Despite the cultural and societal differences between the Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh, they both share a similar scene centralizing around the destruction of the world due to the will of the gods. Similarly, they desired to eradicate human kind through a flood for the sake of cleansing and purifying the world of what they deemed to be unworthy. Through the flood stories, the complex relationship between the gods and human kind can be seen as well as the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incidents. Even though, there are countless similarities between the two stories in a broad perspective, there have a lot of moral and social differences which strongly distinguish them from each other. Nonetheless, they share a similar fixation
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Clearly, the gods saw what they deemed chaos and destruction and wanted to control it and create order and stability from it through their power and capabilities. Another difference between the Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh is the boat, which provides a lot of insight into the moral and social differences between the two different, yet similar stories. In both stories, there was a boat involved, however, the important details regarding what was loaded onto the boat was different. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, after Utnapishtim and his people finished creating the boat, he loaded his family, possessions, every type of animal, and “all types of skilled craftsmen” onto it (Foster, 87). This clearly showed how culture and knowledge was extremely important to the Mesopotamians, especially considering this was a civilization myth. By loading skilled craftsmen onto the boat, the preservation of the civilization and knowledge was made possible, which ensured the maintenance and progression regarding the civilization after the flood. Essentially, through his actions, after the flood the society and civilization was able to experience a rebirth in which the world was able to start over with the knowledge …show more content…
Undeniably, Noah and Utnapishtim tried to contribute in their own way to help restore the order, but did so differently through their actions, which revolved around their social differences. The last significant difference between the Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh is the promises the god or the gods made afterward. In both literary works, they used a rainbow to symbolize their promises after their repentance and admission of guilt. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the mother goddess blamed Enlil for the flood. She said, “O gods, these shall be my lapis necklace, lest I forget, I shall be mindful of these days and not forget, not ever!” (Foster, 90). Her necklace served as a way to memorialize the human beings that died due to the genocide. Essentially, the necklace contained a variety of different colored jewels, which was meant to symbolize a rainbow and represent her pledge to remember to never forget the horrific act of genocide committed. Evidently, this showed how the gods repented for their actions and felt remorseful for the actions. In fact, in Ea’s speech, he discussed about using less extreme methods to decrease the human race. He said, “Instead of your bringing on a flood, Let pestilence rise up to wreck havoc in the land!”
Clearly, the gods saw what they deemed chaos and destruction and wanted to control it and create order and stability from it through their power and capabilities. Another difference between the Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh is the boat, which provides a lot of insight into the moral and social differences between the two different, yet similar stories. In both stories, there was a boat involved, however, the important details regarding what was loaded onto the boat was different. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, after Utnapishtim and his people finished creating the boat, he loaded his family, possessions, every type of animal, and “all types of skilled craftsmen” onto it (Foster, 87). This clearly showed how culture and knowledge was extremely important to the Mesopotamians, especially considering this was a civilization myth. By loading skilled craftsmen onto the boat, the preservation of the civilization and knowledge was made possible, which ensured the maintenance and progression regarding the civilization after the flood. Essentially, through his actions, after the flood the society and civilization was able to experience a rebirth in which the world was able to start over with the knowledge …show more content…
Undeniably, Noah and Utnapishtim tried to contribute in their own way to help restore the order, but did so differently through their actions, which revolved around their social differences. The last significant difference between the Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh is the promises the god or the gods made afterward. In both literary works, they used a rainbow to symbolize their promises after their repentance and admission of guilt. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the mother goddess blamed Enlil for the flood. She said, “O gods, these shall be my lapis necklace, lest I forget, I shall be mindful of these days and not forget, not ever!” (Foster, 90). Her necklace served as a way to memorialize the human beings that died due to the genocide. Essentially, the necklace contained a variety of different colored jewels, which was meant to symbolize a rainbow and represent her pledge to remember to never forget the horrific act of genocide committed. Evidently, this showed how the gods repented for their actions and felt remorseful for the actions. In fact, in Ea’s speech, he discussed about using less extreme methods to decrease the human race. He said, “Instead of your bringing on a flood, Let pestilence rise up to wreck havoc in the land!”