Comparison of Gilgamesh Story with the Biblical Account of the Flood - Research Paper Example

Comparison of Gilgamesh story with the biblical account of the flood Human beings are never satisfied with what they have. In fact, most authors have argued that this is a psychological problem. It has been said that even, the richest man in the world is not always satisfied with what he has. In connection to this, they will continue working hard so as to continue acquiring more wealth. The author of Gilgamesh epic, talks about how mankind in his quest to be happy, continually moves from one place to the other. In the poem, the following themes have been highlighted, love as a motivating force, God’s are dangerous, and inevitability of death. The epic story has been of great interest to Christians since it has a lot of comparison with the biblical story of Noah. In connection to this, the main of this paper is to compare the Gilgamesh epic story with the biblical account of the flood. The author of the poem talks about a relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Enkidu was a king but he was very self-centred while Gilgamesh was a bully (Meyers 4). Therefore, when the two became friends, they kept checking on one another. The relationship, Gilgamesh had with the king, made the citizens of the country to like him very much. In connection to this, when the king passed, he was appointed to become the king. Although, the relationship Noah had with God was a little different from the relationship Gilgamesh had with Enkidu but still some comparison can be drawn. For example, God was annoyed by the way, mankind was sinning (Epic of Gilgamesh 7). Therefore, he wanted to destroy the whole earth, but because He loved Noah very much, He decided to spare the earth. It is this for Noah that is why God decided to give mankind a second chance. So, He instructed Noah to construct a big arch. The purpose of the arch was to house animals of different kinds both male and female, so that during the destruction of the world they can be spared. After becoming the king Gilgamesh started competing with God, he decided to look for ways of becoming immortal. It is this completion with the gods that annoyed them. According to the author, the gods were so angry with king that they wanted to destroy the whole world. However, because there was some other people in the town who were righteous, the gods decided to give them another chance (Kelly 7). Therefore, the gods instructed one of the servant, who according to them was righteous to build a big arch (Epic of Gilgamesh 8). Then he was strictly instructed to choose only those people who were living according to the lands of the law, and take them to the boat. Thereafter, the author says that the earth was destroyed. This is in comparison with the biblical story of Noah, where under the same circumstances God was annoyed with mankind and therefore, He destroyed the earth with water. The theme of inevitability of death can also be seen in both Gilgamesh story and the biblical story of Noah. According to the author, despite being warned by Enkidu about the dangers of competing with God, Gilgamesh still went ahead to look for means of becoming immortal (Epic of Gilgamesh 4). This because he felt it was not fair for only the gods to live forever. Gilgamesh felt that life is short and that the only thing that lasts forever is fame. Therefore, every time they went to the battle field, he made sure that he did his best. Even though he becomes famous, he felt that something was still missing. At this point, Gilgamesh decides to look for ways of becoming immortal; however, he still later died. The theme of inevitability of death is also seen in the biblical story of Noah. At that particular time, there were people who could not believe that the world was going to be destroyed (Meyers 6). According to the bible, most of the people were laughing when they were being told that the earth was going to be destroyed. In fact, the bible says that they were telling Noah that God could not kill them. They believed that they could only die at old age. However, when the flood came they were all wiped out. In both the two stories, it can also be noted that flood was used to destroy the earth. The only difference, however, between the two stories is that in the epic story, council of god decided to flood the whole earth to punish the wickedness of the mankind. Man’s wickedness is believed to be the cause of the anger from the council of gods to bring down the flood. This is different from the bible story, where although God was annoyed, He still could not imagine destroying Noah, who was so loyal to Him and lived a righteous life. This can be seen in the book of genesis 7, where God commanded Noah to go and built an Ark, thereafter he then flooded the whole earth (Bible 23). It can also be noted that even though the two stories are similar, there is also another difference in that, in the epic story, some of the animals were destroyed. According to the author, animals which were not in the vicinity of the arch were all destroyed. However, this differs from the biblical story, where God ordered Noah to select every species of the animals both male and female and direct them into the arch. Another similarity which comes out is that in both the stories, both the council of gods and God promised that they will not destroy the earth by water (Meyers 12). Most analysts have argued that after the earth was destroyed, both the council of gods and God were so touched that they decided to give mankind another chance to live. Also, the two stories have a common ending. In that at the end of the floods there was a sign that both the council of the gods and Gods used to indicate the end of the floods. In the epic story, a necklace was used to while in the biblical story a dove was send by God (Meyers 5). The dove was symbolic in that it was white in colour, and white colours are always a sign of peace (Bible 25). While, in the epic story the necklace was always viewed as a symbol of love. In connection to this, the council of gods was trying to show mankind their love. The way the epic story ends, has also attracted a lot of criticism from Christians. This is because most Christians believe that a necklace is a sign of materialism. At the end both Noah and the person who built the arch in the epic story was acknowledged. According to the bible, Noah gave sacrifice to and in the process God made a covenant with him (Bible 19). While, in the epic story the person who build the arch was offered a gift of immortality. Therefore, in both the instances both Noah and the person who build the arch were awarded (Kelly 11). In summary, there are a lot of similarities between the epic story and the biblical story of the flood. However, most Christians believe that the author of the epic story was trying to copy some parts of the bible. Others also argue that, the author wanted to be seen as being inspired by God. In connection to this, a lot of debate has been going on, as to whether the author wanted to be compared with the people who wrote the bible. References Crim, Keith R. The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible. New York, NY: Abingdon press. 1996. Print Meyers, Erick M, The oxford archaeology in the near east. New York, NY: Oxford university press. 1997. Print. Holy bible. London: Hendrickson. 2004. Print Ancient Mesopotamian religion: The epic of Gilgamesh. N.p, N.d Kelly, Christopher. “ The story of Gilgamesh” Archaeology. 9.4 (1985): 10-20. Print Read More