Dialogue of Pessimism

The Dialog of Pessimism is an ancient text. It was written in Mesopotamia, around 1000 BC. It is a dialog of a master with his slave. It was written in cuneiform script. Today, there are two slightly different versions. Today, it is considered to be wisdom literature. The text suggests human action is often futile. The text has 86 lines. 15 of these are fragmentary.

The text uses the Akkadian language. It is about a person that doesn't have to work, and that does not know what to do. The master talks to his slave, and asks if it is good to do some action. The slave agrees, but then the master finds an excuse why he shouldn't do something. The different ideas are: going to the palace, organise a banquet, get married, go to court (take legal action), start a revolt, make love, pray to god Marduk, invest some money, and do good deeds.

At the end, the master hasn't done anything, and wants to kill his slave before committing suicide. The slave responds to this that man does not understand either heaven or earth. The slave predicts that his master won't survive him for more than three days.

The text has the usual moral frame: It is impossible to understand the gods. The text is pessimistic because "humans don't understand", and "only the gods know".