Michael Clarke, Achilles beside Gilgamesh: mortality and wisdom in early epic poetry. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. xxvi, 385. ISBN 9781108481786 $39.99.For many PaleoJudaic posts on Gilgamesh, his Epic, and his importance for the study of ancient Judaism, see here and links, here, here, and here. For the wall of the city of Uruk, which is still there today, see here.Review by
Kyle Bonnell, Oriel College, Oxford. kyle.bonnell@classics.ox.ac.uk[...]
Overall, Clarke’s book proves the value of reading these poems together, though it may struggle to convince sceptics about direct influence. Its layout and style will make it particularly suitable for non-expert readers. While Clarke’s pessimism about heroism and divine justice occasionally seems excessive (and characteristically modern), the vision animating his work is clear, insistent, and above all humane.
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