{"id":87229,"date":"2019-06-07T07:03:21","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T05:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/gilgamesh-4-000-aar-gammel-rastloes-gigant-er-superaktuel\/"},"modified":"2022-08-22T08:13:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T06:13:24","slug":"gilgamesh-the-4000-year-old-giant-who-speaks-to-our-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/gilgamesh-the-4000-year-old-giant-who-speaks-to-our-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Gilgamesh: The 4,000 year-old giant who speaks to our times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four thousand years ago, in a country known as Babylon, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the part of the world we today consider to be the cradle of civilisation, there was a city called Uruk.<\/p>\n

Uruk was a great and marvellous city<\/secret>, and its king, Gilgamesh, was its strongest and most handsome citizen<\/secret>. Unsurpassed at all things, he was a towering figure, figuratively and literally: he stood more than five meters tall.<\/p>\n

But Gilgamesh wasn\u2019t happy. Enkidu, the wild man who became Gilgamesh\u2019s close friend and, according to some, his lover, had died. Despondent, Gilgamesh began a desperate quest for eternal life.<\/p>\n

If you changed the names and the setting, the Epic of Gilgamesh would be an apt depiction of our post-modern society, in which people can have everything, yet still be ridden with anxiety over life\u2019s unbearable unpredictability.<\/p>\n

Fourth printing<\/h3>\n

On 24 April, a new Danish version of Gilgamesh was published. In addition to being written in contemporary Danish, the new version is retold in a modern, poetic style. Sophus Helle, who has a master’s in Assyriology from the University of Copenhagen, translated the epic from the original Akkadian.<\/secret><\/p>\n

The final linguistic product, though, is a result of a year-long, father-son<\/secret> collaboration between Helle and author Morten S\u00f8ndergaard.<\/p>\n

Their work was a runaway best-seller, somewhat to the surprise of its publisher, Gyldendal. Though Gyldendal declined to disclose sales numbers, the translation needed to be re-printed three times in the first month after it was published.<\/p>\n

A family business<\/h3>\n

The idea for a new translation came, according to Helle, from Simon Pasternak, a Gyldendal editor, who became familiar with the story while working with Naja Marie Aidt, a novelist, on a non-fiction book written to help her cope with the death of her son at the age of 25.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe editor was looking for someone who could translate Gilgamesh from the original language. As far as he was concerned, I was the perfect choice: I could understand Akkadian and my father was a poet,\u00ab Helle says.<\/p>\n

More than that, Helle had written his master\u2019s thesis about Gilgamesh, and he had written articles about the epic and its protagonist for several publications, including Aeon, Kaskal<\/em> and the Journal of the American Oriental Society<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Passionate and restless<\/h3>\n

The choice of Gilgamesh as a thesis topic, Helle explains, had as much to do with its reputation as with the story it was trying to tell.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe Epic of Gilgamesh is the most famous text from the Babylonian culture. It\u2019s just a small part of a wider collection of Babylonian epics, but it is the best known because, in my opinion, it has what I describe as \u2018passionate philosophy\u2019: a combination of introspection, intense passion and an incredible sense of adventurism and restlessness,\u00ab he says.
\n
\nBy modern measurements, Gilgamesh stood 5.5 metres tall. His massive physical stature, according to Helle, is a symbol of other superlative aspects of his personality.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe original title of the epic was \u2018Surpassing All Other Kings\u2019,\u00ab he says. \u00bbGilgamesh is extreme in every sense of the word. He outdoes everyone in every aspect: height, emotions, or anything else you can think of. He\u2019s also much more restless than other people. He wants everything. He\u2019s never satisfied.\u00ab<\/p>\n

As in other great epics, the restlessness of the protagonist is a central part of Gilgamesh, according to Helle.<\/p>\n

We read it aloud for each other to find the passages that needed help, and to find out where it worked, where it flowed and where there were things that didn\u2019t sound right.<\/p>\n

Sophus Helle on his co-operation with Morten S\u00f8ndergaard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s his restless heart that drives the story forward, just like the Odyssey and Odysseus\u2019 quest to return home, and like the Iliad is driven forward by Achilles\u2019 anger. We see the same thing in Gilgamesh: the protagonist\u2019s restless heart drives the story forward.\u00ab<\/p>\n

From rough to readable<\/h3>\n

Working together with his father was an intense, gruelling experience, Helle recalls.<\/p>\n

