Compare And Contrast Gilgamesh's Flood

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Noah’s Flood vs. Gilgamesh’s Flood Homer’s “Epic of Gilgamesh” was discovered during the mid-nineteenth century and ever since then it has drawn a mass attention to Christians. This is because there are many parallels between the flood in Gilgamesh and the flood in the book of Genesis. There were obvious similarities in the boats, the extent and means of the flood, and the actions used to find land, but there were also a couple differences that makes one story more realistic than the other. In both stories there were major floods, but they both had different causes. In Gilgamesh the gods felt that all of man’s sins needed to be washed away. It was a tragic and unfair punishment. While in Genesis the cause of the flood was man’s wickedness.…show more content…
The fact that the Gods in Gilgamesh created the flood because of man’s sin (making too much noise) is childish and irresponsible of the Gods use of power. The way the God in Genesis goes about it is also irresponsible, but it seems to be more realistic because it was done in spite of the violence and wickedness of the people. The distinguishing factors between sin and wickedness is that sin is violating the word or truths set by the Gods, while Wickedness is evil or thinking that opposes God’s truth or belief. Sin is much less punishable than being wicked or evil, therefore this makes Genesis more realistic. Genesis also goes about this in a more realistic way because the people were promised it would not happen again. The God’s in Gilgamesh never promised anything. They just argued and fought like regular humans. After the floods are over the Gods in Gilgamesh placed a limit on the growth of population, but in Genesis they were told to go forth and multiply. A God is expected to be responsible and someone who is well respected. It is hard to respect a God that acts like they are part of the human race. Comparing the two stories it is hard for one not to see that the book of Genesis is more realistic and believable then the “Epic of Gilgamesh.” Even though it is believed that the book of Genesis took its flood story from Gilgamesh’s story, seeing the realistic views of each stories may make one think it is the other way

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