THE BIRTH OF POETRY AND THE CREATION OF A HUMAN WORLD: AN EXPLORATION OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

The Gilgamesh Epic tells of a distraught young king who traveled to the end of the world in search of the wisdom needed to accept human mortality and the courage to lead a compassionate and fruitful life. He finds this wisdom in the Story of the Flood. The myth is built around a mysterious word of guidance and compassion that the god of wisdom whispers in the ear of his faithful human servant. This word not only saves the servant's life but inaugurates an unending conversation between heaven and earth that opens a truly human world to him. This creative and salvific word saves King Gilgamesh's life and engenders the constructive governing of his city.