\n

SOPHUS HELLE<\/p>\n

Sophus Helle is currently at Aarhus University, where he is working on a PhD about the origin of the concept of authorship. The earliest literature is anonymous, and Helle is looking into when and why people started to take an interest in who composed the stories they heard and read.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bbI did a rough translation that was as faithful to the original as possible, and then gave it to [my father] to work on. A lot what he did involved stripping away the unnecessary elements of my translation and making it more precise. When he was done, we sat down and came up with a compromise between the two.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The next step was to have other people read the new version to get a sense of whether it was readable, and whether people liked it.<\/p>\n

\u00bbAnother thing we did was to read it aloud for each other to find the passages that needed help, and to find out where it worked, where it flowed and where there were things that didn\u2019t sound right. We spent a lot of time on that,\u00ab Helle says.<\/p>\n

A classic with a modern appeal<\/h3>\n

The previous Danish translation of Gilgamesh, by Aage Westenholtz and Ulla Koch, both Assyriologists, was published in 1997. And, in 2006, Bent Haller, a novelist, adapted the story for his book Ba-bels bog<\/em> (the book of Babel). Likewise, observers of pop culture will also see shadows of it here, including, according to the Danish version of Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0in the 1997 film Batman & Robin.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Gilgamesh<\/picture>The giant Gilgamesh depicted bearing a lion that appears no bigger than a cat<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So while Gilgamesh has never fallen too far out of cultural consciousness in Denmark, a contemporary translation is likely to make it accessible to a broader audience. The fact that it has so many qualities ought to qualify it as required reading for gymnasium students, Helle believes.<\/p>\n

An example of its literary merits is one heated exchange, in which Humbaba, an enemy of Gilgamesh and the guardian of the Cedar Forest<\/secret>, dares Enkidu to make good on his threat to kill him.<\/p>\n

Come on, Enkidu, you fatherless fishroe;<\/em><\/p>\n

Son of a tortoise, bereft of your mother\u2019s breast<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026 I will slit Gilgamesh\u2019s throat, cleave his uvula and feed buzzards, carrion eaters and hungry eagles with his flesh.*<\/em><\/p>\n

One thing readers of Gilgamesh will quickly become aware of is that the text repeats itself quite often. Helle explains.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt feels awkward in modern literature, but it\u2019s not without precedent. Morten liked the repetition. He said it reminded him of something you see in modern poetry. Danish poet Caspar Eric, for example, wrote a poem that consists of just two words, \u2018r\u00e5 yoghurt\u2019 (raw yoghurt, ed), written out over 17 pages. In that respect, it bears an amusing resemblance to modern poetry.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Another reason is that Gilgamesh began as an oral tradition, and being repetitive made it easier to remember, he says.<\/p>\n

\u00bbAnd, if it had been an oral tradition, then repetition works differently when you hear it. You can\u2019t skip ahead when you run into something repetitive, so you have to sit through what\u2019s being said.\u00ab<\/p>\n

A plague be upon your public house<\/h3>\n

Helle and S\u00f8ndergaard have been surprised and overwhelmed by the commercial success of their book.<\/p>\n

\n

COLOURFUL CAST<\/p>\n

The Epic of Gilgamesh features humans, legendary beings, gods and goddesses, and is set in fantastical places. Amongst them:<\/p>\n

Enkidu: a wild man created to be Gilgamesh\u2019s friend<\/p>\n

Ninsun (also called as Ninsumun): an all-knowing goddess and the mother of Gilgamesh. Her name means \u201clady of the wild cows\u201d<\/p>\n

Shiduri: alewife of the gods<\/p>\n

Belet-seri: an underworld goddess responsible for recording the dead entering the underworld. Known as the scribe of the Earth<\/p>\n

Ninshuluhha (also known as Ninshuluhhatumma): the divine cleaner of the underworld<\/p>\n

The Seven Sages (also known as Apkallu): legendary half-fish, half-men who founded civilisation at the beginning of time and taught humans to read, count, build cities and to adopt laws.<\/p>\n

Humbaba: guardian of the Cedar Forest of Lebanon. Humbaba is protected from attack by seven beings: the Cicada, the Demon, Kappah, the One who Roars, the One Who Blows, the One Who Yells and the Sage. Sometimes they are referred to as his sons, sometimes as supernatural auras.<\/p>\n

