Flood Table Comparisons - Book Report/Review Example

Insert Introduction Books and aspects related to the flood Extent of the flood The Narrative Causes of the flood The flood’s intended target Details on flood The human character in the flood Instructions given The mans of salvationDevelopments after the floodEpic of Gilgamesh Global The author is outside the plotline and gives the account as a story. Humankind’s sin Mankind and one city The flood is caused by a pantheon of gods as heavy rain. The flood takes only 6 days and nights Utnapishtim, a righteous person.

In a dream, Utnapishtim is told by God to build a boat as a way of escaping the flood. A boat that carries Utnapishtim, his family, a few other acquaintances and all animal species is the means of escape.The ark finally lands on Mt. Nisir.A dove, a swallow and a raven are sent to determine the subsiding of water. Utnapishtim offers a sacrifice and is then blessed. Rig VedaGlobal The story is told by an author outside the plotline, so that it is easy to read. The role of evil as the triggering factor to the flood is mentioned only later.

The flood is to destroy mankind. The flood is caused by a pantheon of gods, though only one God created the universe. Satyavrata, a righteous man. Satyavrata is directly commanded by. However, it is Manu who builds the ark himself. Manu is warned by a fish about the imminent flood. Manu or Satyavrata is commanded to take seven holy men, their wives and seven pairs of animal species and food into the vessel. GenesisGlobal The author (Moses) is outside the plotline and gives the narrative as an account of the origin and continuation of man’s race.

This account is easy to understand. Mankind’s continual wickedness Mankind God, Yahweh causes the flood which comes as an outpouring of heavy rain and groundwater. The flood takes 40 days and nights. Noah, a righteous person. Noah is directly told by God to make an arc as a way of escaping the flood. An ark carries Noah, his family and all animal species as the means of escape.The ark finally lands on Mt. Ararat. A raven and three doves are sent to determine the subsiding of water. After offering a sacrifice to God, God blesses Noah.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses Global The author is outside the plotline though his account is protracted and benignantly told. This makes the narrative a laborious reading. Evil is also implied as the cause of the flood, but instead of being practiced by mankind, it grows to the extent of being tangible. Mankind, since it seemed it had sworn to do evil, in lieu of good. The flood is caused by one God, though a pantheon of gods created the universe. Nevertheless, it is the god Jove who passes the sentence.

Deucalion, the son of Prometheus and his wife Pyrrha are the sole survivors of the flood. Deucalion and Pyrrha are borne in a skiff, out of the flood’s raging danger. Neptune and Triton ordered the sea bed to return to its place, and thereby ending the flood. Deucalion and Pyrrha kiss the flood-ruined shrine and pray at the flameless altar to avert the wrath of the gods. Reflection There can be no gainsaying that there are similarities and differences that accompany all these accounts of the great deluge.

The striking similarity in all these accounts is seen in the mentioning of the cataclysmic event itself and the mentioning of the flood as an extirpator of evil and evil people and the extension of the human race. The actors at least comprised a man and a woman who propagate the human race after the flood (Lawall and Mack, 10). The difference comes in force when further details such as geographic location, the characters involved, the kind of vessel used for escape, the origin of the flood and the aftermath of the flood are brought into consideration.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that the differences notwithstanding, all the accounts instead of repudiating the possibility of a flood, only make the universal deluge more plausible. Virtually all ancient societies including the Babylonian, the Sanskrit and the Akkadian civilization have records on this flood. The disparities could only have been caused by generational and geographical distance. However, all the accounts contain a common motif which also confirms a common source of history.

Works CitedLawall, Sara & Mack, Maynard, Eds. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Beginnings to 1650. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002. Print