One of the first known literary translations was of the Sumerian “Epic of Gilgamesh,” five poems about the king of Uruk. This epic inspired a number of other ancient texts, and was mainly about:
Gilgamesh’s star-crossed love for a young girl from an enemy kingdom
The seizure of Gilgamesh’s beloved; he follows with a thousand ships to get her back
Gilgamesh’s heroic battle against a terrible, fearsome creature called Grendel
The friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and how Gilgamesh learned to be a good king