Comparing The Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah and the Flood Essay

The Epic of Gilgamesh: story of the flood is a story telling of the time when the Sumerian gods flood the Earth hoping to get rid of the annoying humans. Throughout the story, Utnapishtim would be the preserver of life; by building a ship that would carry two of every animal. In Genesis 6-9, the Hebrew God chose to cleanse humanity by flooding the Earth, and in this story Noah would be instructed by the Lord to build an ark and put two of every animal with this ark. These stories of the flood have many differences, one major difference being that The Epic of Gilgamesh is a fictional story of Sumerian gods, while Genesis is a religious book with in the Bible. Although there are many differences between Genesis’ and Gilgamesh’s story of the flood, there are significantly more similarities linking the two stories.

Throughout the Genesis Flood, Atrahasis Flood and the Epic of Gilgamesh flood, there are many different ways to interpret the different views of The Flood. These different narratives in these stories have their own explanation on how this myth took place and the different beliefs that occurred during this flood. The way you portray each narrative is based on what exactly your beliefs are.

     Another difference in the story is the instructions on how to build the ark. In the bible, God tells Noah to build the ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high (New International Version, Gen. 6:15). God continues to tell him to “make a roof and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top” (New International Version, Gen. 6:16a). Then “put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper decks” (New International Version, Gen. 6:16b). In Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim builds his ark 155 feet high, and the decks 175 feet wide. He also built a top deck and six lower decks (Matthews and Benjamin 26).

Before Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh of the flood story, Gilgamesh asks, “You then, how did you join the ranks of the gods and find eternal life?” (Gilgamesh 102) On the other hand, mortal is a very loose term in The Hebrew Bible. Noah is six hundred years old when the story begins. Age doesn’t seem to have an impact on the life and death of mortal characters in the story of Noah, completely opposing the theme of mortality and death that is portrayed through the mortal characters in The Epic of Gilgamesh.

The floods in Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh are in no doubt different but in so many ways similar. The two men are given a task to save humankind from a flood and succeed and are rewarded. The major basic events that take place in the stories a similar however the smaller details of them and how they are carried you are different. They two also tells us a lot about the relationship between humans to Divinity.

In both Gilgamesh and Noah and the Flood, man’s wickedness leads to death, destruction, and rebirth all caused by billions of gallons of water sweeping the earth’s surface. The flood in both stories destroys most of mankind. The floods represent rebirth and a new beginning for mankind, as well as the gods and God’s wrath. In Gilgamesh the gods decide to destroy mankind by flooding the earth for six days and nights. Utnapishtim is chosen to build a boat in order to restart mankind after the flood. In the Bible God also decides to flood the earth due to the increase in wickedness. God chooses Noah to build an ark and store seven pairs of every clean animal and two of every other kind of animal on it

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

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.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s pursuit for immortality is marked by ignorance and selfish desire. Desire and ignorance, as The Buddha-karita of Asvaghosha suggests, pollutes man’s judgment resulting in his inability to break the cycle of birth and death. At the core of Gilgamesh’s desire resides his inability to accept the inevitability of death, making his rationality behind the pursuit of immortality ignorant and selfish. Implicitly, Gilgamesh’s corrupt desire for immortality conveys that Gilgamesh does not mature as a character.

In the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ and ‘The Biblical Flood Story’ have a very similar plot line, but many several key differences. In both stories a flood occurs, which were caused by the God/s( This shows that in Gilgamesh they were polytheistic while in the Biblical version they were monotheistic. ) to destroy the people of the earth. For both flood stories, a specific person is chosen to build an arc but for different reasons. In the Biblical story, Noah builds the arc due to his righteous character but in Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim built the arc to save himself. Later on in both stories birds are released making them seem very similar. In the end, the stories are separated because of the covenants

“You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted him death, but life they retained in their own keeping,” Siduri talking to Gilgamesh. (Gilgamesh 4). The epic of Gilgamesh has an abundance of parallels to the trial and tribulations of any human life. Gilgamesh’s story is humanities story of life, death, and realization. The awaking of Gilgamesh from a childish and secure reality connects my own life experiences to the epic tale.

(1) The black demon saw a beautiful woman and out of all the nobel women. He picked the one that was about the be married. He kidnapped her on her wedding night. It shows that the black demon does things impulsively. He does not care of the consequences. It shows that since he is a demon. He does not fear the consequences of men. When he saw her he could not longer live without her. When he kidnap her. He locked her in box showing that he does not trust the women he kidnap with other men. It also means he wants to keep her pure. She was kidnap on her wedding night so she did not have sex yet so the demon believed she was pure. The untainted virgin that has not been violated by men was his and his only. When he traveled he took her out of the box and wanted to sleep beside her. It shows when he his comfortable. He would sleep better beside her. The women was the demon's most prized possession. It is like comparing the women to a boy's secret toy. When a boy is around someone he would hide his secret toy from everyone. When the boy is alone he would take it and worship it. This meaning is similar to Metamorphoses when Apollo wanted Daphne. Even though she refused him. He impulsively try to rape her. She was turned into a tree, but he still tried to rape the tree. Another text with the similar meaning is in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Any women Gilgamesh desired he would take married or not. Since he was part god and king. He did not care of consequence like the demon.

The heroes in the two stories are heroes in different way but also similar ways. Utnapishtim from “the Epic of Gilgamesh” and Noah from “Noah and the Flood” had the same start in become a hero they both were chosen by their god to build an ark and survive the flood because they are both willing to do anything for their god. In “Noah and the flood” “Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with

Firstly, Gilgamesh and Noah are both very similar and different in terms of personality. Gilgamesh was a loyal, persistent, and heroic man who was two thirds god. Despite his tales of renown and extravagant reputation he was not without his flaws. His whole journey of searching for immortality was all done out of selfishness and grief. “How can I be silent, how can I rest, when Enkidu whom I loved is dust, and I too shall die and be laid in the earth” (“Epic…” 144). Noah was a simple mortal man who had great faith in God, which led to his own and family's safety. ”Go into the ark, with all your household, for you alone have I found righteous before Me in this generation” (“Noah…” 171- 172). Gilgamesh on the contrary was very angry with the gods after losing his friend. Noah was righteous and selfless putting God’s will first before all else. Noah was also imperfect and got drunk one

The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian tale, tells of a man named Gilgamesh, who is two-thirds god and one third man, and his adventures with his companion, Enkidu.Throughout his journeys, we examine Gilgamesh struggling with being mortal and looking for the key to everlasting life so that some way, somehow he can gain the key to escaping mortality and become immortal. This intense drive to become an immortal causes Gilgamesh to ĥbe like the gods, self-centered and cruel. So, throughout the epic we notice specific points,where the gods try to teach him that, that isn’t the way to gain immortality. Instead, Gilgamesh must become unselfish and benevolent towards others. They try to teach him this by sending his companion Enkidu. However, instead of learning this , he immediately tries to gain immortality again through bloodshed and ruthlessness by killing Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven but, that does nothing but anger the gods causing them to take Enkidu away. When Enkidu is taken away, it is evident that Gilgamesh had a strong bond with Enkidu, and now that is all he yearns for; companionship. This plays a role in what fuels Gilgamesh to go on this journey to find immortality. As Gilgamesh goes through this journey, he does not gain fame, but instead gains wisdom. When exposed to the wisdom it brought to light what true immortality is, which is the understanding that he will get fame by being a good ruler and find a companion. This kind of fame is the true key to