184-98). Nonetheless, the reason for the flood is never ultimately elucidated, and even the gods themselves admit that whatever the original reason, flooding the entire world was probably an overreaction. Thus, Enlil's granting of immortality to Utanapishtim may be seen as the recompense he must pay for having caused so much destruction; having taken the lives of most of humanity, Enlil must now give the remaining representatives of humanity, Utanapishtim and his wife, eternal life. At the same time that the story is lowering the status of the gods by including the scene of Enlil's humiliation, the narrative uses Gilgamesh's inability to attain immortality, either through divine intervention or the plant recommended by Utanapishtim, as a means of actually highlighting human's ability to remain nonetheless. Though Gilgamesh is thwarted in his attempts to live forever, he is ultimately comforted by the city of Uruk, instructing Ur-Shanabi to walk through the city and appreciate its grandeur (11.328-34). In stark contrast to Gilgamesh, the Genesis account of the flood includes clear reasons for the destruction, a single vengeful god (without any equals to challenge him), and ends with a confusing moral that only serves to condemn humanity. The gods' conversation in Gilgamesh seems to suggest that a single offense caused Enlil's fury, but in Genesis, Yahweh simply "saw that the evil of the human creature was great on the earth" and decided to kill them all, without specifically mentioning precisely what was so terrible (Genesis 6:5). Where Gilgamesh contains an ambiguous yet presumably specific cause for the flood, Genesis only includes a general condemnation of all humanity. This further helps to explain why there is no scene similar to that of Enlil's condemnation, because there is quite simply no one to tell Yahweh that he has overreacted. In the story, no other gods exist, and the only people remaining alive are especially deferent to Yahweh, for good reason. Although Yahweh's...
Finally, where the conclusion of Gilgamesh's search for immorality ends with a celebration of human ability and cultural longevity, the Genesis flood account concludes with a confusing story about Noah passing out naked and drunk before cursing his son for seeing his naked form (Genesis 9:20-27). The concluding story is jarring, and only serves to humiliate and scorn the humans in the tale, first with Noah's drunkenness and then with Ham's curse.
It is obvious that there had been little materials available for the two characters to use at the time in order for them to glue their boats. The fact that Noah and Utnapishtim take their families and their livestock to their boats with them is not surprising, since it is the first thing that a person in their position would be expected to do in case of a flood. Noah
Similar to many other initiation myths, Gilgamesh has to overcome obstacles such as the scorpion monsters that bar his way. The intense desire that Gilgamesh has to find the answer to eternal life is shown in the poem by the fact that he rejects the advice of Siduri to accept the limitations of the human condition. He also has to travel over the Waters of Death. When he meets Utnapishtim
Gilgamesh The story of Gilgamesh is one of the first epic poems ever written. Not surprisingly, it parallels a number of other creation myths, particularly in its references to a great flood which cleansed the earth. Such a flood can be found not only in the Sumarian and Babylonian tradition in which Gilgamesh was composed, but also in various Chinese and Indian (from the country of India, not Native Americans) creation
The Epic of GilgameshTablet I1. The Epic of Gilgamesh opens with an introduction to Gilgamesh, the \\\'two-thirds god and one-third human\\\' king of Uruk. He is described as a mighty, heroic, and wise king who has seen all things and possesses knowledge of all the mysteries of life and death due to his quest for immortality. His journey takes him on dangerous adventures where he defeats monsters and confronts his
Dante, Sophocles, Gilgamesh REVISED The Epic of Gilgamesh, Dante's Inferno and Sophocles Oedipus the King are all classic and foundational Western texts which depict, en passant, the importance of humankind's demand to know, to explore and penetrate the unknown, to arrive at ultimate truths about existence and its mysteries, and to find meaning or value therein. I hope to demonstrate with reference to specific episodes -- that of Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh,
The use of physical suffering as a symbol for emotional and spiritual suffering is also well-known in the Western tradition. Centuries later, men and women would disappear into the desert in search of God. They would live apart from all human companionship, and deprive themselves of all physical comfort. Gilgamesh does the same. Gilgamesh is also like the lover who pines away for his beloved and wastes away in
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