Beowulf andThe Epic of Gilgamesh

The fact that you're reading this blog post right now is a beautiful demonstration of the power of words. We use them for information in a variety of ways, and although their explicit communication is the most obvious, they also tell us about a group's personalities, their culture, and their history.

Stories like The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf are great sources of cultural capital. They are both among the few surviving works of literature from their respective cultures; Mesopotamia and Germanic Britain. Gilgamesh is regarded as the earliest piece of written literature that we have, and Beowulf is the first story we have recorded in what has become known as Old English, and both describe heros.

Gilgamesh shows us the chaos and unpredictability of life in ancient Mesopotamia because of the randomness of the flooding of the rivers. The Mesopotamians saw their lives as controlled by the whims of the gods, and had little hope for this life or the next.

Beowulf, on the other hand, reflects the relative stability of the time because it demonstrates the way the Germanic people took their future in their own hands. They valued honor, retribution, and the giving of gifts. Because they lived after the rise of empires and territorial sovereignty, also present is the national loyalty of the people in their battles and warriors.

Something else present in Beowulf but absent in Gilgamesh is a cultural conflict between the past and present. Beowulf was written after St. Augustine of Canterbury Christianized England, but retains many of the themes and traditions of their pagan days. A problem for the composers was how to honor their heroes and respect their bravery while instilling Christian values in their listeners. This was a crucial conflict to the Germanic people of the first millenium, so it is reflected in their writings.

Despite their superficial similarities, these two epics are very different in what they teach us about their cultures. Because we have so few surviving examples, it's hard to tell if The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf are representative of the stories of their time, but they still offer valuable insight. What if all future archaeologists had of our writings were Twilight, The Audacity of Hope, or The DaVinci Code?

Sources:
Worlds of History by Kevin Reilly
Ways of the World by Robert W. Stayer
The Longman Anthology of British Literature