Apsu (or Abzu): a primeval underground sea that was home to the goddess Ea<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bbWe totally didn\u2019t see that coming,\u00ab Helle says. \u00bbWe expected that it would appeal to people who subscribe to Weekendavisen (a highbrow Danish weekly, ed), but a lot of different types of people have picked it up. I think people enjoy being surprised by it. A lot of people dive into it without really knowing what it\u2019s about, and by the time they are done they are confused and excited all at once. I find that enormously gratifying.\u00ab<\/p>\n

At one point in the story, Enkidu lays into Shamhat, a temple harlot who tamed him through repeated sexual intercourse.<\/p>\n

You shall never have a happy home,<\/em>
\nyou shall never dwell in the young girls\u2019 room.<\/em>
\nMay the earth soil your best outfit,<\/em>
\nand the drunk drag your gown through the dust.<\/em>
\nYou shall never have a comfortable home,<\/em>
\n\u2026 Let your home be devoid of merrymaking, that which is a source the people\u2019s mirth.<\/em>
\nMay the bed where you find your pleasure be a bench,<\/em>
\nmay your home be a crossroads,<\/em>
\nmay you sleep amongst ruins,<\/em>
\nmay you shelter in the shadow of the city ramparts.<\/em>
\nMay thicket and thorn tear at your feet,<\/em>
\nmay drunk and sober alike slap at your face,<\/em>
\nmay filthy mobs crowd your public house,<\/em>
\nmay there be fisticuffs in your inn.<\/em>
\n\u2026 May the thatcher refuse to repair your roof.*<\/em><\/p>\n

So much for being subtle; when Babylonians wanted to insult someone, they didn\u2019t pull their punches.<\/p>\n

Biblical, but different<\/h3>\n

Gilgamesh also tells the story of a great flood that swept all of Babylon away. And when, in 1839, 12 clay tablets inscribed with the Gilgamesh epic were discovered in Iraq, the fact that it told a flood story similar to the one in the Bible was seen as evidence that such an event had actually taken place.<\/p>\n

Helle, though, has a different read.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m something of a climate activist, and I find it fascinating to look at the story of the flood<\/p>\n

Sophus Helle<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00bbI think the most likely explanation isn\u2019t that Gilgamesh influenced the Bible, even though Gilgamesh is the older story. No, I think that the flood is a myth that was widespread in the region, and that both Gilgamesh and the Bible have co-opted it.\u00ab<\/p>\n

And, he points out, each uses the flood to convey a different message.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIn the Bible, the flood was a way to punish people for their sins, but that\u2019s not the case in Gilgamesh,\u201d Helle says. \u201cAnd, in the Bible, God has control over the flood, but that\u2019s totally not what\u2019s going on in Gilgamesh. There, you typically see the gods taking a while to get the things they create under control.\u00ab<\/p>\n

History reborn<\/h3>\n

But if the flood in Gilgamesh isn\u2019t a form of punishment, how then should we understand it? Helle offers an interpretation.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt represents the rebirth of history and the start of a new culture. The Babylonians refer to the time before the flood and the time after the flood the same way we refer to history and pre-history. For the Babylonians, the city was at the centre of their understanding of what culture was; they equated cities with culture, so there was no before and after when it came to cities. It was culture that began anew.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The myth of the flood was also a way for Babylonians to understand their culture in terms of the frequent political changes in the region.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Gilgamesh\u2019<\/picture>The fifth of the 12 cuneiform tablets bearing the story of Gilgamesh. Discovered in 1839, the tablets are estimated to be 4,000 years old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bbBabylonian culture went through a number of big political upheavals, and the flood story may be an expression of their understanding of history as not only a linear phenomenon, but also as something that falls into place each time something changes, or a political system topples.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Another explanation is that floods, at that time, would have wiped out historical records, which were written on clay tablets. Add water, and they, along with the history they bear witness to, disappear.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a complicated and complex aspect of Gilgamesh, and it\u2019s one that Helle finds also can be applied to current events.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI\u2019m something of a climate activist, and I find it fascinating to look at the story of the flood in the context of the challenges we face today. It\u2019s a reminder of just how serious the situation is. It\u2019s a reminder of what the consequences are, and maybe it\u2019s also a reminder that humans have a knack for surviving. Gilgamesh offers us optimism,\u00ab Helle says.<\/p>\n

