The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Bible Theme Essay
"God rewards the faithful who, amid their circumstances continued to believe in His wisdom, mercy and power," anonymous. Many people believe in a higher power, sometimes envisioned as a
god. A god is defined as a "supreme being" or a "source of all moral authority" by www.google.com, and this is seen in many literary works throughout different cultures and history. In The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Bible there is a common theme that God or the gods are all powerful and merciful.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh Enil, the chief god, and Ea, the god of sweet waters, show a theme that the gods are all powerful but also can show mercy. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written in Ancient Mesopotamia, a polytheistic
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society, and was the first literary work. One example is The Epic tells of a flood story in which Enil wants to destroy mankind and brings it up in council of the gods."So the gods agreed to exterminate mankind. Enil did this...A stupor of despair went up to heaven when the god of the storm turned daylight into darkness, when he smashed the land like a cup... One whole day the tempest raged." This quote has a very dark, melancholy mood, and it shows how supreme the gods truly are. They agreed to completely decimate mankind without a second thought, and language used shows that the storm destroys everything in its path. Another example is "Ea... warned me in a dream. He whispered their words to my house of reeds... tear down your house and build a boat." Ea is a god who knows of the impending flood and he tells Utnapishtim, that there will be a flood and to build a boat for him and his family. Also an example that the gods are benign is "Enil went up into the boat... 'In time past Utnapishtim was a mortal man henceforth he and his wife shall live i the distance at the mouth of the rivers." After Utnapishtim survives the flood Enil makes him and his wife immortal, and they are to only human to receive such a gift. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the gods show their power and mercy and such is the case in The Bible. In The Bible the story of The Great Flood shows the theme that God is all powerful and can be merciful.
The story of The Great Flood in the bible was written thousands of years after The Epic of Gilgamesh was written by the Ancient Hebrews, the first monotheistic society. One example that shows God is almighty is "the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, 'I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created...the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights...And all flesh died that moved across the earth." This detail shows just how powerful God is, He decided that humans did not deserve to live anymore and he sent rain and floods to the Earth for forty days and forty nights and kills everything that moved on the Earth. The mood of this story is serious and absolute, there is no changing what God decides, and he decided that humans shouldn't live. An example that shows Gods' mercy is "But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD... And God said to Noah 'I have determined to make an end of all flesh... God remembered Noah... And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided." The Bible characterizes Noah as a good person who has integrity and listens to all that God says. Because of this God is compassionate towards Noah and his family warning them of the flood and telling him to build a boat. God's mercy also shows when he remembers Noah and doesn't leave the Earth covered
in water, but makes the flood waters subside. In The Bible the story of The Flood and Noah shows that God is the supreme force and benevolent. In The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Bible there is a common theme that God or the gods are all powerful and merciful. The Epic of Gilgamesh shows that the gods are merciful because they decided to exterminate everyone on the Earth. However, they are also clement because they spared Utnapishtim and gave him immortality. The Bible shows that God's word is absolute because God decided humans shouldn't live and he wiped them out, but he spared Noah and his family because they were virtuous God showed them mercy. This theme is seen in many literary work but also in our current life with religion. God is the core of many religions and cultures throughout the world, such as: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. All of these religions believe that God is absolute and forgiving if you follow his word.
The Epic of Gilgamesh portrays a good relationship between the gods and humankind because the gods were living with humankind in the city before it was destroyed. The gods did not know what was happening when the sky went dark but they fled
The Epic of Gilgamesh and the book of job both have similar and different characters. They both have important gods although in the book of job there is only one god. In the book of job the only god is Yahweh. He is the all knowing and the creator of the universe. In the Epic of Gilgamesh there are many gods and goddesses including the most mentioned one; Ishtar. Ishtar is the goddess of love, fertility, and war. Job is the main character in the book of job, he questions god, and he creates the plot by obeying and then disobeying god. The friend of job come to show sympathy for job and Enkidu is the reason for the change of man in Gilgamesh. Both stories have a villain, in the book of Job it is Satan and in the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is Ishtar in the beginning for killing Enkidu and then it is the serpent for taking the plants away from Gilgamesh.
As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories
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.
The analogy of the Gods within The Epic of Gilgamesh is definitive to a polytheistic belief system. The epic contains more than one God who, together, represent creation through natural elements exhibited throughout the journey of Gilgamesh. For example David Adams Leeming reveals; “Enlil (Ellil) was the storm, air, and wind (lil) lord (en) and the son of An” (39) and further example of the Gods are shown by Glen Stanfield Holland, “when Gilgamesh first enters the garden of the sun god, he is met by Shamash, who has been his protector
They have been called "gods." These almighty, powerful beings that are far too superior for us to understand; or so most of us have been made to believe. Some may say he is a Great Examiner, others could say he is the Creator. Some could even say he doesn't exist. Frankly, what I want to emphasize is how such beliefs could reduce even the bravest and strongest of us all to a whimpering child. Something that we ar...
is the idea of a divine being or, in other words, god. Early humans were
Mortal and immortal women inspire many of the events that take place in The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh. For example, without the harlot, who “tames” Enkidu, the story of Gilgamesh would not be, as we know it. A chapter entitled, “Women in Ancient Epic” from A Companion to Ancient Epic by Helene Foley compares Ishtar in Gilgamesh to Calypso and Circe in The Odyssey. By comparing the role of immortal and mortal women in both The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh, one will be able to discern how the feminine figures have played a pivotal role in shaping the destiny of the epic heroes, as well as, understanding the interrelation amongst the female figures of both ancient epics.
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.
The relationship between the gods and humanity in The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey are the same. In each saga, the gods seem to live nearby and are always present. Both epic poems portray humans as simply at the mercy of the gods. The gods feel that it is their duty to intervene if they feel that man is traveling off course from his destiny. However, the gods are not all powerful.
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.
Although there are differences between this ancient culture and ours, one similar idea found in the story is that of the worship of deity. There are many gods represented in the story of Gilgamesh. This reflects the tendency of the people of that time to cling to religious ideals to explain the unknown.
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.
In the Bible and Greek Mythology both were the believe of us to God(s). In biblical stories, christians believe that the lord God created the world; he created birds, animals, and humans. Similarly, in Greek mythology, Zeus and his forces established the mount olympus to be there Eden, and he ordered to create all alive things in earth, even though he doesn’t want mortals, but the mortals still appears. Therefore, Biblical stories and Greek mythology have many similarities, both have the stories of the creation of human. In particular, the three examples that have the closest similarities are The Creation of woman, How god's punish those who don’t worship them and reward those who worship them. and The Kingdom of God.
For instance, when people complain about Gilgamesh being a ruler who does not treat his people well, Aruru, the Goddess of Creation creates Enkidu, who is supposed to be the equal of Gilgamesh. Later on in the story when Enkidu and Gilgamesh face Humbaba, it is the God Shamash who helps defeat the monster. In the Manas epic, religion, Islam was the main connection between God and human while people in Gilgamesh could speak to God as they met them. Another important difference in the epics, Manas and Gilgamesh, is the end of their story. Although they both returned home from their voyage, they had a different journey.