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Author Schmidt, Michael, 1947- author.

Title Gilgamesh : the life of a poem / Michael Schmidt.

Publication Info. Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2019]

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Avon Free Public Library - Adult Department  892.1 SCHMIDT    Check Shelf
 Canton Public Library - Adult Department  892.1 SCHMIDT    Check Shelf
 Enfield, Main Library - Adult Department  809 SCH    Check Shelf
 South Windsor Public Library - Non Fiction  892.1 S52G    Check Shelf
Description xvii, 165 pages ; 23 cm
Summary "Reflections on a lost poem and its rediscovery by contemporary poets. Gilgamesh is the most ancient long poem known to exist. It is also the newest classic in the canon of world literature. Lost for centuries to the sands of the Middle East but found again in the 1850s, it tells the story of a great king, his heroism, and his eventual defeat. It is a story of monsters, gods, and cataclysms, and of intimate friendship and love. Acclaimed literary historian Michael Schmidt provides a unique meditation on the rediscovery of Gilgamesh and its profound influence on poets today. Schmidt describes how the poem is a work in progress even now, an undertaking that has drawn on the talents and obsessions of an unlikely cast of characters, from archaeologists and museum curators to tomb raiders and jihadis. Fragments of the poem, incised on clay tablets, were scattered across a huge expanse of desert when it was recovered in the nineteenth century. The poem had to be reassembled, its languages deciphered. The discovery of a pre-Noah flood story was front-page news on both sides of the Atlantic, and the poem's allure only continues to grow as additional cuneiform tablets come to light. Its translation, interpretation, and integration are ongoing. In this illuminating book, Schmidt discusses the special fascination Gilgamesh holds for contemporary poets, arguing that part of its appeal is its captivating otherness. He reflects on the work of leading poets such as Charles Olson, Louis Zukofsky, and Yusef Komunyakaa, whose own encounters with the poem are revelatory, and he reads its many translations and editions to bring it vividly to life for readers."--Publisher's website.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [159]-162) and index.
Contents Preface -- Introduction -- Riddles -- Two roads diverge -- Tablet 1 -- Tablet 2 -- Tablet 3 -- Tablet 4 -- Tablet 5 -- Tablet 6 -- Tablet 7 -- Tablet 8 -- Tablet 9 -- Tablet 10 -- Tablet 11 -- Tablet 12 -- Imagining Gilgamesh -- Getting a grip -- What sort of poem? (1) -- What sort of poem? (2) -- Gilgamesh reads us -- How you tell it -- Postface.
Subject Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh -- Influence.
Epic poetry, Assyro-Babylonian -- History and criticism.
Gilgamesh (Legendary character) -- In literature.
Heroes in literature.
Gilgamesh (Legendary character) (OCoLC)fst01736655
Gilgamesh. (OCoLC)fst01357053
Epic poetry, Assyro-Babylonian. (OCoLC)fst00913821
Heroes in literature. (OCoLC)fst00955583
Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.) (OCoLC)fst00972484
Literature. (OCoLC)fst00999953
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. (OCoLC)fst01411635
Literary criticism. (OCoLC)fst01986215
Literary criticism.
ISBN 9780691195247 hardcover
0691195242 hardcover
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