At least a thousand years older than The Iliad or the Hebrew Bible, The Epic of Gilgamesh has claim to being literature’s most ancient tale. Its title character was a historical king who ruled the Mesopotamian city of Uruk in the first half of the third millennium BC. The tale centers on the friendship between Gilgamesh, an arrogant and grasping ruler, and Enkidu, a wild creature who, once humanized by the arts of eros embodied by the priestess Shamhat, becomes the king’s friend and inseparable companion, but only after he and Gilgamesh engage in a fierce fight. As the narrative unfolds from the initial hubris to the ultimate humbling of its hero, Gilgamesh is ennobled by his discovery of friendship, his experience of grief, and his acceptance of the human condition. For our part as readers, we are filled with wonder at witnessing the contours and powers of the human imagination invoked with primal urgency and eloquence.