The Similarities Of The Flood Characters Of Gilgamesh And Genesis

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

The general idea of both stories follows the idea of punishment for one’s unacceptable behavior. In the first flood myth, the idea of four monsters morphing into one large beast is presented. This large beast is supposed to represent society as a whole. When society adapts malicious intentions and negative traits, a higher being decides whether or not a “cleansing” of society is necessary to improve the planet. Similarly, the story of Genesis follows the idea that humans have begun to behave in an irrational and shameful manner, so God creates a flood to punish the humans who had behaved poorly. “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”

     The two main stories largely discussed are the Genesis and Gilgamesh flood stories. Although different in regards to the details, the main plot is similar between the two stories from two different civilizations. Because of this similarity, many

Both the story of “Noah and the Flood” in the book of Genesis in The Hebrew Bible and the flood story in The Epic of Gilgamesh detail a grand flood in which a man saved life from extinction by building an ark, earning fame and immortality in some form. The theme of completing this grand task for a moral purpose holds true to both stories, but the depiction and actions of the divine and mortal characters in the stories contain different similarities and differences.

Although the stories are similar they are not identical. In Genesis God sent the Flood to destroy humankind because of man’s wickedness. Unlike The Gilgamesha where the reason was never said however the sender of the flood was a secret council of gods the idea was brought up by Enlil , the god of earth wind and air. God favored Noah because he was a righteous man therefore, he was chosen to build the ark that was three hundred cubits long, fifty cubit wide, and thirty cubits high, about three stories. Utnapishtim was chosen out of the cleverness of Ea, the god of wisdom and crafts. God came directly to Noah to tell him about the Flood where as Ea was swore to secrecy so “he repeated their plans to the reed fence” so he would no break the oath to the group. The boat Utnapishtim was directed to build was a rectangle shaped measuring one acre and about 6 stories high. When the floor came in Gilgamesh it was only rainwater however the Flood in Genesis was rain water as well as ground water. Both floods did indeed wipe out all of humankind but the did not last equal as long. After the flood Utnapishtim was gifted the gift of eternal life where as Noah was to multiply and have rule over the animals.

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.

What is The Great Flood? Throughout history, there have always been works of literature explaining a flood that had taken place, causing the human population to almost be extinct. Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, both containing this very significant and important flood, have many similarities and differences showing their parallels, which include how they were ordered to save the human population, the differences and similarities in the test to find land, and facts about why and how long it lasts. All of these things began to prove the significant parallels within the two well-known works of literature.

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.

It is said that life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it. It is not the circumstances of life that determine a person's character. Rather, it is the way a character responds to those circumstances that provides a display of who he is. "From the Epic of Gilgamesh", as translated by N.K. Sandars, and "Noah and the Flood" from the Book of Genesis, both Gilgamesh and Noah face similar circumstances, but don’t always respond to them the same way.

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.

The tales of Gilgamesh and Noah are as memorable as they are incredible. They materialize the beliefs of two cultures telling very similar yet very different stories. Gilgamesh, a mighty warrior overwhelmed by grief of his passed friend, went an an epic adventure to find the secret of eternal life. Noah, a morally right and genuine man saved the future of the entire human race and every animal through great endurance and faith. The personality traits, reasons for journeys, and stories of origin of each myth have a plentiful amount of both commonalities and diversities.

supposed to have decided to destroy the earth by water. In the Biblical book of