“When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body.”

— Epic of Gilgamesh, Prologue, Tablet I, trans. N. K. Sandars, 1960/1972

About Epic of Gilgamesh

Ancient Mesopotamian epic poem, among the earliest surviving works of literature.

“Cherish the children your love gave life.”

“I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh.”

“This was the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world.”

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

“Beauty is the mark God sets upon virtue.”

“If eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being.”

“The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness.”

“Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.”

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.”