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A heaven too high (1)

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04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
01 Religious and ideological doctrines and imagery



 		Keywords
heaven
Period
Greek Archaic Age
Old Assyrian and Old Babylonian Empires 		Channel
Akkadian poetry
Greek poets
Sumerian poetry

Text
Gilgameš and the Land of the Living A 28-29:
A man, (even) the tallest, cannot reach heaven, a man, (even) the widest, cannot cover the earth.

Gilgameš Epic (OBV) Y 4.5-8:
“Who, my friend, can go up to heaven? The gods d[well] with Šamaš for ever, but as for man, his days are numbered; all his activity is just wind.”

Alcman 1.16:
Let no man fly up to heaven.

Sappho 52:
I do not think to touch the sky with my two arms (?).

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Alcman 1.16
Gilgameš and the Land of the Living A 28-29
Gilgameš Epic (OBV) Y 4.5-8
Sappho 52

Bibliography

West 1997, 121West, Martin L. The East Face of Helicon. West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1997.

Amar Annus


URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001210.php

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