Essay on The Theme of Knowledge in Gilgamesh and Genesis

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

With the start of recorded storytelling in The Epic of Gilgamesh societies have defined themselves through their writings. Their beliefs, what they hold in high esteem, and what they regard as evil or barbaric, all of it is contained within the stories they’ve told. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first, telling of the king of Uruk from around 2100 BCE, in Mesopotamia. Later the first two books of the Old Testament, Genesis and Exodus, are presumed to have been written around 600 BCE near Babylon. Then Thucydides of Athens begins to record history in a more modern format, in the late 400s, BCE. Finally, Plato recreates conversations of his mentor — Socrates, also of Athens — in the early 300s BCE. These writings span several civilizations and a vast segment of early recorded human history. The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Old Testament, the writings of Thucydides, and the writings of Plato all reflect distinct ideals of civility in their respective cultures. Over time they show a transition from valuing power to valuing wisdom, cooperation, and government.

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.

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

Gilgamesh, written by David Ferry, illustrates a story about a man who knows everything, but continues to try and learn more. Although Gilgamesh may be arrogant, he still remains a great ruler and commander of Uruk. Throughout the book, the adventures of Gilgamesh fit Joseph Campbell’s idea of the hero’s journey. After analyzing the pieces to the hero’s journey, Gilgamesh is proven to be a true hero because his journey parallels that of the hero’s journey described by Campbell. The latter part of this paper will prove Gilgamesh is a hero using Campbell’s model, by analyzing the pieces of the hero’s journey: separation or departure, the initiation, and the return.

The story of “Gilgamesh” depicts all of the heroic triumphs and heart-breaking pitfalls a heroic narrative should depict to be able to relate to today’s audience. However, “Gilgamesh” was once considered a lost and forgotten piece of literature for thousands of years, so there is a tremendous gap between the time it was created and the time it was translated into language that today’s audience can understand. That gap in history makes several aspects of the story of “Gilgamesh” strange and unfamiliar because what we now know about ancient Middle Eastern cultures and languages is a lot less than what we know about the cultures that prospered after ancient Middle Eastern cultures. Much of the content in the story of

The relationship between humans and the divine are prevalent in Genesis, and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Evidence is seen at the beginning of both books; in each story one can make the statement that neither culture is secular. Evidence such Genesis opening line reading, “When God created heaven and earth … ”, and how on page 3 of The Epic of Gilgamesh, it describes that Gilgamesh was blessed to have “the Lady of the Gods drew the form of his figure, while his build was perfected by divine Nudimmud.” Both cultures believed in a divine power, however there are stark contrasts between the culture’s relations with that power.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale from ancient Babylon. Its hero, Gilgamesh the king of Uruk, is two-thirds god and one-third man. Throughout the epic, which consists of three stories, the character of Gilgamesh is developed. This is accomplished by changing the vices he possesses at the start of the epic, and replacing them with virtues he receives by its completion. “A virtue is a quality of righteousness, goodness, or moral excellence; any good quality or admirable trait of a character.” (Halsey Collier’s Dictionary 1114) “A vice is an immoral or harmful habit or practice; fault or fall” (Halsey Collier’s Dictionary 1111). Gilgamesh is not the only character in the

This connects to a creation myth’s purpose of detailing the origin of good and evil. These myths provide examples of some of the earliest human beings doing things which anger the gods in authority over them. As a result, they supply

Gilgamesh is a brave demigod who goes on an adventure to kill a creature that all men fear a 6 week travel for normal man but a 3 day travel for Gilgamesh and his companion cause it talk's about how they walked there the desert and took a break were Gilgamesh travels to the top of a mountain and speaks to gods. Or when they are going threw the desert and have to dig up a well and fill up there water pouches thanks to the god of

The very first appearance of wisdom appears in the very beginning, “I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was a man to whom all things were known… he was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things,” (EOG 1). From this short phrase, it is clear that wisdom and mysteries will play a huge role in the plot of the story. Not only this, but the reader is also being told that he is about to learn the deeds of Gilgamesh. The idea of innocence and how knowledge makes people lose their innocence also appears in chapter one, “he was innocent of mankind; he knew nothing of the cultivated land,” (EOG 4).

The Epic of Gilgamesh, a Mesopotamian epic poem with no known author, is the story of the brute King of Uruk, Gilgamesh, who was two-thirds divine and one-third human, which teaches readers the unstoppable force of death, the wrath of the gods, and also the power of friendship, which are illustrated to readers through the characters journeys, and those encountered along the way. The poem, which is divided into twelve tablets, starts off with Gilgamesh being a vicious tyrant, one who “would leave no son to his father… no girl to her mother”(Gilgamesh 101), and as for newly married couples “was to join with the girl that night”(Gilgamesh 109) transitions to by the end of the story an entirely new man.

1. At the very beginning of the work, Gilgamesh is described as one “who knew the ways, was wise in all things” (1.2). How does this establish the central role of knowledge and wisdom in the epic?

The following above connects to the beliefs in the “Epic of Gilgamesh” and the religious system

There was a time when gods and demons roamed the earth. A time when humanity lived at the mercy of divine beings, who executed their wills against the humans, following their own selfish desires and placing humans in a position of piety to these dominant beings. This time on earth is one of great men who fought against these demigods, giving them great fame passed on as stories in the oral tradition. Though it is unrealistic to believe that these men truly fought against divine beings, their stories played a role in the ancient world, which was the beginning of the formation of society and civilization. The epics of “Gilgamesh” and “The Ramayana of Valmiki” both served their societies as an outline of a moral code,