*The passages from Helle\u2019s book are freely translated here to give the reader a sense of the language used in the retelling. The passages can be found in Danish in the original version<\/a> of this article. For comparison, a standard English translation of the original 12 tablets, can be found here<\/a>.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Dating from ancient times, the story of the restless hero\/anti-hero remains relevant, but making it accessible to readers in 2019 required the talents of a modern poet","og_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/gilgamesh-the-4000-year-old-giant-who-speaks-to-our-times\/","og_site_name":"University Post","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis","article_published_time":"2019-06-07T05:03:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-22T06:13:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1229,"url":"http:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anders Fjeldberg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Uniavisen","twitter_site":"@Uniavisen","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anders Fjeldberg","Est. reading time":"11 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Sophus Helle (tv) og hans far, digter Morten S\u00f8ndergaard har sammen oversat den saftige babylonske oldtidsfort\u00e6lling om k\u00e6mpen Gilgamesh, der str\u00e6bte efter evigt liv."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/gilgamesh-the-4000-year-old-giant-who-speaks-to-our-times\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gilgamesh: The 4,000 year-old giant who speaks to our times"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of 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S\u00f8ndergaard","filename":"sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb.jpg","filesize":189009,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/gilgamesh-4-000-aar-gammel-rastloes-gigant-er-superaktuel\/sophus-helle-og-moren-soendergaardfoto-eli-benveniste-og-anna-maria-orru_web\/","alt":"Sophus Helle (tv) og hans far Morten S\u00f8ndergaard th.","author":"8","description":"Sophus Helle (tv) og hans far Morten S\u00f8ndergaard th.","caption":"Assyriolog Sophus Helle (tv) og hans far, digter Morten S\u00f8ndergaard har sammen oversat den saftige babylonske oldtidsfort\u00e6lling om k\u00e6mpen Gilgamesh, der str\u00e6bte efter evigt liv.","name":"sophus-helle-og-moren-soendergaardfoto-eli-benveniste-og-anna-maria-orru_web","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":85839,"date":"2019-05-13 19:44:30","modified":"2019-05-22 08:59:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1600,"height":1229,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-480x369.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":369,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-768x590.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":590,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-1280x983.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":983,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":1229,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-290x223.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":223,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-700x538.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":538,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-990x760.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":760}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"Translators","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Assyriologist Sophus Helle (left) and his father, Morten S\u00f8ndergaard, a poet, collaborated to retell the ancient epic about the giant Gilgamesh and his quest for eternal life"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Assyriology","text":"En fascinerende genfort\u00e6lling fra oldtiden er resultatet af assyriolog Sophus Helles interesse for den utrolige kong Gilgamesh i Babylonien, hvor hans historie havde samme betydning, som Odysseus for Gr\u00e6kenlands antikke kultur og litteratur.","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Four thousand years ago, in a country known as Babylon, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the part of the world we today consider to be the cradle of civilisation, there was a city called Uruk.<\/p>\n<p><secret text=\"The ruins are known as al-Warka in Arabic and are located in modern-day southern Iraq\">Uruk was a great and marvellous city<\/secret>, and its king, Gilgamesh, was its strongest and most <secret text=\"And two-thirds god and one-third human\">handsome citizen<\/secret>. Unsurpassed at all things, he was a towering figure, figuratively and literally: he stood more than five meters tall.<\/p>\n<p>But Gilgamesh wasn\u2019t happy. Enkidu, the wild man who became Gilgamesh\u2019s close friend and, according to some, his lover, had died. Despondent, Gilgamesh began a desperate quest for eternal life.<\/p>\n<p>If you changed the names and the setting, the Epic of Gilgamesh would be an apt depiction of our post-modern society, in which people can have everything, yet still be ridden with anxiety over life\u2019s unbearable unpredictability.<\/p>\n<h3>Fourth printing<\/h3>\n<p>On 24 April, a new Danish version of Gilgamesh was published. In addition to being written in contemporary Danish, the new version is retold in a modern, poetic style. Sophus Helle, who has a master’s in Assyriology from the University of Copenhagen, translated the epic <secret text=\"Akkadian is the oldest known Semitic language and was used by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians of central Mesopotamia.\">from the original Akkadian.<\/secret><\/p>\n<p>The final linguistic product, though, is a result of a year-long, <secret text=\"Sophus Helle\u2019s mother is author Merete Pryds Helle.\">father-son<\/secret> collaboration between Helle and author Morten S\u00f8ndergaard.