Comparing The Gods And God In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

Both the story of “Noah and the Flood” in the book of Genesis in The Hebrew Bible and the flood story in The Epic of Gilgamesh detail a grand flood in which a man saved life from extinction by building an ark, earning fame and immortality in some form. The theme of completing this grand task for a moral purpose holds true to both stories, but the depiction and actions of the divine and mortal characters in the stories contain different similarities and differences.

People anticipate that the divine beings will watch over them and guard them. Now and again it isn't that the people hope to be protected but, guided somehow. They see the gods as flawless creatures that are all powerful and all knowing. The interaction between the gods and the humans in The Epic of Gilgamesh isn’t hard to identify, “Your appearance is no different from mine; there is nothing strange in your features (Gilgamesh 538)”. There is trust and a mutual dependency between the humans and the gods in The epic of Gilgamesh. Regardless of the undeniable power difference between the two

In Genesis the divine power is God, and one God only. The opening sentence in Genesis refers to one power. That power is also omnipotent. Evidence for that is seen on page eight when God gives clear instructions not to eat “from the tree of knowledge.” This sets up the relationship between humans and God: humans must first seek God’s will. This culture believes all who follow his guidance will be blessed; while all those who go astray will find distress. Just as Adam and Eve found when the ate from the tree of knowledge, and God acrimoniously “terribly sharpen birth pangs, in pang shall you bear children ...”, as well as other deleterious consequences. (Genesis, page 13).

In both Gilgamesh and Noah and the Flood, man’s wickedness leads to death, destruction, and rebirth all caused by billions of gallons of water sweeping the earth’s surface. The flood in both stories destroys most of mankind. The floods represent rebirth and a new beginning for mankind, as well as the gods and God’s wrath. In Gilgamesh the gods decide to destroy mankind by flooding the earth for six days and nights. Utnapishtim is chosen to build a boat in order to restart mankind after the flood. In the Bible God also decides to flood the earth due to the increase in wickedness. God chooses Noah to build an ark and store seven pairs of every clean animal and two of every other kind of animal on it

The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An

The Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities to the Bible, especially in Genesis and it’s not just that the both begin with the letter “g”’! One major similarity being the flood story that is told in both works. The two stories are very similar but also very different. Another being the use of serpents in both works and how they represent the same thing. A third similarity being the power of God or gods and the influence they have on the people of the stories. Within these similarities there are also differences that need to be pointed out as well.

Then Ea randomly selects one man (Utanapishtim) and his wife to survive the flood and repopulate the Earth. This part of the epic is countered by the biblical story of the flood. God is hurt, pained in His heart, about how His creation, man, has turned their back on their creator. Enlil was not even the god who had created man. He just wanted to destroy mankind because he felt like it “For [Enlil], irrationally, brought on the flood” (11. 174). God made a promise to never destroy the earth by flood again. He even made a sign so that we know His promise still stands today. “And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’” (Genesis

The Christian covenant promises that people will receive an earthly or heavenly inheritance on the premise of good behavior while the people of Mesopotamian society attempt to please the gods with no guarantee in their fate. The Christian God represents not just what is most powerful but what is morally best—humans were supposed to aspire to reach His level and ultimately imitate him especially since they were created in his image, whereas the Gods in Mesopotamia each had their own rules that the people were to follow. “You have assigned to everyone his place….You create the life.” (McKay, pg. 16). The Bible comes from the same region as Gilgamesh, and shares some of the same concepts and events, such as the snake as the enemy who deprived humans of eternal life and in Mesopotamian society, the flood. In both the Bible and Gilgamesh, disobedience to a god, or gods in Mesopotamian society, brings dire consequences; “The gods of the city turned away… The population breathed in fear.” (McKay, pg

In both stories, the gods are respected and feared in some way, but at some point, humans displease the gods. To enforce His authority over all living creatures, the god in Genesis “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,” so He fashioned an immense flood to rid the world of the evil that He brought about (King James Version, Gen. 6.5). However, not all humans continuously sinned; He spared Noah and his family because he remained so devoted to God, then later made a promise that “waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Gen. 9.15). Likewise, in The

Throughout these stories God and humans are both described in similar ways. When God first created man, he "created humankind in his image"(Genesis

Ancient world literature and early civilization stories turn around human’s relationship with higher beings. Ancient civilizations were extremely religious, holding the belief that their very lives were in the hands of their almighty god or goddess. This holds true for both the people of biblical times as well as those of the epic era. However, their stories have some differences according to cultural variation but the main structure, idea and theme are generally found correlative. It is hard to believe that that one work did not affect the others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are two cultures that are hundreds of years apart. Upon studying the book of Genesis and the story of Gilgamesh; whereas one

Many people believe that everything happens for a reason. Some people believe there is a God out there deciding their fate, and others believe it’s their actions that create the path they will take. No matter the idea, everyone has a different relationship with what they believe in. In Gilgamesh, edited by Steven Mitchell, demigod Gilgamesh struggles with his relationship to the gods. When the council of gods kill his best friend, Enkidu, Gilgamesh goes on a difficult journey aiming to become immortal and truly equal to them. His relationship with the gods is complicated because without them, Gilgamesh cannot succeed. Yet somehow, they are also the only thing in his way. In this epic, the relationship between gods and men is filled with tension because the gods have immense power over the humans, including the ability to decide the fate of their entire world.

The Drama of Scripture written by Bartholomew and Goheen takes the reader on a journey through the entire Bible in six short “acts.” The first Act discusses creation and the establishment of God’s Kingdom. In the beginning was complete darkness. Then, God created light and divided the heavens and the earth. He then split the waters and the seas, creating dry ground on which the rest of creation could walk. He proceeded to make plants and flowers and the sun, moon, and stars. He created days and seasons and animals of all shapes and sizes. And then, to add the finishing touch, God created men and women, male and female, He created them. The book states that “the Genesis story is given so that we might have a true understanding of the world in which we live, its divine author, and our own place in it” (Bartholomew, 29). Genesis 1-3, the story of Creation, is prevalent because it introduces the author of creation, humanity, and the creation upon which humanity’s drama unfolds.

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in His own image,” and do humans not have a nose with which to smell and a heart with which to feel? Traer’s second point which argues about the inconsistency of God’s justice shows his arrogance in regards to the status of mankind in comparison to God. God is completely sovereign and does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3) because His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). Furthermore, it would be wrong of us to evaluate God’s justice because doing so would suggest that we as humans know all there is to know about what is good for the world and what is not, equating us with God. Traer’s third supporting point which suggests that God’s sending of the flood failed only further shows the tainted image he has of God.

God’s role in the Bible is characterized in several different ways, with dramatically competing attributes. He takes on many functions and, as literary characters are, he is dynamic and changes over time. The portrayal of God is unique in separate books throughout the Bible. This flexibility of role and character is exemplified by the discrepancy in the depiction of God in the book of Genesis in comparison to the depiction of God in the book of Job. On the larger scale, God creates with intention in Genesis in contrast to destroying without reason in Job. However, as the scale gets smaller, God’s creative authority can be seen in both books, yet this creative authority is manifested in entirely distinctive manners. In Genesis, God as