Comparing and contrasting Gilgamesh and genesis flood stories In this paper I will be comparing Gilgamesh and Genesis flood stories. There are significant similarities in these stories that are strong enough to cause debates among scholars. I will be analyzing the similarities and differences between these stories extensively and look into how both characters respond to circumstances they are in very differently even though they mostly perform similar acts such as building arks, making sacrifices; their intentions and outcomes are very different and I will discuss that throughout this paper Their stories have a similar plot line and themes but many key differences as well that will be discussed throughout this paper. …show more content…
To start off, Gilgamesh is hit hard by the death of his closest friend Enkidu. He was hopeless, bitter and very angry about this “In his bitterness he cried, 'How can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my brother is now, that I shall be when I am dead. “'(Sandars,141). Gilgamesh responds to Siduri’s questioning “Because of my brother I am afraid of death, because of my brother I stray through the wilderness and cannot rest.(Sandars 144).Noah on the other hand who is faced with an impending death of almost everyone except his own family and the animals joining him in the ark very obedient is following the instructions given by God and follows God commandment without questioning. In both epics the main characters deal with death, there response was very different thus resulting in contrasting …show more content…
In Noah’s story, flooding was mainly used as a punishment for people’s sins which is very different from Gilgamesh, which was not for human’s sins but because of human noise “The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reasons of the babel ” (Sanders 108).The reasoning by the gods behind Noah’s flood seems to be a well thought out and rational decision because God took his time to analyze human behavior and was patient enough before he made the decision of sending floods, compared to Gilgamesh where the reasoning seems quite irrational and rash. How can a higher divine human being who has control of the earth and every human being not able to control noise and sends a whole flood to wipe out
It contains useful comparisons and historical data to help support his analysis. The author considers the story to hold very value for Christians. It concerns the typical myths that were tied to pagan people. Despite that theory, there have been many Christians who have studied the afterlife and creation in the epic. He suggests an interesting thought when he starts to explain the story. The author hints that maybe the main character, Gilgamesh, was a historical figure. The base analysis for his line of thought is the story of the flood found in the bible. After looking at the lengths of time of each story, he considers it to not be a problem. To provide some evidence, the author shows a chart of a series of questions about each flood and compares the two. The most striking comparison in the chart was the command to build a boat; "O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, tear down thy house, build a ship; abandon wealth, seek after life; scorn possessions, save thy life. Bring up the seed of all kinds of living things into the ship which thou shalt build. Let its dimensions be well measured."17 The text from the quote can almost match what the bible said. In both stories the person was commanded to build a boat because a flood is coming due to man’s sins or man’s wickedness. In the conclusion of the article, the author says a bold statement; “the widespread nature of flood traditions throughout the entire human race is exce...
The Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh, after two and a half millennia of dormancy, was resurrected by British archaeologists in the nineteenth century. Amid the rubble of an Assyrian palace, the twelve clay tablets inscribed the adventures of the first hero of world literature – King Gilgamesh, whose oral folk tales go back to at least 3000 years before Christ (Harris 1). Tablet XI contains the story of the Flood. In this essay let us compare this flood account to the more recent Noah’s Flood account in Genesis of the Old Testament.
People grow up listening to the story of Noah and the flood. They remember the length of the flood, the dove, and the rainbow very vividly. However, most people do not realize that the story is told throughout many different cultures and with accounts older than Genesis¹s version in the Bible. Although each of the accounts tells of the flood, there are many variations to the story. One such story can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Although the Epic of Gilgamesh is similar to the Genesis version, there are some differences in the days leading to, during, and after the flood.
The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An investigation of the inconsistency and similarities of both flood stories exposes the relationship between the Gods and the stories hero, insight on each cultures moral perspective on friendship and values as it applies to the flood, and each stories common origin.
