The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest surviving pieces of literature to date, and has been the basis of many literary sources in modern times. It has been written in many contexts, including fictional and nonfictional works, however caution must be applied by the reader as historical facts can be stretched and other information added that is not accurate. The Enchantress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fictional series written by Michael Scott, following a set of twins foretold to either save or destroy the world. This conquest is guided by an immortal human named Nicholas Flamel who seeks other immortal beings to empower the twins with knowledge in the different elements of magic. This process of learning magic is referred to as being ‘Awakened’ and is incredibly dangerous, often times resulting in death. Along the twins’ journey one of these ancient beings they encounter is Gilgamesh, who is introduced as the first and oldest immortal human, having been alive since the beginning of time.
The author describes him as a filthy, scrawny, old man who due to his long life struggles to retain or recall any memories. But due to his extensive knowledge of magic, he is sought after to educate the twins as a final resort. Comparing Scott’s description in The Enchantress to the man portrayed in the beginning of the Epic of Gilgamesh, they appear to be complete opposites. In the Epic he is portrayed as a great king, “this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute… A goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, none can withstand his arms.” This description of Gilgamesh clashes greatly with how he is portrayed in The Enchantress. However later in the Epic, after the death of his best friend he becomes a shadow of himself, so afraid of death that he spends the rest of his days in search of eternal life.
These characteristics can appear to describe two different people, however both are Gilgamesh. The latter is the person that is portrayed in The Enchantress. Aside from memory loss and potential lunacy, the character comparison of The Enchantress is very similar to the Epic. I believe Scott chose to portray Gilgamesh in this light because it included another variable of unknown to the plot. Being that the process of learning the magic could possibly mean death, suspense was only added as the person administering the ‘Awakening’ was a deranged old king. As a young reader having The Enchantress be my first exposure to Gilgamesh, I naively did not question the author’s portrayal. Sadly it would be years later until I would finally be introduced to the error of my view. While the description of Gilgamesh in The Enchantress does a fantastic job of catching the reader’s attention, it errs on the side of exaggeration and is not the way history should be written because of its lack of accuracy.
The West in the Pre-Modern World 
I would argue that although in this example, the historical inaccuracies are very apparent, there is surely still accuracy within the story. The point of media and entertainment is to entertain. There is a reason that media does not stick 100% to what actually happened and that is because if they did, you would just be reading another textbook. The benefit of reading about history, watching a movie, playing a game, or whatever it may be, is that it opens your eyes to parts of history and gives you some of the facts and usually the most important ones. Media should not be 100% accurate and one should not expect it to be. It needs to be a mix of enjoyable while also learning about the past through a more interpretative and modern way. Personally I rather sit down and watch a movie about history than read a textbook because I know that while although it may not be entirely accurate, I will still learn a few things but I will also enjoy the time I spent doing it. I believe that this is a bad example to use and I would encourage you to be more open relying on media for learning about history. This collection of short stories may not be accurate but a majority of historical representations through the use of modern media are, or at least are accurate enough to paint a picture in your head of what happened.
LikeLike