The Epic of Gilgamesh
This is the oldest story in the world — literally.
“He who has seen everything, I will make known to the lands.”
Why It Matters
This is the oldest story in the world — literally. Written four thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, it tells of a king who seeks immortality and fails, and in failing, learns what it means to be human. Every epic journey, every quest for meaning, every story about accepting mortality is descended from Gilgamesh.
The 
Take
Personal reviewJust awesome to read basically the oldest “major” story. Gilgamesh and enkidu quite the bromance and the story of the flood/ Gilgamesh visiting the immortal man on a mountain was pretty cool.
Notable Quotes
“The life that you are seeking you will never find. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping.”
“Only the gods live forever... but as for us men, our days are numbered, our occupations are a breath of wind.”