The Epic of Gilgamesh: A Poetic Version

...offers a readable edition for this ancient tale that is seldom read. The story relates how King Gilgamesh develops his humanity from a tyrant to a man capable of compassion and genuine love. First, the king must discover friendship, which comes through a beast-like man known by the country folks as Enkidu. Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu complement each other, providing he missing part of their humanness to the other. The two men share many adventures until Enkidu is mortally wounded. Now Gilgamesh must bare the sorrow of the death of his friend. Yet he refuses to accept the finality of death and decides to search for the source eternal life. His search for eternal life leads Gilgamesh to strange lands as he meets some very interesting people. The wide Utnapishtim offers his version of the biblical flood and provides Gilgamesh the key to everlasting life.