<\/p>\n<p>Their work was a runaway best-seller, somewhat to the surprise of its publisher, Gyldendal. Though Gyldendal declined to disclose sales numbers, the translation needed to be re-printed three times in the first month after it was published.<\/p>\n<h3>A family business<\/h3>\n<p>The idea for a new translation came, according to Helle, from Simon Pasternak, a Gyldendal editor, who became familiar with the story while working with Naja Marie Aidt, a novelist, on a non-fiction book written to help her cope with the death of her son at the age of 25.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe editor was looking for someone who could translate Gilgamesh from the original language. As far as he was concerned, I was the perfect choice: I could understand Akkadian and my father was a poet,\u00ab Helle says.<\/p>\n<p>More than that, Helle had written his master\u2019s thesis about Gilgamesh, and he had written articles about the epic and its protagonist for several publications, including <em>Aeon, Kaskal<\/em> and the <em>Journal of the American Oriental Society<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>Passionate and restless<\/h3>\n<p>The choice of Gilgamesh as a thesis topic, Helle explains, had as much to do with its reputation as with the story it was trying to tell.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe Epic of Gilgamesh is the most famous text from the Babylonian culture. It\u2019s just a small part of a wider collection of Babylonian epics, but it is the best known because, in my opinion, it has what I describe as \u2018passionate philosophy\u2019: a combination of introspection, intense passion and an incredible sense of adventurism and restlessness,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"We expected that it would appeal to people who subscribe to the highbrow Danish weekly Weekendavisen, but a lot of different types of people have picked it up. ","quotee":"Sophus Helle","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>By modern measurements, Gilgamesh stood 5.5 metres tall. His massive physical stature, according to Helle, is a symbol of other superlative aspects of his personality.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe original title of the epic was \u2018Surpassing All Other Kings\u2019,\u00ab he says. \u00bbGilgamesh is extreme in every sense of the word. He outdoes everyone in every aspect: height, emotions, or anything else you can think of. He\u2019s also much more restless than other people. He wants everything. He\u2019s never satisfied.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>As in other great epics, the restlessness of the protagonist is a central part of Gilgamesh, according to Helle.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We read it aloud for each other to find the passages that needed help, and to find out where it worked, where it flowed and where there were things that didn\u2019t sound right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Sophus Helle on his co-operation with Morten S\u00f8ndergaard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s his restless heart that drives the story forward, just like the Odyssey and Odysseus\u2019 quest to return home, and like the Iliad is driven forward by Achilles\u2019 anger. We see the same thing in Gilgamesh: the protagonist\u2019s restless heart drives the story forward.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>From rough to readable<\/h3>\n<p>Working together with his father was an intense, gruelling experience, Helle recalls.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">SOPHUS HELLE<\/p>\n<p>Sophus Helle is currently at Aarhus University, where he is working on a PhD about the origin of the concept of authorship. The earliest literature is anonymous, and Helle is looking into when and why people started to take an interest in who composed the stories they heard and read.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00bbI did a rough translation that was as faithful to the original as possible, and then gave it to [my father] to work on. A lot what he did involved stripping away the unnecessary elements of my translation and making it more precise. When he was done, we sat down and came up with a compromise between the two.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The next step was to have other people read the new version to get a sense of whether it was readable, and whether people liked it.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnother thing we did was to read it aloud for each other to find the passages that needed help, and to find out where it worked, where it flowed and where there were things that didn\u2019t sound right. We spent a lot of time on that,\u00ab Helle says.<\/p>\n<h3>A classic with a modern appeal<\/h3>\n<p>The previous Danish translation of Gilgamesh, by Aage Westenholtz and Ulla Koch, both Assyriologists, was published in 1997. And, in 2006, Bent Haller, a novelist, adapted the story for his book <em>Ba-bels bog<\/em> (the book of Babel). Likewise, observers of pop culture will also see shadows of it here, including, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/da.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Digtet_om_Gilgamesh\">the Danish version of Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0in the 1997 film Batman & Robin.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"1221\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-85843\" src=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshmedloevedursharrukinao19862louvrefotowikimediacommonsweb-480x1221.jpg\" alt=\"Gilgamesh med l\u00f8ve, Dur-Sharrukin AO 19862, Louvre\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshmedloevedursharrukinao19862louvrefotowikimediacommonsweb-480x1221.jpg 480w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshmedloevedursharrukinao19862louvrefotowikimediacommonsweb-290x738.jpg 290w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshmedloevedursharrukinao19862louvrefotowikimediacommonsweb.jpg 629w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/>The giant Gilgamesh depicted bearing a lion that appears no bigger than a cat<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>So while Gilgamesh has never fallen too far out of cultural consciousness in Denmark, a contemporary translation is likely to make it accessible to a broader audience. The fact that it has so many qualities ought to qualify it as required reading for gymnasium students, Helle believes.