The Book of Genesis vs. the Epic of Gilgamesh

Two Different rule books with Similar Stories The phonograph recording of coevals and The epical of Gilgamesh reserve galore(postnominal) slip by similarities. One major, noniceable parity is that in both stories, there be flood legends. There is the legend of Noah and the Ark in The prevail of contemporaries and the story of Utnapishtim in The larger-than-life of Gilgamesh. In both stories, a higher(prenominal) agent wants to wipe out the gentle small-arms gentleman race and decides to save one person who is then assigned to get on an ark to hold himself, his family, and one of each animal. There are also many specifics about this flood that the two stories have in common, not adept the basis of the tale.For example, both stories tell of a long storm. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, it says Six long time and seven nights the wind and storm (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 127). In The Book of Genesis, it says rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights (Gen. 712). In both cas es, the story is specific about the number of days the storm lasted. Noah and Utnapishtim make forfeitures to their respective higher office staff Noah to deity and Utnapishtim to Enlil. In the story of Noah and the Ark, it says that he offered burnt offerings on the altar (Gen. 20) which is a sacrifice to beau ideal. In the story of Utnapishtim, it says that he offered a sacrifice (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 155) by move a libation to Ea, which is a form of spiritual sacrifice. These stories do not pull through for entertainment, they serve the purpose of teaching people lessons about human beingkind and God or the gods. These flood legends tell us about a bracing of distinct religious beliefs of the ancient people, one being that people are instinctually bad. A higher power wanted to wipe out the human race in both legends because humanness were doing wrong.If humans were good by nature, the higher powers would not have wanted to destroy them all. The stories of these floods also t estify flaws in the high powers. Usually the gods or God are considered to be perfect, but in this story we see that the higher powers do and then make mistakes. They made the mistake of creating an earth populated by flawed people. This is beta because it shows that not even God or gods can pass on perfection, and humans sure enough cannot. Even though this mollify makes the gods better than humans, no one is perfect.These two stories are also very similar in their views of humans versus animals. In both stories, the higher power assigns a man to build this ark and lead a new world with his animals. This shows his authority everywhere the animals. Since he and his family are intended to be the only humans by and by the flood kills everyone else, this makes the humans the leaders of the living beings. The stories send a clear message that humans are above animals and humans have power over all animals. This tells us that animals are not viewed as equals and certainly do not receive the same respect as humans in either culture.This explains why people eat meat, have pets, farm, or anything else humans do to control animals and establish a higher power over them. Although there are very major similarities surrounded by The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis, there are also many differences. One of the main differences is the attitudes about knowledgeable activityual practice. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh sleeps with all of the women in the town that he rules. Also, after a successful journey with Enkidu, they issue themselves by having sex with prostitutes. Prostitutes are also seen as mystical and powerful.Even more different from the new(prenominal) story is that the gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh sleep with human beings. Sex is often more common and casual in this story. Also, because it is provided to the warriors as a reward for a successful journey, it makes sex almost a trophy. Overall, this tale makes sex out to be a spiritual, powerful, and pleasurable action. This is very different from The Book of Genesis. In The Book of Genesis, sex is not for pleasure. People are not supposed to have sex until marriage, and it is mainly for the purpose of procreation.This is very different from The Epic of Gilgamesh in which Gilgamesh sleeps with many women while unwed. The difference in sexual attitudes in the stories exemplifies how sex is viewed differently in different cultures. Some whitethorn see it as a form of pleasure, while opposites view it as a means for creating children. Another minor difference between the stories is the conception of im virulentity. In both stories, all humans are born mortal. Although Gilgamesh is 1/3 god and 2/3 human, he is still mortal because he can be killed. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is given immortality by the gods before flooding out the human race.However, in The Book of Genesis, God does not give anyone the gift of immortality. This shows how the Christian cul ture believes that humans are far less powerful than God and they can never be anywhere near as strong and wise as Him. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, humans can be granted special powers by the gods, and Gilgamesh himself is part god. This puts far less emphasis on the division between humans and gods than The Book of Genesis. The obvious similarities between The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis tell us that the people of the world coming from different cultures still have many mutual beliefs.The similarities in the stories also show how important these stories are to people, since the beliefs are so widespread that multiple different variations of the stories have been written. It is clear that the people of the ancient world believed that the world was created by a higher power in a number of days, that a higher power created the human race, humans are very flawed, and many other mutual beliefs that can be found in The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis.