and privileged”. They had created the mankind and also have the power to control them.

Gilgamesh is one such story about a warrior who is half man and half god. He proceeds with his journey to give back life to his dead friend Enkaidu. But at the end he realises his folly and goes back to his country. It shows us an aspect of human nature.

The original copy of Gilgamesh was found among the ruins of a Mesopotamian archaeological site. The epic was translated into many European languages and firstly it was thought to be a Sumerian epic. But later it became a national epic created with more details by the owners of the Sumerian culture and history, the Semitic Babylonians. Obviously, Giglamesh is older than Homer's Odyssey or even the Bible. This takes us back to over 5,000 years.

It is still not known whose creation this epic was, but it is indeed a hallmark of the epic culture. Depicting Gilgamesh's personal history. The story says that he was the 5th heir to the Kingship of Uruk, according to the Sumerian history. It is said that he had controlled the regime for 126 years. The story describes him as a heroic warrior, a good king and hunter. His best friend is Enkaidu, whom he trusts and admires dearly.

Friendship

The story is based on love, hatred, friendship and also human feelings. Gilgamesh's and Enkaidu's friendship is described as inseparable. Both of them are born as demi-gods. The story is mostly about their friendship and also on Enkaidu's tragic death.

As he rules his kingdom, Gilgamesh is gradually taken over his power and freedom to have his own way and his countrymen feel that he is taking advantage of his extreme power. He is seen as a dictator and a tyrant. Once Gilgamesh meets Enkaidu all of a sudden and they become good friends, never to be separated.

Gilgamesh wants to find a virgin as his bride and Enkaidu joins him in his search. Gilgamesh manages to find a bride and Humbaba, the trustee of Sidar forest, senses their illegal mission and comes to attack them. But they somehow escape, but later, Gilgamesh vows that he's going to kill Humbaba. After a dangerous battle they kill Humbaba, but that is when troubles start.

Prosperity

Ishthar, who is the Goddess of Love, prosperity and war, falls in love with Gilgamesh and proposes to him.

But Gilgamesh ignores and scorns her. Full of humiliation and embarrassment, she plans to take revenge and punish Gilgamesh creating the divine ox, which represents the drought. In the epic he represents himself in some other way, as a monster who comes to kill Gilgamesh and Enkaidu. The ox puffs out fire through its nostrils and demolishes the whole place.

They fight with all their might but they cannot control the ox, which has been sent by Ishthar to kill them. The ox kills 300 people. Gilgamesh and Enkaidu feel that this is not to be tolerated and somehow kill the ox. Enkaidu helps his friend in the battle, but is injured. Seeing that her ox is killed, Ishthar curses them. Enkaidu dies due to the wounds that he gets from the battle.

Gilgamesh, stricken with grief, tries his best to save Enkaidu's life, but his efforts are in vain. He calls his relatives including his mother, Ninsen, who is the Goddess of wisdom, to help, but they too are helpless.

Determined to give back his friend's life, he proceeds on his journey to get a solution of how to get back his friend's life.

But finally, it is an old man Uthnapistim who makes him see the reality and convinces him to go back to his kingdom. Gilgamesh's journey is full of danger, odd meetings and humorous happenings as well.

The story also depicts the true meaning of friendship and trust. The whole epic has numerous happenings which keep the readers in suspense. The epic has been translated into a very simple language by the author. His efforts have succeeded in bringing a major epic to Sinhala readers.