Comparing Job and Gilgamesh as Suffering Heroes - Essay Example

The stories of Job and Gilgamesh were made not far apart from each other with regard to time and civilization. The Book of Job and the Epic of Gilgamesh were set around the 13th century before Christ, and both stories were placed in the region of ancient Mesopotamia. Both stories have a lot of religious themes, although the Epic of Gilgamesh leans more on the mythological side while the Book of Job maintains a more spiritual-religious tone and message.

            It should also be noted that there are differences with regard to the culture of the ancient Sumerians and the Israelites. The ancient Sumerians were very much a polytheistic culture that made society and civilization revolve around the worship of its many deities and mythical heroes. Gilgamesh, for example, is taken in high regard worship by ancient Sumerians. On the other hand, Israelite or Hebrew culture was very monotheistic. The Hebrews believed that there is only one true God, in their language Yahweh or Jehovah, and He is the Lord of everything and His Will is supreme and good. Israelite society centers on this in the sense that they worship no other being or thing other than God Himself, and submit completely to His Will. In understanding each story’s civilization and cultural background, it would be easier to understand the parallels between the two.

            The first contrast between the story of Gilgamesh and Job is who the characters are like their portrayal. According to ancient Sumerian mythological tradition, Gilgamesh is a semi-divine, or demi-god, of extraordinary strength and was also one of the great kings of Uruk. Gilgamesh could be described as a proud, powerful, and confident personality based on his character in the Epics written about him. Gilgamesh is also an adventurer as much as he was a king and went into many arduous and sometimes dangerous exploits with his man-beast friend Enkidu. To say the least, Gilgamesh was every bit as a warrior like as much and kingly.

            On the other hand, the Hebrew Job is in far contrast to Gilgamesh. Job is a complete human being with no supernatural powers. Although not a mighty king Job is considered to be a very wealthy man, with large livestock herds, and a large and healthy family by ancient Hebrew standards. Unlike the ancient Sumerians, the Israelites did not settle in fortified city-kingdoms and were nomadic in nature. Instead, the Israelites would establish nomadic communities on lands that were fertile enough to support the habitation of both people and livestock. Since Job had a healthy and growing number of both livestock and his family, he most certainly had even larger tracts of fertile land for him to support that kind of population. The job would spend most of his time with his family in agriculture and livestock raising, living a pastoral and peaceful life.

            Now, the reasons why both Job and Gilgamesh were given suffering also differ. In the case of Gilgamesh, it was more of divine retribution. The fact that the exploits of Gilgamesh and Enkidu affected the disposition of the Sumerian deities was of no small matter. It is as Ferguson noted that Gilgamesh is especially proud of his expedition with Enkidu to the cedar mountain in which he killed the guardian and chopped down the sacred cedar” (327). In the case of Job, suffering was brought unto him as a test of his faith in Yahweh and also a test of his character. Gilgamesh lost his closest friend Enkidu by the curse of the Sumerian deities, while Job lost his wealth, his good health, and his family altogether.

            The responses of Job and Gilgamesh also have certain contrasts with regard to their predicament and suffering. In the Book of Job, Job undergoes a personal struggle of his own. Newell pointed out that he [Job] argues with his friends, defending himself against their accusations and maintaining his righteousness (302). He addresses God, and speaks about him, as he wrestles to reconcile his theology and past experience of God with his present experience of suffering and the wickedness he sees about him (Newell 302-303). Gilgamesh, on the other hand, was seeking the answer to the possibility of immortal life in the wake of Enkidu’s death. In the end, Job’s personal faith in Yahweh was reconciled and he was given more than his past share of wealth. In the case of Gilgamesh, however, his quest for immortality came so close but failed when the plant that would make him immortal was stolen by a serpent.