F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Without literature, life is bleak. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s words, the beauty of literature lies in the realization that our longings are universal longings. “We’re (you’re) not lonely and isolated from anyone. We (you) belong (Graham 1958).” Oxford dictionary describes literature as written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. It comprises of novels, poetry, history, biographies and essays. The Mesopotamian collection of poems, The Epic of Gilgamesh, is the oldest piece of literature from one of the first civilizations in the world. It was written in 2150-1400 BCE, and it’s the story of Gilgamesh who was one-thirds human and two-thirds divine and his friendship with Enkidu. The story focuses heavily on

This period was characterized by foreign invasions and political instability as well as internal struggles within Britain. Hence, the presence of people from various parts of the world resulted in the conglomeration of several languages, cultures and dialects. Old English was a versatile and polished language. It has a verse style and exhibits “artistic maturity and unity”. It had Germanic and pagan roots as well as Augustinian character. The literary works that survived in this period dated the year 698 (Helicon 2015). The literary works comprised of “poetry, prose, charms, riddles, maxims, proverbs, and various wisdom sayings ()”. The literature heavily reflected the religious values of the people including Christian beliefs, Pagan traditions and moral values (). It includes information about the lives of saints and their sermons, translations of Bible as well as the translations of the Latin works of the early Church Fathers and the lives of the Anglo-Saxon people. “Old English literature was varied, quick to develop, and remarkably sophisticated, both in poetry and prose

It is a poem written in Old English and it consists of 3,182 lines. According to The Hutchinson Encyclopedia, It was probably composed in the “first half of the 8th Century.” It is the only complete Germanic folk epic that survived. Hutchinson further describes it as the story of Beowulf who rescued the Danish king Hrothgar from the clutches of Grendel, the water demon and its devious mother. The second part of the story saw Beowulf as a ruler engaged in a fight with a “fire breathing dragon” – “Com on wanre niht!” The poem incorporated the elements of fairytales with the brave and fearless hero as well as the pagan traditions of love, war and the virtue of courage. The story reflected the “uncertainties of human existence” and the mist of “chaos, misery and death” that surrounded the