Well, have ya? Just two? Well, I've read it a couple times over the years. The first time I read it was nearly ten years ago, and that was for two reasons: 1) Gilgamesh was in Final Fantasy VIII and he looked cool as fuck so I wanted to find out his "background story", and 2) Erich Von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods - Was God an Astronaut?" - a book I loved as a twelve-year-old - had a huge section cited from the Epic that seemed to suggest that the legend was actually an account of alien visitations in Earth's ancient past.

Ah, good ol' Erich Von Daniken and his "Ancient Astronaut Theory." Sounds pretty awesome, right? Aliens coming to earth and building the pyramids and Stone Henge and shit? According to Erich Von Daniken, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was lifted up in the talons of a giant metal bird. This bird flew so high up into space that from Enkidu's perspective, the earth looked like a bowl of porridge. When Enkidu was finally put down on the earth again, however, he soon died of a strange illness which Erich Von Daniken attributes to his being exposed to space radiation.

How compelling! How did the ancient Sumerians know that from up in space the earth looks a lot like a bowl of porridge? For that tidbit of information alone I HAD to read the Epic of Gilgamesh!

Unfortunately all the stuff about Enkidu being picked up by a giant metal bird and seeing the earth beneath him, though, isn't even in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Erich Von Daniken made the whole story up because he didn't think anyone would ever read such an obscure source to check if it was true.

All of these stories about aliens building the pyramids and Roswell and Men in Black and other conspiracy theory nonsense really captured my imagination as a kid. But then I went to univesity and studied Logic and Critical Thinking and now I can smell bull shit from a mile off...

If you'd like to read more about Erich Von Daniken, his Ancient Astronaut Theory and the many times he has been sent to jail over the last four decades on convictions relating to fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion then click here: [link]