Epic of Gilgamesh

Lisa C. (United States of America)
16 words 90 learners

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  1. Gilgamesh
    a legendary Sumerian king who was the hero of an epic collection of mythic stories
    The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh dates back nearly five thousand years and is thought to be perhaps the oldest written tale on the planet. Time (Apr 1, 2014)
  2. Enkidu
    legendary friend of Gilgamish
    The main feature of the incident is the conversion of Enkidu to civilized life. Jastrow, Morris
  3. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
    The song is full of painfully corny similes dished out in rapid-fire succession. Washington Times (Jun 11, 2014)
    using like or as
  4. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
    It’s both a flaw and a feature of the American suburb that “town square” is only a metaphor for McDonald’s these days. Salon (Aug 23, 2014)
  5. epic
    a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
    Matthew Thomas’s realist epic, “We Are Not Ourselves,” exceeds the usual boundaries of fiction on the subject. The New Yorker (Aug 20, 2014)
  6. theme
    a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary work
    Themes and motifs that echo across his books — survival, mortality, the perils of power and the possibility of rebirth — are amplified and refined. New York Times (Aug 24, 2014)
  7. archetype
    something that serves as a model
    What has happened to that great American archetype, the penny-pinching bargain shopper? The Guardian (Jul 29, 2014)
  8. anthropomorphism
    the representation of objects as having human form
    With the anthropomorphism peculiar to the earliest stages of thought, man personified the mysterious powers which ruled his fate. Nordau, Max Simon
  9. polytheism
    belief in multiple gods
    The transition from polytheism to monotheism was only made in Palestine and in the tradition of the Hebrews. Sabatier, Auguste
  10. monotheism
    belief in a single God
    We pointed out that pure monotheism was unknown in the time of the early kings. Adler, Felix
  11. decimate
    kill in large numbers
    Amazon and Google have for years decimated competition in their respective fields of Internet advertising and retail. New York Times (Aug 24, 2014)
  12. stalwart
    having rugged physical strength
    Even many stalwart Democratic voters react quizzically when asked their opinions of her. Washington Post
    also means someone that is dependable & loyal
  13. virulent
    extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
    The Ebola virus is one of the most virulent microbes known to man, killing up to 90% of those infected. Forbes (Aug 13, 2014)
  14. Tigris River
    an Asian river; a tributary of the Euphrates River
  15. Euphrates
    a river in southwestern Asia
  16. Mesopotamia
    the land between the Tigris and Euphrates
Created on Sun Aug 24 21:30:51 EDT 2014 (updated Sat Aug 30 13:28:54 EDT 2014)

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