How can a flood be a connection between two stories? A flood is an overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confines, especially what is over dry land. In the stories “Noah and the Flood” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh”, this is true. These stories share a common bond of a flood. However, within the flood, there are comparison and contrasts. A flood is an overall common connection between the two stories, however within, there are comparisons and contrasts appear with the duration, the mountain, and reasoning of the flood. When a flood happens, there is a great amount of water that is uncontrollable. Floods do not away very quickly. In the story of Noah, there is a set amount of time that was told to Noah about how long the rain that will create a flood will last. In “Noah and the Flood” God tells Noah “For in seven days’ time I will …show more content…
make it rain upon the earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence that I created”(172, “Noah and the Flood”). After the rain is done, the flood is created and Noah has to stay on the boat for as long as until the flood is gone and the earth becomes livable again. Unlike Noah, Utnapishtim was not told of the length of the flood that was being thrown at him. Utnapishtim just had to wait out the storm and flood on his own. “For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world…”(147 “The Epic of Gilgamesh). In these stories the duration of the flood differs, but in both of them, a similar figure appears. In the stories of Noah and Gilgamesh, a comparison made is the mountain. In the story with Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim, after the storm had happened Utnapishtim is searching greatly to see land. “I looked for land in vain, but fourteen leagues distant there appeared a mountain, and there the boat grounded; on the mountain of Nisir the boat held fast, she held fast and did not budge” (147, “The Epic of Gilgamesh”). Nisir can also be identified with Ararat. Ararat comes into play with “Noah and the Flood”. “At the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters diminished,...the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat”(173, “Noah and the Flood”). These two observations lead one to believe that the mountain is the same mountain in both stories. Maybe it is to believe that the mountain is just God holding the ark himself to protect the ones he wants to save. Another comparison to make with Noah and Gilgamesh is the reasoning for the flood to happen.
In the story of Gilgamesh, the city of Shurrupak stood on the banks of Euphrates. The gods who lived in the city had grown old and the city was multiplying. The gods thought the town was becoming an uproar. Because of the uproar, the gods thought this mankind was intolerable and sleep was no longer possible. At this point, the gods decided to exterminate mankind. Utnapishtim was warned in dream and was told to build the ark. And that is just what he did. The story with Noah is very similar. God had saw how wicked mankind was becoming and he did not like it one bit. God began to regret that he had made these men on Earth. However, God saw Noah. Noah was a righteous man in god’s eyes. Noah was seen to walk with god. So for this reason, god decides to take trust in Noah to build an ark so all mankind can be wiped from existence. Noah fulfills god’s request and all mankind is wiped out. These stories are like for the whole reasoning all together. The reasoning is that the gods just saw the flood as fit and so that is what they
did. A flood; a flood is what brought these stories together. Maybe the flood in “Noah and the Flood” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh” were actually the same flood altogether and there were just two different stories. These two stories hold many comparisons and contrasts. Even though these two stories share a bond of a flood, they also share many alikes and differences about the flood as a whole such as the duration, the mountain, and the reasoning behind the flood.
There is no reason given by Utnapishtim for the deluge. On the contrary, the Judaic version of the Flood in Genesis states in Genesis 6:5-8 a very clear, explicit reason for the Flood:
The Epic of Gilgamesh records a story of a world-wide flood and pre-dates Genesis. So some claim that this invalidates the Genesis record. But P.J. Wiseman presents an interesting theory in this regard in his book Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis (New York: Thomas Nelson, 1985).
Centuries ago, two books were written with similar and different ideas. The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Job have different settings although they both discuss friendship, death and mortality, pain and suffering, and characters, but individually the book of Job examines where human beings stand in the world.
Flood myths help to explain events which cannot be controlled, such as natural disasters. The Hebrew flood myth tells of a man named Noah, who is selected, along with his family, to survive an epic flood. The flood must occur to cleanse the world of its impurities (Leeming, 47-53). The “flood” in Mabel’s own life involves the many things she loses: her mother, her family’s money, her idea of the future. However, these losses allow her to become a stronger person, to move away from merely being a daughter or a sister and become Mabel (Lawrence, 1-15).
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
is the idea of a divine being or, in other words, god. Early humans were
The amazing stories of the great flood that are described in The Epic of Gilgamesh which is translated by N.K. Sandars and “The Story of the Flood” which is the King James version, both stories similarly. Many of the events of each story are very similar in ways and very different in some of them. From reading both stories I concluded that there was a huge flood that took place in that area of the world. Even though the way both stories describe the flood; The Epic of Gilgamesh is more imaginable. I say that because it is more realistic to have rain for six days, six nights than for forty days, forty nights. Both flood stories have a major similarity and difference though. Both stories described the same flood but they did it in different ways.
In both versions of the flood story something angers God (in Genesis) and the gods (in Gilgamesh). "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reasons of the babel" (Gilgamesh 12). The Gilgamesh reason seems very illogical. The Gods decide to destroy mankind because they are making too much noise. It seems that the gods didn't think over their decision wisely. They are gods, wouldn't they have the power to block out the sound? One would think so, but obviously that was not the case. This is the first major difference between the two stories.
Both The Odyssey and the Epic of Gilgamesh are two incredible stories written long ago. These two epics share many of the same concepts. Such as the nostro (the Greek term for homecoming), xenis (guest/host relationship), oikos (household), and aganoriss (recognition). In both epics these themes are illustrated.
After the events on the boat regarding the twin children, Noah acts as if he has failed God for being unable to murder the two and carry out his plan, implying that God had actually wished for and expected Noah to murder his grandchildren. This played into portraying both God and Noah as vicious and cruel. In the story written in the Bible, God had chosen Noah to build the ark because he was the only one without wickedness present in his heart. However, he is featured in the film as one who was cold-hearted and would be willing to do anything to ensure that there would not be a future for
The general attitude towards a relationship in the Epic of Gilgamesh (Gilgamesh) is that as long as a man marries a woman and has children with her, sexual relations with other men, women, children and animals are permitted. The concept of a beastial sexual relationship in the Ancient World is also justified in the beginnings of the Book of Genesis (Genesis), however, throughout Genesis it is seen that the concept of sodomy as well as fornication is intolerable. Obsession is also a topic of discussion within both texts and overall, romantic desire is a concept which is not socially accepted in the community.
The flood story that is told in The Epic of Gilgamesh has the same principle as the story of Noah told in the book of Genesis in the Bible, but there are some major differences. In the epic, Utnapishtim is immortal and, although Noah was extremely old when he died, he wasn’t immortal. Utnapishtim was a human, but because he saved mankind, Enlil said, “Hitherto Utnapishtim has been a human, now Utnapishtim and his wife shall become like us gods.” (Gilgamesh 11.206-207) In the Biblical story, God told Noah that he was going to send a flood and asked him specifically to make the ark in order to save mankind. In Genesis 6:13-22, God tells Noah why he’s flooding the earth and exact instructions to build the ark. “13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[a] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[b] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[c] high all arou...
From this quote from the poem above, Utanapishtim is warning Gilgamesh of this flood in order to give him warning so his life would be spared. Likewise, Genesis 6:13 warns Noah of the wrath that will upon the sinful people through the flood. This serves as a warning for him and his family too. Not only are the texts similar through the act of forewarning of the floods, but both The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament give instructions to Gilgamesh and Noah of how to protect themselves from the floods they
The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE “A dream acted upon by confidence becomes an ambition and that when followed with determination defines the purpose of existence in its entirety...”