Gilgamesh
The epic poem, Gilgamesh, is a powerful story of two men that held a connection, which bound the two as one even in death. The poem has no author on record, but ancient myth gives tale that the poem was written by King Gilgamesh himself. It is indeed one of the great epic poems of all time. Gilgamesh is a perfect tragedy, according to definition in Aristotle's Poetics, in that the poem contains a complex plot and imitates actions that excite pity and fear. In order to name Gilgamesh as a perfect tragedy, the poem must first be named as tragic first. Aristotle's Poetics says that all art is defined through imitation, but only differ in their medium, objects, and manner or mode of imitation. (1226) So the medium in Gilgamesh is that of rhythm, tune and meter. But what classifies it from nomic or dithyrambic poetry to tragic or comic poetry is that the mediums are applied consecutively. This, according to Aristotle, classifies the poem as either comedy or tragedy. What further defines the poem is the objects of imitation that it uses. Aristotle points out the distinction between tragedy and comedy through objects of imitation as; comedy represents man, in the poem, as worse than he actually is and tragedy does the reverse by representing man better than he actually is in life. Gilgamesh does just that, the main characters in the story are portrayed as godlike men that possess great strength, leadership, and other such powerful qualities. The characters kill other gods, use tools only meant for gods, and are worshipped as gods in their kingdom. The third distinction, the manner of imitation, in Gilgamesh is the poet uses narration, and the poet takes on another personality for the narration, Gilgamesh. All this help to define the poem as a true tragedy according to Aristotle.
The Poetics define plot as being the most important part of a tragic poem before character, diction, thought, spectacle, and finally song....
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