Divine Gods In Gilgamesh

In history, there have been two heros in the city of Uruk, their names are Enkidu and Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were the strongest, so when they met each other they faught together. Gilgamesh is two/thirds god and one/third man.Glgamesh and Enkidu were such good heros that they felt like they were brothers. The overall theme of the Epic of Gilgamesh is that a friend is not a good friend if they convince you to do bad things.

In Genesis, “the Lord said to Himself: ‘Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man’s mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done’”(Gen. 8:21.) This statements makes the Lord sound as if he has remorse of flooding the Earth, almost as if he wish he never did. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, “‘Do not drive him too hard or he perishes… rather than the flood, would that famine had wasted the world.’” This statement is from dialogue between Enlil and the all the other gods. All the gods are trying to convince Enlil to never flood the earth again. The gods in both stories felt that flooding Earth may not have been the best decision and promise to never do it

Since long ago, people carried an image of what it means to be a hero. It is evident in some great books one might even say. As in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Antigone, and The Iliad, heroism is displayed and exalted, but what does being a hero mean? Overarchingly, in regards to these works, the heroes earn their titles as heroes by notably doing what is right when the time is right, with humane purpose, and an everlasting message. However, Gilgamesh, Antigone, and Akhilleus, being different in their purposes, everlasting messages, type of heroism as whole, can not compare in regards to heroic status.

  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.

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

In both stories, the gods are respected and feared in some way, but at some point, humans displease the gods. To enforce His authority over all living creatures, the god in Genesis “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,” so He fashioned an immense flood to rid the world of the evil that He brought about (King James Version, Gen. 6.5). However, not all humans continuously sinned; He spared Noah and his family because he remained so devoted to God, then later made a promise that “waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Gen. 9.15). Likewise, in The

God said to Noah, “And I behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you; and with every living creature with you. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth.” That’s when God made an everlasting covenant between himself and every living creature of all flesh on earth. Even though, in the story of Gilgamesh, the Gods decided that it was wrong to punish mankind, they still did not make a covenant with man. Instead of making a pact with humans they granted immorality to Utnapishtim and his wife. In both stories they settled the flood in different ways separating the stories.

Many people believe that everything happens for a reason. Some people believe there is a God out there deciding their fate, and others believe it’s their actions that create the path they will take. No matter the idea, everyone has a different relationship with what they believe in. In Gilgamesh, edited by Steven Mitchell, demigod Gilgamesh struggles with his relationship to the gods. When the council of gods kill his best friend, Enkidu, Gilgamesh goes on a difficult journey aiming to become immortal and truly equal to them. His relationship with the gods is complicated because without them, Gilgamesh cannot succeed. Yet somehow, they are also the only thing in his way. In this epic, the relationship between gods and men is filled with tension because the gods have immense power over the humans, including the ability to decide the fate of their entire world.

In the reading of Gilgamesh, the belief was polytheistic. Polytheistic means the beliefs in multiple gods. In lines 15 to 20 of Gilgamesh it spoke of five gods that was part of the ancient city. Gilgamesh believed that immortality only came from the blessing of a God. In lines 5 to 10 it speaks of how Gilgamesh asked Utnapishtim how you overcame death and joined the assembly of the gods. In the readings of the Hebrew Bible it was very clear that the belief was monotheistic. The word monotheistic refers to the belief of a single God. The very first sentence of the Hebrew Bible revels the truth that the Hebrew Bible is monotheistic. It states when God began to create heaven and earth, and the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep and God’s breath hovering over the waters, God said, “Let there be light.” This sentence is only relating to one god in the way it is worded. The word God in these sentences are singular not plural. In the Hebrew Bible when you believe in God you are blessed. Job showed this by overcoming the test of Satan. In the readings of the Odyssey it relates to many different gods, making the reading polytheistic. In

The relationship between gods and humanity in Atrahisis: The Account of The Great Flood seems to carry great irresponsibility. Most of the gods display the weak characteristics of humans. They whine about work, constantly complain, selfishly create humans and then wish them dead. Enki and Atrahasis, two of the main characters in the flood story (one god and one human), gain a mutual respect that displays the proper relationship between humans and the divine. A relationship of prayerful ‘calling out’ to the gods, followed by a merciful response toward humankind, is the healthy and correct picture this story shows us. A correct relationship between gods and humans carries the possibility of eternal life

The Epic of Gilgamesh promotes the Mesopotamian values of remembrance after death and the characteristics of a good ruler. As Gilgamesh matures and his perception of these values change, it reveals Mesopotamians emphasized selfless actions as key to remembrance over personal glory, and that a good ruler must show mercy to his enemies and protect his people. Arguably one of the most important ideas due to its repetition, memory of one’s deeds was very important to Gilgamesh, and his actions when attempting to be remembered or help someone else be remembered demonstrates a Mesopotamian emphasis on selfless behavior. The earliest reference to this belief occurs before Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight the monster Humbaba. To dispel any fears before

Someone once wrote “The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time”(Noah and the flood pg.171). “ The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel” (the Epic of Gilgamesh pg.147). Both stories from two different cultures but despite the differences in the heroes, their gods, and the flood stories in “Noah and the Flood” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” both of these stories appear to refer to the same historical event the great flood.

Gods and goddesses intervention plays a key role in many of the stories including The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and The Aeneid. Apollo, god of sun and art, intervenes multiple times in The Iliad. He is known for sending the plague to the Greeks. Aruru, goddess of creation, made Gilgamesh and Enkidu in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Aeolus, god of wind, is persuaded by Juno, goddess of marriage, to build a storm.

In this paper I will be discussing the purpose and function of the suer natural two for he epic tales we have read in this class. Firstly I would like to start with how the supernatural were a very vital part of The Epic of Gilgamesh and how the supernatural made the story have morals. Secondly I would like to discuss the latest epic we read in this class, a piece of the classic “The Thousand and One Nights” and how in the part of the story we read that the supernatural were also important characters in this story that helped move the story along and with out them the story would be lacking.