Anime & Manga The Epic of Gilgamesh

Esbilon

Esbilon

Seven Thousand Club
After watching the excellent anime of Fate/Zero, I have become interested in reading the Epic of Gilgamesh, and I was wondering if anyone on rpdom had read it either in one of the "originals" or an adaptation, and if so what they can recommend. Any advice is welcome :)


Slightly off topic: Fate/Zero is awesome and should be seen by all, particularly those who like Exalted. Not convinced? Behold the King of Conquerers and doubt no more:


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma80xRSu8AM[/media]
 
Completely agree, I haven't had luck on getting a copy of the epic to read but it does seem very interesting and completely in theme with Exalted, Gilgamesh's portrayal in Fate/Zero is that of a 1st Age Solar with an ego bigger than Isidoros itself. Great watch.
 
There are several. The Raksha charm Transient Work of Flesh and Bone does it, so does having the 3rd circle demon Madelrada around.


Plus, Artifacts N/A are your friends ;)
 
Oh definitely, the possibilities and imagery of such charm/spell is very tempting, if only there was a high essence Abyssal game somewhere :rolleyes:
 
Bear in mind the Epic of Gilgamesh, like almost everything from those cultures and periods of time, exists in fragmented and incomplete form; we have enough of the material to know what happens, mostly, but there are significant chunks of story missing. You can find it online with a bit of searching and it's a fun read.


Fate-Gilgamesh is not really anything like myth-Gilgamesh, but similar, and they're both cool.
 
Ashurbanipal (nice name, heh) is right on the money. Fate Gilgamesh and myth Gilgamesh are totally different. I used to have a link to one of the more complete digitized copies out there, given to me by a professor about 2 years ago. I'll see if I can still find it. It's worth the read.
 
Fate-Gilgamesh seems drawn primarily from the reports of the true Gilgamesh' tyranny, but it misrepresents that tyranny. Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, was a tyrant: he worked the men to the bone in sports and competitions for his entertainment all day, and he slept with the women (especially the married ones) all night. It was this selfish, but non-murderous, tyranny that inspired the citizens of Uruk to cry out for salvation. Not his death, not his usurpation or dethroning, but simply a companion who could be his equal to keep him occupied.


Fate-Gilgamesh is a borderline solipsistic mass murderer with no conscience. He has a strong personal code, but it's twisted beyond all human recognition. He's an arrogant, selfish, psychotic prick. Fun to watch, and even, in a sense, likeable, in a villainous way, but emphatically not sympathetic or at all heroic in the modern sense.


Contrast this with the myth-Gilgamesh who does, eventually, grow out of his jackass phase and ends his story with being a wise and just king for the rest of his days.


That said, I adore the Fate take on it. It has enough similarities to be recognizable as Gilgamesh and enough twists to be unique to the Nasuverse.
 
I'm sure I've got a .pdf here somewhere, or can find one. It's a good read even if the missing text is a bit of a kick in the teeth.
 
Do you have reason to believe they are better than the one I found on Project Guthenberg some time ago?
 
One is more of a dramatization, and one is a direct translation. So I aside from less of the academic content to wade through (or absorb) I wouldn't say they're better so much as differing perspectives.


For what it's worth, the second link is Exalted as fuck.
 
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