{"title":"Sophus Helle","description":"\u003cp\u003eSophus Helle's works invite readers into a rich tapestry of ancient narratives and historical depth, blending \u003cem\u003ehistorical fiction\u003c\/em\u003e with profound explorations of \u003cstrong\u003earts and culture\u003c\/strong\u003e. Titles such as \u003cem\u003eEnheduana\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eGilgamesh\u003c\/em\u003e reflect a fascination with timeless stories and enduring human themes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough meticulous research and evocative storytelling, Helle breathes new life into distant eras, offering perspectives that resonate with the complexities of history and the human experience. His books appeal to those drawn to both \u003cem\u003ehistory\u003c\/em\u003e and the imaginative retelling of past civilizations.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"gilgamesh-by-sophus-helle-9780300268096","title":"Gilgamesh","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA poem for the ages, freshly and accessibly translated by an international rising star, bringing together scholarly precision and poetic grace.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Sophus Helle’s new translation . . . [is] a thrilling, enchanting, desperate thing to read.”\u003c\/b\u003e—Nina MacLaughlin, \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Looks to be the last word on this Babylonian masterpiece.”\u003c\/b\u003e—Michael Dirda, \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGilgamesh\u003c\/i\u003e is a Babylonian story about love between men, loss and grief, the confrontation with death; the destruction of nature; insomnia and restlessness, finding peace in one’s community, the voice of women, the folly of gods, heroes, and monsters—and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTranslating directly from the Akkadian, Sophus Helle offers a literary translation that reproduces the original epic’s poetic effects, including its succinct clarity and enchanting cadence. Millennia after its composition, \u003ci\u003eGilgamesh\u003c\/i\u003e continues to speak to us in myriad ways.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46796310773996,"sku":"9780300268096","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24678703482294.jpg?v=1757089612"},{"product_id":"enheduana-by-sophus-helle-9780300276763","title":"Enheduana","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe complete poems of the priestess Enheduana, the world's first known author, newly translated from the original Sumerian.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHelle'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.\u003c\/em\u003e —Nilanjana Roy, \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEnheduana was a high priestess and royal princess who lived in Ur, in what is now southern Iraq, about 2300 BCE. Not only does Enheduana have the distinction of being the first author whose name we know, but the poems attributed to her are hymns of great power. They are a rare flash of the female voice in the often male-dominated ancient world, treating themes that are as relevant today as they were four thousand years ago: exile, social disruption, the power of storytelling, gender-bending identities, the devastation of war, and the terrifying forces of nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book is the first complete translation of her poems from the original Sumerian. Sophus Helle's translations replicate the intensity and imagery of the original hymns—literary time bombs that have lain buried for millennia. In addition to his translations, Helle provides background on the historical context in which Enheduana's poems were composed and circulated, the works' literary structure and themes, and their reception in both the ancient and the modern world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUnjustly forgotten for millennia, Enheduana's poems are essential reading for anyone interested in the literary history of women, religion, the environment, gender, motherhood, authorship, and empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47362563113196,"sku":"9780300276763","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24765373482294.jpg?v=1772893019"},{"product_id":"human-by-sophus-helle-9780226848990","title":"Human","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcclaimed author and translator Sophus Helle considers an ancient creation story with themes of humanity, class warfare, and catastrophic climate change.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Babylonian poem \u003cem\u003eAtra-hasis\u003c\/em\u003e is a forgotten masterpiece of political thought. Written in Akkadian in what is now southern Iraq during the early second millennium BCE, \u003cem\u003eAtra-hasis\u003c\/em\u003e gives us a glimpse of how ancient poets understood the society growing around them. This radical history of the world, told from the perspective of the mother goddess, conveys the complexity and contradictions that lie at the heart of the human experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAtra-hasis\u003c\/em\u003e tells how humanity was created as part of a bargain to resolve the world's first labour strike, in which the lower gods rebelled against the excessive work imposed on them by the higher gods. It depicts humans as workers endowed with defiant intelligence. They multiply and become too loud, so the gods decide to quiet them with a cataclysmic flood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLooking to \u003cem\u003eAtra-hasis\u003c\/em\u003e, Sophus Helle reveals an ancient story with reflections on power and history that invite comparison to topics of contemporary relevance, including labour, inequality, climate change, artificial intelligence, threats to democracy, disability, care work, sexual consent, and more. Helle considers \u003cem\u003eAtra-hasis\u003c\/em\u003e as a foundational document of \"pasthumanism,\" a term he uses to describe the study of how cultural conceptions of humanity have changed across centuries. He argues that ancient and non-Western texts remind us that cultural assumptions we now take for granted are neither natural nor necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47562845257964,"sku":"9780226848990","price":80.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780226848990-human.jpg?v=1776988051"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/sophus-helle.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}