The Two Sides of the Great Flood
Gilgamesh has the earliest version of the flood story that appears later in the Old Testament (Genesis 6–9). Discuss how each version has very different emphases and draws a different moral
In Gilgamesh, there were many Gods that sent the great flood because men were sinful. The flood lasted for six days. Utanapishtim is the survivor of the great flood. He is told in a dream by the god of wisdom to build a boat that will withstand a large flood that is meant to destroy all men. All men were meant to die so that the gods could recreate mankind. However, Utanapishtim was granted eternal life for surviving the flood. The Old Testament of the Bible tells of another similar story about the Great Flood. Noah was told by the one and only god to save his family and all animals by building an ark. This flood lasted forty days and forty nights. God felt this was necessary because men were wicked and needed to be punished. After the flood settled, God created a beautiful rainbow and promised to never flood the earth again.
2. As the earliest human epic Gilgamesh also invites comparisons with later epics like the Odyssey and the Aeneid. Each provides a different goal as an organizing principle—the return home, the founding of a state, the search for immortality—and in each, the gods involve themselves in human affairs. Discuss the relationship of the gods to the protagonist’s quest in each epic.
Gilgamesh is said to be two thirds divine, and one-half human. In his story, he only comes into contact with a few gods. The gods are more humanlike in this story. They are childlike and greedy at times. Divine intervention is their main goal in human life. They want to control the world they created and its inhabitants. It is found that not even the gods can escape mortality. Odysseus comes into direct contact with many Gods. He is trying to make it back home, but some of the gods interfere directly in his passage home. Athena is a goddess that finally helps Odysseus get home. The gods in Aeneid go to extreme measures for the mortals because they are fascinated with them.