<\/p>\n<p>An example of its literary merits is one heated exchange, in which Humbaba, an enemy of Gilgamesh and the guardian of the <secret text=\"The Cedar Forest is believed to have been located in modern-day Lebanon.\">Cedar Forest<\/secret>, dares Enkidu to make good on his threat to kill him.<\/p>\n<p><em>Come on, Enkidu, you fatherless fishroe;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Son of a tortoise, bereft of your mother\u2019s breast<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u2026 I will slit Gilgamesh\u2019s throat, cleave his uvula and feed buzzards, carrion eaters and hungry eagles with his flesh.*<\/em><\/p>\n<p>One thing readers of Gilgamesh will quickly become aware of is that the text repeats itself quite often. Helle explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt feels awkward in modern literature, but it\u2019s not without precedent. Morten liked the repetition. He said it reminded him of something you see in modern poetry. Danish poet Caspar Eric, for example, wrote a poem that consists of just two words, \u2018r\u00e5 yoghurt\u2019 (raw yoghurt, ed), written out over 17 pages. In that respect, it bears an amusing resemblance to modern poetry.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Another reason is that Gilgamesh began as an oral tradition, and being repetitive made it easier to remember, he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnd, if it had been an oral tradition, then repetition works differently when you hear it. You can\u2019t skip ahead when you run into something repetitive, so you have to sit through what\u2019s being said.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>A plague be upon your public house<\/h3>\n<p>Helle and S\u00f8ndergaard have been surprised and overwhelmed by the commercial success of their book.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">COLOURFUL CAST<\/p>\n<p>The Epic of Gilgamesh features humans, legendary beings, gods and goddesses, and is set in fantastical places. Amongst them:<\/p>\n<p>Enkidu: a wild man created to be Gilgamesh\u2019s friend<\/p>\n<p>Ninsun (also called as Ninsumun): an all-knowing goddess and the mother of Gilgamesh. Her name means \u201clady of the wild cows\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shiduri: alewife of the gods<\/p>\n<p>Belet-seri: an underworld goddess responsible for recording the dead entering the underworld. Known as the scribe of the Earth<\/p>\n<p>Ninshuluhha (also known as Ninshuluhhatumma): the divine cleaner of the underworld<\/p>\n<p>The Seven Sages (also known as Apkallu): legendary half-fish, half-men who founded civilisation at the beginning of time and taught humans to read, count, build cities and to adopt laws.<\/p>\n<p>Humbaba: guardian of the Cedar Forest of Lebanon. Humbaba is protected from attack by seven beings: the Cicada, the Demon, Kappah, the One who Roars, the One Who Blows, the One Who Yells and the Sage. Sometimes they are referred to as his sons, sometimes as supernatural auras.<\/p>\n<p>Apsu (or Abzu): a primeval underground sea that was home to the goddess Ea<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00bbWe totally didn\u2019t see that coming,\u00ab Helle says. \u00bbWe expected that it would appeal to people who subscribe to Weekendavisen (a highbrow Danish weekly, ed), but a lot of different types of people have picked it up. I think people enjoy being surprised by it. A lot of people dive into it without really knowing what it\u2019s about, and by the time they are done they are confused and excited all at once. I find that enormously gratifying.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>At one point in the story, Enkidu lays into Shamhat, a temple harlot who tamed him through repeated sexual intercourse.<\/p>\n<p><em>You shall never have a happy home,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>you shall never dwell in the young girls\u2019 room.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>May the earth soil your best outfit,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>and the drunk drag your gown through the dust.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You shall never have a comfortable home,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>\u2026 Let your home be devoid of merrymaking, that which is a source the people\u2019s mirth.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>May the bed where you find your pleasure be a bench,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>may your home be a crossroads,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>may you sleep amongst ruins,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>may you shelter in the shadow of the city ramparts.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>May thicket and thorn tear at your feet,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>may drunk and sober alike slap at your face,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>may filthy mobs crowd your public house,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>may there be fisticuffs in your inn.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>\u2026 May the thatcher refuse to repair your roof.*<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So much for being subtle; when Babylonians wanted to insult someone, they didn\u2019t pull their punches.