The Translation And Commentaries Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest heroic epic as known so far, which has a great impact on the western culture and marks itself as one of the most important cultural heritage from the ancient Mesopotamia.The standard version of this epic is composed of twelve clay tablets, and outline of the epic followed: people of ancient Uruk couldn't stand the cruel domination of the King Gilgamesh, they appealed to the great gods who created a half-man named Endiku as mighty as the king to defeat him. But Enkidu was tamed by a prostitute and he became Gilgamesh's royal friend after a fight with him. Both heroes made their expedition to the Cedar Forest to kill the guard Hubaba to build their great reputation. the Goddess Ishtar fell in love with Gilgamesh and proposed to him. and she became furious after being refused. She asked for the Bull of Heaven to ruin Uruk city. Both heroes cooperated to slay the bull. Gods were angry with them, they took Enkidu's life which brought Gilgamesh enormous pain and fear for death. He set off Uruk to the end of the world to search for immorality. He met the one named Utanapishtim who was awarded immorality. However, he was told that immorality was impossible for human being and was sent back to Uruk. Then he met the ghost of Enkidu and they had a conversation about the life in the netherworld.The paper takes Akkadian standard version of the Epic of Gilagamesh, referring to other English version translation, tries to give a better and accurate translation in Chinese with commentaries on the texts and some controversies. Meanwhile, the paper discusses some information in this epic, relating to the social and cultural life during Sumerian-Babylonian time and the effect on the later literature world, aiming at a better understanding of this excellent ancient antiquity.