Sophus Helle

A poem for the ages, freshly and accessibly translated by an international rising star, bringing together scholarly precision and poetic grace. “Sophus Helle’s new translation . . . [is] a thrilling, enchanting, desperate thing to read.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe “Looks to be the last word on this Babylonian masterpiece.”—Michael Dirda, Washington Post Gilgamesh is a Babylonian story about love between...

Acclaimed author and translator Sophus Helle considers an ancient creation story with themes of humanity, class warfare, and catastrophic climate change. The Babylonian poem Atra-hasis is a forgotten masterpiece of political thought. Written in Akkadian in what is now southern Iraq during the early second millennium BCE, Atra-hasis gives us a glimpse of how ancient poets understood the society growing...

The complete poems of the priestess Enheduana, the world's first known author, newly translated from the original Sumerian. Helle's translation feels urgent, incandescent, stripped of academic cladding. . . . The growing popularity of Enheduana gives all of us readers a chance to discover another lineage—and to bring this poet and her imagination flashing back to life again. —Nilanjana Roy,...