Books on Homer & the Odyssey
Gilgamesh by ISBN: 9781138860698Publication Date: 2019-03-19Gilgamesh focuses on the eponymous hero of the world's oldest epic and his legendary adventures. However, it also goes further and examines the significance of the story's Ancient Near Eastern context, and what it tells us about notions of kingship, animality, and the natures of mortality and immortality. In this volume, Louise M. Pryke provides a unique perspective to consider many foundational aspects of Mesopotamian life, such as
the significance of love and family, the conceptualization of life and death, and the role of religious observance. The final chapter assesses the powerful influence of Gilgamesh on later works of ancient literature, from the Hebrew Bible, to the Odyssey, to The Tales of the Arabian Nights, and his reception through to the modern era. Gilgamesh is an invaluable tool for anyone seeking to understand this fascinating figure, and more broadly, the relevance of Near Eastern myth in the classical world and beyond. this fascinating figure, and more broadly, the relevance of Near Eastern myth in the classical world and beyond.
Gilgamesh by ISBN: 9780394740898Publication Date: 1985-08-12Alternate EBSCO link: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=722626&site=ehost-live
The story of Gilgamesh, an ancient epic poem written on clay tablets in a cuneiform alphabet, is as fascinating and moving as it is crucial to our ability to fathom the time and the place in which it was written. Gardner's version restores the poetry of the text and the lyricism that is lost in the earlier, almost scientific renderings. The principal theme of the poem is a familiar one: man's persistent and hopeless quest for immortality. It tells of the heroic exploits of an ancient ruler of the walled city of Uruk named Gilgamesh. Included in its story is an account of the Flood that predates the Biblical version by centuries. Gilgamesh and his companion, a wild man of the woods named Enkidu, fight monsters and demonic powers in search of honor and lasting fame. When Enkidu is put to death by the vengeful goddess Ishtar, Gilgamesh travels to the underworld to find an answer to his grief and confront the question of mortality.
Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem by ISBN: 9780691195247Publication Date: 2019-09-24Alternate EBSCO link: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2089896&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_Cover
Reflections on a lost poem and its rediscovery by contemporary poets Gilgamesh is the most ancient long poem known to exist. It is also the newest classic in the canon of world literature. Lost for centuries to the sands of the Middle East but found again in the 1850s, it tells the story of a great king, his heroism, and his eventual defeat. It is a story of monsters, gods, and cataclysms, and of intimate friendship and love. Acclaimed literary historian Michael Schmidt provides a unique meditation on the rediscovery of Gilgamesh and its profound influence on poets today. Schmidt describes how the poem is a work in progress even now, an undertaking that has drawn on the talents and obsessions of an unlikely cast of characters, from archaeologists and museum curators to tomb raiders and jihadis. Fragments of the poem, incised on clay tablets, were scattered across a huge expanse of desert when it was recovered in the nineteenth century. The poem had to be reassembled, its languages deciphered. The discovery of a pre-Noah flood story was front-page news on both sides of the Atlantic, and the poem's allure only continues to grow as additional cuneiform tablets come to light. Its translation, interpretation, and integration are ongoing. In this illuminating book, Schmidt discusses the special fascination Gilgamesh holds for contemporary poets, arguing that part of its appeal is its captivating otherness. He reflects on the work of leading poets such as Charles Olson, Louis Zukofsky, and Yusef Komunyakaa, whose own encounters with the poem are revelatory, and he reads its many translations and editions to bring it vividly to life for readers.
The Hero's Quest by ISBN: 9781429837378Publication Date: 22013"This volume considers the hero's quest with both new and original essays that discuss works such as The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Inferno, Gulliver's Travels, Tom Jones, Moby-Dick, His Dark Materials, and Surfacing."
The following books are available for check-out from the Moorpark College Library. You will need to come on to campus to access these materials.
Gilgamesh by Publication Date: 2003The most widely read and enduring interpretation of the classic Babylonian epic. One of the oldest and most universal stories known in literature, the epic of Gilgamesh presents the grand, timeless themes of love and death, loss and reparations within the stirring tale of a hero-king and his doomed friend. A finalist for the National Book Award, Herbert Mason's retelling is at once a triumph of scholarship, a masterpiece of style, and a labor of love that grew out of the poet's long affinity with the original.
The following reference books are available online through the Gale eBooks database. Please note the link will take you to the main page. Click the "Search within" box on the right hand side of the page to look up your topic.
NOTE: Once you get the link to the title, check the box for all volumes under "search within this publication" and type the title of your work in the box.
Epics for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Epics.
Poetry Criticism : Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of the Most Significant and Widely Studied Poets of World Literature. (Available in print in the Reference Collection Ref PN 1010 P499)
The Moorpark College Library reference collection contains a large number of Gale's literary criticism volumes such as Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC), Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (TCLC), Nineteen Century Literary Criticism (NCLC), Novels for Students, Poetry for Students, Drama For Students, Short Stories for Students and many others. To find literary criticism on your work, the Gale's Literary Index which is available through the Gale Literature database is a good tool to use. It is a free online index to the Gale Literary titles. It helps you find where a title or an author is discussed in those literature volumes.
How to Use it and where to find it:
From the Gale Literature database, scroll down and click the Gale Literary Index. Search by author's name or title or both. Check the catalog for call numbers and availability of the titles or ask the librarian for help.
Gale Literary index search for Homer and Odyssey search result:
