![]() ![]() The reader familiar with the problems of the text will soon find himself wondering to what extent Lombardo actually made use of George’s edition and commentary to which he pays tribute. ![]() Lombardo gives ample credit to the great 2003 text edition by Andrew George, but, strikingly, makes no reference to George’s own translation of all versions of the Epic, including the Sumerian Gilgamesh poems, readily available in the Penguin Classics, not even in the “Suggestions for Further Reading,” although this would surely be an obvious port of call for someone interested in knowing more about the Epic and its forerunners. In any case, Lombardo’s version reads well and smoothly, the sober, elegant, and compelling style reminding the reader of translations from Greek and Latin by Richmond Lattimore or Robert Fagels. Perhaps this condemns Assyriologists for not making their own translations more readable perhaps it is wishful thinking that this wonderful poem should be more understandable and better preserved than it presently is. The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, unlike the epics of Homer or Virgil, has been frequently turned into English by readers who enjoy the story but who do not read the original language. ![]()
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