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• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• Series foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Why Gilgamesh?
• Introduction
• Why Gilgamesh?
• A Mesopotamian hero
• A timely hero
• Mesopotamian cultural heritage in danger
• How to use this book
• Synopsis of the Epic of Gilgamesh (Standard Babylonian Version)
• The evidence for Gilgamesh
• Gilgamesh in material culture
• Cuneiform literature
• Genre and Mesopotamian epic
• Notes on Mesopotamian literature
• Authoring Gilgamesh
• Sinleqiunnini and the Standard Babylonian Version
• Gilgamesh: historic king or legend?
• Gilgamesh: a Mesopotamian hero
• Recovering Mesopotamian literature
• Approaches to Gilgamesh: an epic character
• Identifying Gilgamesh
• Who is Gilgamesh?
• An overview of the themes of this book
• Conclusion
• Key themes
• 1 Kingship
• Kingship and religion in Mesopotamia
• Communication and mediation
• Royal epics (and epic royals)
• Surpassing all other kings …
• Gilgamesh the king: “fact” or “fiction?”
• Kingship and the gods
• What does your father do?
• Lugalbanda
• Lugalbanda in (and out) of the Gilgamesh epic
• Use (and misuse) of power
• Gilgamesh the tyrant
• Uruk
• Unspecified tyranny?
• Division and unity
• Mediation and royalty in Tablet XI
• Utanapishtim: the “other” king of Gilgamesh
• Utanapishtim beyond the Epic
• Utanapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh
• Advice to a young hero
• Dressed for success
• Kingship in Gilgamesh and Aga
• Utanapishtim and Gilgamesh in Tablet XI
• Conclusion
• 2 Gilgamesh: Warrior and hero
• Heroes and warriors
• War and religion in Mesopotamia
• The glory of battle?
• War and peace in the ancient Near East
• Warfare and kingship
• Warfare in the Epic of Gilgamesh
• Divination and sacrifice
• War and peace
• Conflict
• Gilgamesh the warrior
• Gilgamesh and Enkidu as warriors
• Warfare and gender in Gilgamesh
• Gilgamesh’s opponents
• The hero’s journey
• Gilgamesh the pacifist?
• Conclusion
• 3 Animality and ecology
• Nature in Mesopotamia
• Gilgamesh and nature
• Religion and weather: climate change
• Floods and droughts
• The cedar forest
• Epic deforestation
• A forest home
• Humbaba
• The conflict with Humbaba
• The destruction of the forest
• Remoteness in Gilgamesh
• The Bull of Heaven: heroic animal meets animalistic hero
• Animals in Gilgamesh
• Composite creations: Scorpion People, the Jewelled Forest, and the Stone Ones
• Scorpion People
• The Jewelled Forest
• The Stone Ones
• Enkidu
• Adoption and animality
• Animality and mourning
• Animality, humanity, and divinity: relative terms?
• Animals and heroes
• Kindness to animals
• Conclusion
• 4 Love and family
• Love in Mesopotamia
• Mother love
• Women in Mesopotamia
• Woman wisdom
• Women in Gilgamesh
• Ninsun
• Ninsun: literature and history
• Ninsun, mother of kings
• Gilgamesh and maternal love
• Gilgamesh and Ninsun in Gilgamesh and Humbaba
• Gilgamesh and Ninsun in the Epic of Gilgamesh
• The lady vanishes?
• Children
• Parents and children in Gilgamesh
• Enkidu and Gilgamesh
• Enkidu and Gilgamesh: reception
• Gilgamesh and Enkidu
• Equality, origins, and contrasts
• Gilgamesh and Pygmalion
• Transformation in ancient narrative literature
• Love and transformation
• The first encounter
• Love and loyalty
• Conclusion
• 5 Wisdom and civilisation
• Wisdom in Mesopotamia
• Defining “wisdom”
• Wisdom literature in Mesopotamia
• Wisdom and civilisation
• Enkidu’s civilisation
• Shamhat
• Enkidu’s transition
• Learning, loss, and the call of the wild
• The value of knowledge in the Epic of Gilgamesh
• Accessing knowledge
• Diversification of knowledge in Gilgamesh
• Siduri
• Concealed wisdom
• Gaining wisdom
• Dreams
• Gilgamesh: wisdom and mediation
• Aetiologies and origins
• Wisdom and meaning in Gilgamesh
• Conclusion
• 6 Death
• Death in Mesopotamia
• Gilgamesh and death: an enduring connection
• Gilgamesh’s perception of death
• Enkidu’s death
• Love and loss for Gilgamesh and Ishtar
• Gilgamesh mourns Enkidu
• The Letter of Gilgamesh
• Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld
• Tablet XII and Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld
• Gilgamesh’s mortality
• Fear of death and love of life
• The Death of Gilgamesh
• Conclusion
• Gilgamesh afterwards
• 7 Reception and influence
• Considering reception
• Gilgamesh and the Bible
• Gilgamesh and Genesis
• The Flood narratives
• Gilgamesh beyond Genesis
• The Book of Giants
• Gilgamesh and Classical literature
• Homer
• Herakles
• Arabian Nights
• Gilgamesh in popular culture
• Gilgamesh in science fiction
• Gilgamesh the Avenger
• Gilgamesh the Avenger
• Avengers #304 “…Yearning to Breathe Free!”
• Captain America Annual #11
• Textual fluidity?
• Gilgamesh in literature, music, and theatre
• Gilgamesh on screen
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Gilgamesh: the journey’s end
• Further reading
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Timeline
• Index