Comparison Of The Bible In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Multiple differences are seen in between the two stories of the flood; as stated, a major difference is that Gilgamesh is a an epic told to entertain, when Genesis is a religious text. Another difference is the length of the rains and floods. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the rains only

The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Hebrew Bible are considered by their audiences’ as two of the greatest literary works of ancient literature. The universal truths on The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Hebrew Bible, are most fundamental when viewed from both the contemporary and traditional audiences. Fundamentally, both audiences develop their own universal truths during the time in which the events transpired or by reading the scenic events from an anthology or other literary works.

Abusch, T. (Oct-Dec 2001). The development and meaning of the Epic of Gilgamesh: An interpretive essay. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 121(4), 614-622.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Mesopotamian myth and the oldest known narrative there is, originally created on clay tablets written in cuneiform. The story focuses on two individuals. Gilgamesh, who is the tyrannical ruler of the kingdom of Uruk. Then his counterweight, Enkidu who resides in the forest and was raised by animals. It may seem that neither would have much in common, considering one is royalty and one is a wild man. However, these two characters balance each other despite their differences, which results in a beautiful friendship, but both will lose as well as gain in the end.

  Along with different languages, customs and traditions, ancient Hebrews, Middle-easterners and Romans had very different beliefs about the divine. For example, Hebrews are monotheistic, while Middle-easterners and Greco-Romans of early time periods believe in many gods. Writings from the ancient time period sketch these differences, as well as the many similarities between religious beliefs. The Old Testament is an excellent reference depicting Hebrew beliefs, while Gilgamesh outlines many Middle-eastern beliefs, and The Metamorphoses shows readers many ancient Greco-Roman beliefs about the divine.

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 maturation of Gilgamesh and his desire to acquire wisdom throughout his journey is quite apparent. By overcoming difficulties such as upholding Uruk, becoming friends with Enkidu, and various other scenarios, Gilgamesh proves that he did in fact grow up throughout the epic.

Gilgamesh: A New English Version, translated by Stephen Mitchell, and The Book of Job translated by Raymond P. Scheindlin, are both ancient texts that argue that the world is not just in a variety of ways. In Gilgamesh, the part-human, part-divine tyrannical ruler of Uruk, Gilgamesh, is sent an equal by the gods in the hopes of changing him and therefore rescuing the people of Uruk from his brutal ways. This equal, Enkidu, and Gilgamesh go on to offend the gods in a multitude of ways, leading to the death of Enkidu and finally, the return of Gilgamesh to Uruk to continue his ruthless regime over the people. The Book of Job is the story of Job, a faithful servant of Yahweh (or God) who is the picture of morality. When Yahweh makes a passing bet with the Accuser that results in Job having everything dear to him, including his health, torn away, Job and his friends debate the duties and nature of Yahweh. Gilgamesh and The Book of Job are in agreement that the world is not just, but whereas Gilgamesh shows that the innocent are killed and that the guilty are rewarded rather than punished, The Book of Job argues that the morally upright suffer and that Yahweh did not create the world to be fair, and so it is not.

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

(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.

Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.” In the Epic of Gilgamesh and the book of Job, both the protagonists face a variety of obstacles. Although, what stood out to me in these narratives is not the fact that Gilgamesh and Job both faced challenges, but rather how they dealt with the challenges that they were given. Both characters used a great deal of perseverance to overcome their difficulties.

In these two epics, the major themes are the concept of good versus evil and the conflicts of man versus man, man versus self, and man versus nature. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk represented good while Humbaba and the snake represented evil. Compared to The Odyssey, the Sumerian epic consists of a smaller representation for both good and evil. Odysseus represented good, but so does his son, Athena, and many of the gods that help him. Antinous, the rest of the suitors, Polyphemus, Circe, as well as many others were on the evil side of the equation for this epic. The concept of good versus evil coincides with the conflict of both man versus man and man versus self. Odysseus and Gilgamesh both engaged in both types of conflict, but Gilgamesh experienced more of the latter conflict while Odysseus experienced more of the former. Odysseus’s adventures involved more of man versus man conflicts because of how often he had to fight a physical being. For example, Odysseus and his men blinded Polyphemus by ramming a hot spear “deep into his [Polyphemus] crater eye” (qtd. in Prentice Hall Lit. 992). In addition, Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, had to fight off more than a hundred suitors near the end of the epic. Gilgamesh had plenty of experiences with man versus man conflict, such as his first fight with Enkidu, his fight with Humbaba, as well as his arguments with the gods. However, the man versus self conflict seemed

The biblical story of Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh share many similarities throughout their text. One correspondence they share is the relationship between Enkidu and Harlot and Adam and Eve. Enkidu was a wild man who had no knowledge about his surroundings except for the animals and the wildness. When Enkidu is exposed to the “uncertain” and “desire”, for which the Epic of Gilgamesh is represented by a woman and the task of womankind (sex), everything that is unacquainted to Enkidu suddenly becomes familiar. Enkidu soon becomes aware his surroundings, and considers himself more like a god now, because he knows well and he knows evil. Enkidu later have intercourse with the harlot until he was sated with her charms. But when he turned his to his animals, the gazelles saw Enkidu and jetted off, the wild animals distanced themselves from his body. Then he drew himself up, for his understanding had expanded. The harlot said to Enkidu: “You are beautiful, Enkidu, you are become like a god.” What she kept saying found favor within him. Becoming aware of himself, he sought a friend.” In Genesis God told Adam and Eve they could eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden except for the tree of knowledge. But of course they were tempted by the serpent who said “You shall not be doomed to die. For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the earliest work of literature written down in cuneiform in ancient Mesopotamia in the third millennium B.C. which centers around the unhappiness of Enkidu's death and the quest for immortality.As Paulo Coelho once said, “Life is a constant journey of growing and refining who we are”. In other words, life is a cycle of growing more into ourselves and discovering more about inner selves. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic story that started with a confrontational relationship with two equally powerful characters who think diversely becomes into a story of a great powerful friendship.In the Epic of Gilgamesh, we see Enkidu change Gilgamesh into a better version of himself. Gilgamesh who started out as an arrogant king then later transforms into the king that puts his people first rather than himself was all thanks to Enkidu. Throughout this story, we see that Gilgamesh´s actions change who he is and how he acts with certain people. Who would want a king who is selfish and arrogant? I wouldn’t but thanks to the journey that Gilgamesh took he became a better man.

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis are both texts from Ancient Mesopotamia that tell the stories of the people on Earth, trials of kingship, and floods. Both were assumed to be written between 2100 B.C. and 1300 B.C., but we cannot be absolutely sure of the date or the author because there is no evidence to support the dates said. The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis were both historical books, focused on higher beings, with the intent of telling the stories of the people from that time period and teaching important morals in current days. Genesis, written in the Hebrew Bible, surrounded the idea on monotheism, the belief in one god, while The Epic of Gilgamesh surrounds the idea of polytheism, belief in multiple gods. In the Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis, knowledge plays an extremely important role because it changes innocence to experience, it leads to characters’ deaths, and differentiates between being civilized and being civilized.