Cover detail "Gilgamesh : A New English Version" by Stephen Mitchell
New Translation of an Old Tale Story aired: Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Gilgamesh is the oldest story ever told, written on baked clay tablets five thousand years ago in Assyria, or what now is Iraq. Over and over again in literature and movies, the story is found, but never quite the way that Stephen Mitchell tells it in his new English language translation.
It's a story about a King who launches a pre-emptive strike against a monster of the wild lands. It's a tale that foreshadows Homer's Odyssey, the Hebrew's Noah, and, according to Mitchell, current events in Iraq.
We speak with acclaimed poet and translator Stephen Mitchell about his new book, "Gilgamesh: A New English Version."
