This page has a very helpful study guide for Gilgamesh. It starts with the history of Mesopotamia and provides information about the actual tablets that the story is written on. It outlines the story of Gilgamesh and explains the differences between Gilgamesh and Enkidu.
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One of the most confusing things about this book were the names of the gods and their roles. This page is helpful in defining the roles of the gods in Mesopotamia.
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Everyone has their own perspective of a hero. For some, like the citizens of Uruk, Gilgamesh was a hero because he saved their lives from the demons. But for some, he was a selfish character who only wanted to promote his name and advertise his strength. This page is very helpful because it looks at many perspectives of a hero.
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This is a very interesting page. It links the modern day fighting between Iraq and Iran to the ancient conflict of the Sumerians and the Elamites. It also sheds light on the whole perspective of Gilgamesh as a hero. For Iraqi's, Saddam is a hero because he had the courage to fight against the Middle East, America, and most of the Euoropean nations. But to people elsewhere, Saddam is instead a villon.
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Usually, I am very discouraged when I read about the role of women in history. It seems that they were always oppressed and didn't enjoy the same benefits as men. Even in the modern world today, women are being oppressed in my homeland of Afghanistan, which is still in stone age. This page discusses the role of women in ancient Mesopotamia. Women weren't as equal as men, but had many freedoms which are still considered "liberal," and are banned in many parts of the world today.
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Gilgamesh's search for eternal life takes him to Utnapishtim who is immortal. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh about a flood which is related to the flood talked about in the book of Genesis. There are many ancient flood stories, but these two are closely related. This site has a really good essay which associates Utnapishtim's experience to Noah's.
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This is another site which relates the flood story of Utnapishtim to the Genesis. On the basis of evidence, this site is much more concrete then the first one. It also relates the names of the gods from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the gods or prophets in the Genesis.
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