Comparison Between Noah And Gilgamesh Essay, Research Paper

In two different stories it has been depicted that two men have had their lives spared by God. Several questions are asked to find out why. Why save anyone? Why not just kill of all men instead of sparing two distinct but similar men for the same kind? There are several stories that depict earthly destruction and the destruction of the human race. However, the story of the Noah and the flood is important to millions of Christians and Jews across the world and Gilgamesh is an epic story that has survived centuries. These two stories are similar in structure and can be analyzed in nature and character.

For example, in the biblical story of Noah and the flood, God decided to destroy the evilness of the world by causing worldwide destruction. It was stated in Genesis 6-9 (the Flood0 as so by these quotes. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold I will destroy his way upon the earth.

God chose to save Noah and his family because Noah was still loyal to God. God saw this loyalty from Noah when God commanded Noah to build the Ark to save his loyal followers and the animals that he created. He used nature to destroy the world. This is ironic that he used rain and water, two of his creations to destroy earth, perhaps his greatest creation. This may be why God saved Noah and his family, to preserve and restore earth, his creation. A quote from The Flood shows Noah’s loyalty to the Lord: ” Thus did Noah according to all that the God commanded him, so did he.”

Gilgamesh the ancient epic has a section in the long story that is similar to Genesis 6-9, in a clear way by having a flood. In those days the world overflowed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild beast. The great god was aroused by the clamor. Enil, the councellor of the city of Shurrpak, spoke to the gods in the council. “The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel.” So the Gods agreed to destroy all of mankind. But Ea warned Utnapishtim in a dream, this is the following quote from Gilgamesh. “Tear down your house, I say, and build a boat. These are the measurements of the barque as you shall build her: let her beam equal her length, let her deck be roofed like the vault that covers the abyss, then take up into the boast the seed of all living creatures.” Utnapishtim showed his loyalties to Ea , by replying “When I had understood I said to my lord, behold what ever you have commanded I will honor and perform.

In conclusion it is amazing to see two amazing stories Gilgamesh and

Genesis 6-9 The Flood so far apart about a thousand years, have the same meaning of the creation and destruction of mankind and all living things.