The Epic of Gilgamesh

"The Epic of Gilgamesh" is one of the oldest works of literary art, written long before Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey", the greatest literary masterpiece of the Ancient East, which first describes the myth of the Great Flood. Before the reader unfolds the story of the glorious deeds of the demigod king-warrior Gilgamesh (his image is based on a real historical figure, the king of the city of Uruk, Bilgamesh), and his initially rival, and later brother-friend Enkidu. It narrates their campaign against the lord of the Lebanon mountains, the monster Humbaba, and Gilgamesh's wanderings to the land of the dead to the mistress of the gods Siduri and the forefather Utnapishtim for the flower of immortality. In this edition, the Epic is published in a restored translation by I. Diakonov with detailed notes.