Sophus Helle
Gilgamesh: A New Translation of the Ancient Epic with Essays on the Poem, its Past, and its Passion by Sophus Helle, in addition to being a brilliant new translation, includes five essays in which Helle provides commentary, analysis, insights, and interpretation. Helle’s structural analysis and close reading of the text is fresh, illuminating, and inspiring.
In his Introduction, Helle discusses the fragmentary nature of the Gilgamesh series of tablets that have so far been discovered and deciphered. He explains the nature of the cuneiform system of writing and provides a detailed description of his methodology in translating the poem. Raised dots indicate missing sections and whole lines are left blank if scholars have determined the number of missing lines. The reader is given a visual representation of how much of the epic is missing. Helle translates directly from the Akkadian but also identifies and includes the Old Babylonian Version and the Standard Babylonian Version when the versions differ. The translation includes copious footnotes and an extensive bibliography.
The five essays following the translation include commentary, interpretation, and an exploration of the main themes. Through close textual and structural analysis, Helle garners dazzling new insights, breathing life into the text. The Prologue reveals it is Gilgamesh who sets down his story, making the poem an autobiography told in the third person. Helle argues the wording at the end of the poem, far from being abrupt, is designed to lead us back to its beginning. He compares it to a snake biting its tail, a looping strategy designed to encourage continuous reading. He explores the significance of the wall of Uruk, interpreting it as structure and metaphor and identifies the poem’s different literary forms. And since the Prologue invites us to read the poem aloud, Helle concludes it was probably recited and/or performed in front of an audience.
These valuable insights continue at a dizzying pace. Helle suggests the poem should be read as a series with each Tablet as a rounded, self-contained episode and with the whole forming a larger story. His analysis of Gilgamesh’s character—his excessive desire, surplus energy, and aggressive tendencies—is particularly astute and explains much of what was otherwise baffling in Gilgamesh’s behavior. And, finally, Helle argues that Gilgamesh’s greatest achievement is to learn from Uta-napishti the skill of storytelling and its role in achieving his much sought-after immortality.
Helle’s scholarship is impressive. Avoiding academic jargon, his style is clear, accessible, and engaging. His analysis is thoughtful and inspiring. He reveals the depth and enduring qualities of this ancient masterpiece, breathes new life into it, and convincingly argues for its continued resonance and relevance.
This brilliant, exciting translation and commentary is highly recommended for those approaching the poem for the first time and for others who have read multiple translations.