<\/p>\n<h3>Biblical, but different<\/h3>\n<p>Gilgamesh also tells the story of a great flood that swept all of Babylon away. And when, in 1839, 12 clay tablets inscribed with the Gilgamesh epic were discovered in Iraq, the fact that it told a flood story similar to the one in the Bible was seen as evidence that such an event had actually taken place.<\/p>\n<p>Helle, though, has a different read.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I\u2019m something of a climate activist, and I find it fascinating to look at the story of the flood<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Sophus Helle<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00bbI think the most likely explanation isn\u2019t that Gilgamesh influenced the Bible, even though Gilgamesh is the older story. No, I think that the flood is a myth that was widespread in the region, and that both Gilgamesh and the Bible have co-opted it.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>And, he points out, each uses the flood to convey a different message.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIn the Bible, the flood was a way to punish people for their sins, but that\u2019s not the case in Gilgamesh,\u201d Helle says. \u201cAnd, in the Bible, God has control over the flood, but that\u2019s totally not what\u2019s going on in Gilgamesh. There, you typically see the gods taking a while to get the things they create under control.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>History reborn<\/h3>\n<p>But if the flood in Gilgamesh isn\u2019t a form of punishment, how then should we understand it? Helle offers an interpretation.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt represents the rebirth of history and the start of a new culture. The Babylonians refer to the time before the flood and the time after the flood the same way we refer to history and pre-history. For the Babylonians, the city was at the centre of their understanding of what culture was; they equated cities with culture, so there was no before and after when it came to cities. It was culture that began anew.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The myth of the flood was also a way for Babylonians to understand their culture in terms of the frequent political changes in the region.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"473\" class=\"alignnone size-narrow wp-image-85842\" src=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb-700x473.jpg\" alt=\"Gilgamesh\u2019 historie p\u00e5 Tavle V, m\u00f8der Humbaba sammen med Enkidu, Sulaymaniyah Museum\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb-700x473.jpg 700w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb-480x325.jpg 480w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb-768x519.jpg 768w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb-1280x866.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb-290x196.jpg 290w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb-990x669.jpg 990w, https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gilgameshhistoriepaatavlevmoederhumbabasammenmedenkidusulaymaniyahmuseumfotowikimediacommonsweb.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>The fifth of the 12 cuneiform tablets bearing the story of Gilgamesh. Discovered in 1839, the tablets are estimated to be 4,000 years old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00bbBabylonian culture went through a number of big political upheavals, and the flood story may be an expression of their understanding of history as not only a linear phenomenon, but also as something that falls into place each time something changes, or a political system topples.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Another explanation is that floods, at that time, would have wiped out historical records, which were written on clay tablets. Add water, and they, along with the history they bear witness to, disappear.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a complicated and complex aspect of Gilgamesh, and it\u2019s one that Helle finds also can be applied to current events.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI\u2019m something of a climate activist, and I find it fascinating to look at the story of the flood in the context of the challenges we face today. It\u2019s a reminder of just how serious the situation is. It\u2019s a reminder of what the consequences are, and maybe it\u2019s also a reminder that humans have a knack for surviving. Gilgamesh offers us optimism,\u00ab Helle says.<\/p>\n<p>*The passages from Helle\u2019s book are freely translated here to give the reader a sense of the language used in the retelling. The passages can be found in Danish in the <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/gilgamesh-4-000-aar-gammel-rastloes-gigant-er-superaktuel\/\">original version<\/a> of this article. For comparison, a standard English translation of the original <a href=\"https:\/\/public.wsu.edu\/~gened\/orpheus\/orpheus_gilgamesh.htm\">12 tablets, can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Receive a weekly newsletter in your inbox","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}],"article_updated":""},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":43,"name":"Culture","slug":"culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":562,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":1970,"name":"assyriology","slug":"assyriology","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1970,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":18,"name":"Feature Article","slug":"feature_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":1200,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophushelleogmorensoendergaardfotoelibenvenisteogannamariaorruweb-1280x983.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87229"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109881,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87229\/revisions\/109881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}