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Essay On Travel And Travel In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

2972 Words12 Pages

Travel is obviously as old as mankind. Writing about Travel or Travel Theory is a delicate process by which writers on the subject are devoted to mark and record historical events, both of their homelands and their travel destinations. Examples in Travel Theory vary from old literature up to modern times with an aim of building a focused theory or theories about Travel and Travel Writing in general. It is commonly believed that the overall historical account of civilizations stems from Travel Writing. For instance, migrations, journeys, nomad traditions, pilgrimage, explorations, and great movements of tribes and people illustrate to Travel Theory literature over the course of mankind's history. In this essay there is an attempt to present …show more content…

The Sumerian leader Gilgamesh is a traveller and a ruler. Much of the description about this ruler comes in the form of mythical heroism: a man who is said to be “all knowledgeable, to whom all the countries are known, wise and close to secrets.”1 This man makes of travel his source of knowledge and life. He is seen journeying around the old world and returning back from travel to carve his tale on a stone (Sandars 1972). Such small historical and mythical information shed light on the early tendencies to write down travel …show more content…

There is no one model for travel, and therefore travel theory (Meijer, 1986). The account of a traveller and the sum of writings he produces during his journey may often be complex and intricate. Behind every traveller personal attitudes, motivations, political and institutional backgrounds are the main factors that contribute to the success or failure of his theory. Some travel theories are critically unpredictable and suggest less systematic implication of thought. Lewis (1988) indicates that travel is meant to “gratify the boundless intellectual curiosity unleashed by the Renaissance.”5 and is therefore driven by the quest for knowledge, culture, politics and economics altogether. The extensive literature about travel has its attributes in the desire for, not only knowledge, but dominion as well. In this regard, travel has been studied in accordance to its cultural

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