Some of the simpler similarities are that the extent of the flood reaches every part of the earth, the flood is intended to destroy mankind, aside from the heros and their families, Utnapishtim and Noah are found righteous by their God or gods, and they build an ark to certain qualifications. An example of a less obvious similarity is the location of where the arks first touche land. In the general sense, they both landed on a mountain: Noah’s “ ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventh day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 75) and Utnapishtim's “boat stuck fast beside Mt. Nimush” (Gilgamesh 57). Taking this information a Step deeper reveals that Mt. Ararat and Mt. Nimush are about 300 miles apart. Both boats land in a relatively close proximity. Further proving the idea that the Sumerians and Hebrews experience the same event. Utnapishtim’s and Noah’s lives are dramatically changed by the flood. They sacrifice all that is familiar to them in order to receive the blessings of God or the gods. The heroes are both examples of a term I will call the archetypal path of blessing. Utnapishtim and Noah are both comfortable with what they have before the flood, but as Christopher Columbus States “One can never cross the ocean until one has the courage to leave the shore.” Utnapishtim and Noah give up what is ordinary to receive what is great. The blessings of both characters exceed
The issue of obedience figures prominently in both "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and the book of Genesis in the Bible. These works were produced by very different cultures and traditions (Middle Eastern and Hebraic, respectively) and the characters in each react to authority or advice with very different levels of obedience. Noah is found to be righteous by God and is rewarded with a means to escape the devastation of the flood. Gilgamesh, in his arrogance, thinks himself to be above the mortal concept of death. I have chosen the two opening paragraphs from the seventh chapter of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and Genesis 6:8-22 to illustrate the conflicts between obedience and arrogance.
Ancient world literature and early civilization stories are mostly centered on human’s relationship with higher beings. Ancient civilizations were extremely religious, holding the belief that their very lives were in the hands of their almighty god or goddess. This holds true for both the people of biblical times as well as those of the epic era. However, their stories have some differences according to cultural variation but the main structure, ideas, and themes are generally found correlative. It is hard to believe that one work did not affect the others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are parts of two cultures that are hundreds of years apart. Whereas Gilgamesh is a myth and the book of Genesis is the basis of many religions, they both have notably similar accounts of symbols, motifs, meaningful events according to the relationship between the divine and humans in literature.
-Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others, Stephanie Dalley trans. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. NOTE:
In this way the Jewish faith is able to truly bridge life and death in a way that the
is the idea of a divine being or, in other words, god. Early humans were
It is said that life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it. It is not the circumstances of life that determine a person's character. Rather, it is the way a character responds to those circumstances that provides a display of who he is. "From the Epic of Gilgamesh", as translated by N.K. Sandars, and "Noah and the Flood" from the Book of Genesis, both Gilgamesh and Noah face similar circumstances, but don’t always respond to them the same way.
A good number of people know the famous story of the Genesis flood, but do they know how it resembles to the Gilgamesh flood story? It is mind bending how the main stories are so alike. The main theme is the biggest similarity between the two. They also differ greatly in the smaller details in the events that take place. In both stories the number of days for events are different, but the same basic event takes place. Along with many other similarities and differences. The stories are very much the same, but when comparing the details within they are very different.
Global floods have been a shared part of human culture and religion for thousands of years. There are countless stories of worldwide floods throughout the ages. A majority of the global flood stories share the same basic framework which consists of a hero, a means of salvation, and a blessing. The most popular flood accounts are the Biblical flood of Noah and the Babylonian “Epic of Gilgamesh”. There are many similarities between the Babylonian flood story and the Noachian flood accounts. There are various topics and ideas that are appear to be shared throughout both storylines, such as reason for the flood, a warning that the flood will happen, the use of birds, blessings, and an offering given. However, neither Christian’s scholars nor secular
The Epic of Gilgamesh compares to the Bible in many different ways. The epic has a different perspective than the Bible does. This paper is a contrast and comparison between the two books. The three main points of this paper will be the Creation, Flood and the Hero.
The Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities to the Bible, especially in Genesis and it’s not just that the both begin with the letter “g”’! One major similarity being the flood story that is told in both works. The two stories are very similar but also very different. Another being the use of serpents in both works and how they represent the same thing. A third similarity being the power of God or gods and the influence they have on the people of the stories. Within these similarities there are also differences that need to be pointed out as well.