"A Gilgamesh Play for Teen Readers‪"‬

The story is the legend of the great king Gilgamesh, and the eventual tragedy of his friendship with Enkidu-lord of the wild. It was written by a Sumerian, but was absorbed into later Babylonian, Akkadian, and other ancient cultures. Because of Gilgamesh's arrogance and pride, the gods created Enkidu-a warrior as powerful as the king-in order to teach the king humility. The warriors became friends and had many adventures together. But the evil goddess Ishtar punished Enkidu (and eventually Gilgamesh) with an untimely death sentence, and Gilgamesh undertook a long journey in search of Utnoa (Utnapishtim) the Faraway-survivor of the Great Flood. Utnoa alone had knowledge of the secret fruit of immortality, which lay under many waters. At the story's end, the fruit benefits neither the king nor his friend, but ironically, Gilgamesh-through this timeless story-has indeed become immortal.