The Comparisons of the Creation Stories of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Popol Vuh, and Genesis
Throughout history several cultures have developed their own accounts of how the origin of the earth and its people were created. Three accounts that can be compared are Popol Vuh (The “Mayan Bible”), the book of Genesis from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and The Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia. By reading these similar creation and flood stories, one can grasp a deeper understanding of the people the story was written for including their beliefs, traditions, values, and culture.
One of the direct correlations between Popol Vuh and Genesis is the story of Adam and Eve. In Genesis, God creates the world and everything in existence in six …show more content…
The Mesopotamian tale gives situations concerning the interaction among between gods, kings, and their mortal subjects, and while the story is in no way a bible, it does describe the background of their religion. During Gilgamesh’s journey to find the secret for eternal life, he learns the story of the Great Sumerian Flood. The God Ea grew angry with mankind because of their evil and sinful ways and decided to destroy them with a flood that covered the earth (Tablet XI: Line 14). He spares a righteous human named Utanapishtim and his family, along with specific animals in order to …show more content…
In comparison, Popol Vuh begins by telling the story of the four Gods who attempted and failed many times to create beings that could take care of themself, communicate, and continue to populate the earth. They made animals first, second came the mud people, third came the wood people, and last came the maize people. Eventually the Gods grew fearful of the power humans possessed, so flaws were added to limit their power. When the Gods attempted to destroy the wood people with a flood, the maize people rose against them. So a great flood was used to cleanse and punish all human population so the Gods could try again. Even though Deities are deemed as divine and all powerful, both stories provide situations showing that the Gods have human
Throughout history several cultures have developed their own accounts of how the origin of the earth and its people were created. Three accounts that can be compared are Popol Vuh (The “Mayan Bible”), the book of Genesis from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and The Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia. By reading these similar creation and flood stories, one can grasp a deeper understanding of the people the story was written for including their beliefs, traditions, values, and culture.
One of the direct correlations between Popol Vuh and Genesis is the story of Adam and Eve. In Genesis, God creates the world and everything in existence in six …show more content…
The Mesopotamian tale gives situations concerning the interaction among between gods, kings, and their mortal subjects, and while the story is in no way a bible, it does describe the background of their religion. During Gilgamesh’s journey to find the secret for eternal life, he learns the story of the Great Sumerian Flood. The God Ea grew angry with mankind because of their evil and sinful ways and decided to destroy them with a flood that covered the earth (Tablet XI: Line 14). He spares a righteous human named Utanapishtim and his family, along with specific animals in order to …show more content…
In comparison, Popol Vuh begins by telling the story of the four Gods who attempted and failed many times to create beings that could take care of themself, communicate, and continue to populate the earth. They made animals first, second came the mud people, third came the wood people, and last came the maize people. Eventually the Gods grew fearful of the power humans possessed, so flaws were added to limit their power. When the Gods attempted to destroy the wood people with a flood, the maize people rose against them. So a great flood was used to cleanse and punish all human population so the Gods could try again. Even though Deities are deemed as divine and all powerful, both stories provide situations showing that the Gods have human