u/FeelingBarber2859

I picked up a copy of Benjamin R. Foster's translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh and in the introduction, it talks about the history of the epic, as quoted on xiv: "There is no evidence that The Epic of Gilgamesh began as an oral narrative performed by bards or reciters and only later coalesced as a written text. In fact, the poem as we now have it shows many signs of having been a formal written literary work composed and perhaps performed for well-educated people."

I tried looking around for evidence supporting said statement but so far every source disagrees with Foster's position