Seven of us met to discuss Gilgamesh. Our hostess/book sponsor passed around pages of cuneiform and pictures of ancient statues of Gilgamesh and Humbaba, then read from the text.
We marveled over the story line—Gilgamesh’s initial self-centeredness, the civilizing effect of love-making on Enkidu, the deep friendship between the two men and their adventures in the Cedar Forest and with the Bull of Heaven, Enkidu’s death which plunges Gilgamesh into mourning and causes him to seek immortality, and finally at the end of his quest his acceptance of the human condition.
Our discussion took many tangents—BC/AD versus BCE/CE, homoeroticism, blessings and curses, gender roles in the ancient world. (What would be Rachel Lloyd’s take on the cult of sacred priestess/prostitute?) But ultimately we kept returning to the text to read aloud from Stephen Mitchell’s beautiful rendition of the poem.
By the way, the March 4 issue of the New Yorker contains “Summer of ‘38” by Colm Toibin—whom we know as the author of Brooklyn—which deals with family secrets, the subject of our last month’s post-meeting conversation over birthday cake.
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