Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis
History tells us that since we have been able to write, our human
race has had the habit of recording historical tales, or stories. Most of
the first stories were tales of heroic men, scouring their land in search
of some noble prize. These stories are known as epics, and they give us an
excellent idea of the lifestyles and basic thought processes of early
humans. Along the lines of these epics are the accounts told in the Bible,
especially those in the Old Testament. As with the epics, these legends
give us some spiritual idea of the beginning of time and the accounts of
early man. If we compare the stories and characters of the first epic, The
Epic of Gilgamesh, with those of the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis,
we not only discover some striking similarities, but also some notable
differences.
If there is one thing that all early accounts revolve around, that
is the idea of a divine being or, in other words, god. Early humans were
extremely religious, holding the belief that their very lives were in the
hands of their god. This holds true for both the people of biblical times
as well as those of the epic era. However, even as both groups believed in
a supreme being, they harbored different feelings and beliefs about the
subject. In the epic, many gods are mentioned and worshiped, such as
Ninsun and Shamash. These gods can give birth to mortals, and can
communicate with these mortals, usually through dreams. In Genesis, there
is mention of only one God, a being that created the earth and skies, as
well as humans and wildlife. This god can also communicate with mortals,
either through dream or direct conversation. In both cases, the mortals
worshiped the god(s), but in the epic it seemed that the gods were more
likely to be persuaded by their servants. In Genesis, God remains a fairly
strong, static being who, although unwavering, is fair and good to his
followers.
The main character in the epic is Gilgamesh. He is an extremely
powerful and beautiful man, created by the gods. He is given human-like
qualities such as fear, sorrow, mortality, and thirst for knowledge but all
in all he behaves like a god. He fights everything that gets in his way
and sleeps with every woman he desires. It is not until his lone friend
and companion, Enkidu, dies that he begins to feel scared. He wants to
live forever, so he sets out to find a means to do so. He soon finds that
immortality is impossible for, although he was created by gods, he cannot
be one of them.
Abraham was an important character in the book of Genesis. Unlike
Gilgamesh, he was born a normal human,...
