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Genesis and Gilgamesh comparison
Comparing and contrasting gilgamesh
Impact of THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH on modern society
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The Epic of Gilgamesh is regarded as the oldest written text discovered by mankind. Written copies of the work are dated during the early Mesopotamian empire. The story concerns the king, Gilgamesh, and his search for immortality. Throughout the piece, gods and divinity are highlighted and by virtue of this, many historians emphasis that the text has religious significance. Approximately a millenium later, Judaism is founded and Moses writes the beginnings of their religious scripture, Genesis and Exodus, the first two parts of the Bible. Though set in different times, by different authors, for different beliefs and cultures, there are many evident parallels between The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible. The Bible borrowed many stories from The Epic of Gilgamesh to explain the events of the time before its writing.
The well known tale of Adam and Eve has similarities with the epic. God creates Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He allows them to live happily and do as they please. God’s one rule for them is that they are not allowed to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then, a snake approaches Eve and tempts her to eat the fruit. Eve hands the fruit to Adam and he eats it.
The Bible states, “But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate,”(English Standard Gen. 4:7). God finds out shortly after and punishes all three of them.
Similar to Adam...
... middle of paper ...
...ous one, is Enlil and he was talking to Shamash.
More research and focus should be dedicated to finding connections between The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible since these similarities shed new light onto parts of Judaism and Christianity. Morals surrounding the power of God and his children in the Bible could have been derived from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Details from ancient mesopotamian mythology influenced the writers of the Bible, and every little detail of the latter has affected the modern world.
Work Cited
Coogan, Michael David, et al. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised
Standard Version : with the Apocrypha : an Ecumenical Study Bible. Oxford
[England]: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Foster, Benjamin R., Douglas Frayne, and Gary M. Beckman. The Epic of Gilgamesh:
A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.
During the peaceful time in the garden God gives Adam and Eve a specific rule. God allows Adam and Eve to eat off any tree except nothing from the tree of good and evil. God explains that death would be the result of eating off this tree. This part of the story relates to the heroes journey’s step of the call to adventure or the problem. Now the decision of obeying or rebelling became upon them. Eve begins to wonder around in the garden, she discovers the tree of good and evil. She notices something different, Satan, in the form of a serpent. Satan tries to entice and persuade her to eat fruit from the tree. Satan begins to ask her, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree in the garden’? (Genesis 3:1).” She feels hesitant at first, not wanting to sin against God, but Satan begins to persuade her with all the right words. Eve feels reluctant and does not know what to do. Satan encourages Eve in a negative way to disobey God. As
The serpent turns toward Eve and speaks, "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Transfixed by the revelation of all of the benefits of eating from the tree, Eve takes fruit from the tree, eats of it, and gives it to her husband who takes it and eats the fruit. The prostitute likewise steps into the wilderness where Enkidu lives; he is a creature innocent of the world where man dwells. The prostitute, sent by Gilgamesh sits by the drinking-hole waiting for the arrival of Enkidu. When he appears, she strips her body and welcomes his eagerness. There she teaches him her woman's art. Both the prostitute and Eve represent all of womankind.
When the god made earth and haven, he created for 7days and blessed on 7th day. And then, the god created Adam and Eve and said “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Genesis 2). However, they eat the fruit because of the trick of serpent and they got coursed by the god. Through this passage, I feel the humans have kind of week mind so the snake could trick Adam and Eve. Moreover, the author notes the reason of why we human realized every feelings. After that, Eve bore Cain and Abel but Cain killed Abel because of his jealousy. In my opinion, if Adam and Eve didn’t eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, Cain never
Now, to the untrained eye, it may be possible to interpret the aforementioned text as having certain "scheisty" tendencies coming from both the serpent and, believe it or not, God himself. As possible as it may seem, the main theme of the passages of Genesis are not trying to show God as being greedy with the knowledge of good and evil. It isn't like God was worried that Adam and Eve would gain knowledge that would empower them and make them as gods. That is almost preposterous to think that God, the almighty creator of heaven and earth, would be worried about two mortals obtaining a little bit of information. In all actuality, that idea is incredibly far from the truth. God gave Adam and Eve the world, literally. This perfect world, a "heaven on earth", was just given to them out of the goodness of his heart. All they had to do was look over God's creations and enjoy true eternal bliss. As a matter of fact, the only rule that God gave to Adam and Eve was to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All they had to do to live in the eternal paradise, with all the cookies and milk they could stomach, was to follow that one freakin' rule. Acknowledging the fact that the serpent (a.k.a. Satan Incarnate) did do its part in persuading Eve to eat the fruit and to give the fruit to her husband. Even still, Eve should have realized that she was risking eternal happiness for the words of a snake.
