James Baquet Let’s talk about truly “big books,” the epics and sagas of various civilizations. One list I’m working on has nearly 30 such works, from stories of King Arthur to the Persian “Shahnameh”; and from the sagas of Iceland to the French “Song of Roland.” But the granddaddy of them all must be the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” based on the life of a probably-historical king from possibly 6,000 years ago, but passed on orally and not written down until around 4,000 years ago. As interesting as the story itself is the story of its rediscovery. Lost to history, pieces of it were found in the rubble of Middle Eastern cities in the 19th century, and brought to Europe where they lay on museum shelves. Then one day, George Smith, a young man who had been deciphering tablets at the British Museum, made a startling discovery: one tablet contained an alternate version of the Biblical story of Noah’s flood! Smith got so excited, witnesses say, that he called out, “I am the first man to read that after more than two thousand years of oblivion!” and then “he jumped up and rushed about the room in a great state of excitement, and, to the astonishment of those present, began to undress himself!” It really was a revelation. Darwin’s Origin of Species had been published just a dozen or so years earlier, and the historical and scientific accuracy of the Bible was in hot dispute. Smith was sent to Ninevah twice to collect more tablets (he died there at age 36, of dysentery), and fragments are still being found today. The Greeks did not know of The Epic of Gilgamesh, nor did artists of the Renaissance, nor anyone until 150 years ago. It had virtually no effect on culture until its rediscovery, and then had little impact until the mid-20th century. Today you can find its influence in popular novels, classic and pop music, films, comics, and video games. The story has been retold in modern children’s literature, in poems, and in paraphrased prose, in addition to the scholarly editions. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. long poem centered on the achievements of a hero 2. first and most outstanding example (colloquial) 3. disease that affects the bowels 4. broken stones, like ruins of a building 5. amazement; great surprise 6. figuring out how to read something 7. the state of being completely forgotten or unknown 8. spoken, not written 9. not agreed upon 10. medieval epic about an Icelandic or Norse hero | 