When Eve eats the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, her decision to tell Adam of her disobedience turns on two suppositions. If her transgression is kept secret from God, Eve's augmented knowledge might increase Adam's love for her, and perhaps cause her to be more equal or even superior to Adam. Even though Eve was created comparable to Adam as his helper, she refers to Adam as her "Author and Disposer." Furthermore, she says that while God is Adam's law, Adam is her law. Apparently, Eve chafes under this arrangement, as she wraps up her evaluation of not telling Adam of her sin with, "for inferior who is free?" However, her death is assured if God has seen her wrongdoing. In this alternative, God may provide Adam with another woman, rendering Eve extinct. Eve finds unendurable the possibility that Adam will father children with a new Eve. Eve's consideration of either alternative depends on her narcissism and her need to be loved, even worshiped. Milton's Eve, like Narcissus, is infatuated with herself. Created in Adam's image, Eve draws Adam's love, his narcissism projected onto Eve. Inexperienced with women's wiles, uxorious Adam falls.
Imagine how life in the Garden of Eden is beautiful. Adam and Eve have the perfect life, of living luxuriously and eating all the fruit without the efforts of hard labor. However; the serpent had to come around and persuade Eve and manipulate her into eating a fruit from the tree of knowledge and good and evil. Yet, Eve may have taken the first bite, which no argument can be disagreed upon, but Adam, who was so in love with her and would forget himself around her is the reason why she took the bite, and why he was so willing to eat the forbidden fruit for her is the reason that made mankind fall. Biblical scholars, and teachings of Adam and eve, also betray Eve has the manipulator and seductress to man, and if Eve hadn’t eating the fruit, then man would have never sinned, and so many explanations start up and the blame game continues. Yet, no one really looks at Adam’s role in this situation, where was he? Why did he follow Eve into eating the fruit? The truth is Adam who was so in love with Eve that his wisdom from God left him blind-sided that he would have done anything for her. ...
During my Analysis of The Epic of Gilgamesh and Ramayana, I have noticed that these two tales have been greatly influenced by religion. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, there are 5 main religious themes which are allusions to the Bible.
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.
Ancient world literature and early civilization stories are mostly centered on 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, ideas, and themes are generally found correlative. It is hard to believe that one work did not affect the others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are parts of two cultures that are hundreds of years apart. Whereas Gilgamesh is a myth and the book of Genesis is the basis of many religions, they both have notably similar accounts of symbols, motifs, meaningful events according to the relationship between the divine and humans in literature.
The flood of Gilgamesh was written before 2000 B.C, while the Genesis story was written in 400 BC Which was much later then the Gilgamesh flood. Biblical writers probably knew of the much older flood but revised it so that it fit with their own history and worldview. They most likely intended the original story with their own mythology. Despite the many similarities between the two stories, the differences are revealed in a number of different topics that distinguish the biblical version of the story from the ancient version.
As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories
One obvious distinction between "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and Genesis can be traced back to the cultures of the authors. The Gilgamesh epic comes from a culture and religion that is polytheistic. The author (and thus the characters in the epic) believed in a pantheon of gods and goddesses, each possessing human attributes and vices. The Hebraic culture that gave us Genesis revolved around the belief in one Almighty God. The Hebrew God was above man in every way: He was omniscient and all-powerful and yet retained compassion for the humans He had created. While Noah had but one God to serve, Gilgamesh was responsible to many. It seems that many human-like gods each command less respect than one all-powerful God. This idea can be examined by looking at Ishtar's advances to Gilgamesh. This goddess desired the mortal Gilgamesh and he responds by shunning her, thereby being disobedient to his gods. Gilgamesh may be king of Uruk and two-thirds god but that does not make him an equal. "Come to me Gilgamesh, ...
The creation story in Genesis refers to a serpent classically interpreted as an evil entity. If we consider God’s warning that eating fruit from a certain tree would result in death the same day and that the record indicates that the only two humans on the planet did not, we must reconsider the role of the serpent and reevaluate the roles of good and evil and how they apply to ...
The ancient reading, “The Epic of Creation/Enuma Elish” and the beginning of the Holy Bible Old Testament, Genesis are two distinct passages that share many different qualities. Ranging from how the universe was ever created, to the origin of power and rule over others, both stories reveal persistence, strength, and honor. Genesis 1:1-2:4, Genesis 2:4-3:34 from the Holy Bible, and “The Epic of Creation”, have similar beginnings that determine the endings of both stories.
3.1-5). God’s forbin law stated that, “Ye [Adam and Eve] shall not eat of it [the tree of good and evil], neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die (Gen. 3.3).” With the law in the forefront of Eve’s mind, Satan still deceived the women into eating the forbidden fruit by saying, “ye eat...then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Bowers 273 & Gen. 3.6).” Satan's deceptive nature convinced Eve to eat from the restricted tree, leading to her own, Adam’s and mankind’s separation from God (Bowers 265). This disobedience presented sin to the world and strengthened Satan's goal to, “wage by force or guile eternal war (Milton 309).” Although the Serpent destroyed the perfect relationship between God and man, by causing Eve to sin, both accounts of the fall gives mankind future hope of redemption (Rosenblatt 28 &