Gilgamesh

Critical Analysis

Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible Stories Closely Related

The Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh have several similarities. I will discuss the similarities of the Flood story, the serpent and the idea of losing immorality.

In the epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is searching for a man named Utnapishtim and his secrets of life and death. When Gilgamesh is brought to Utnapishtim, he tells a flood story to Gilgamesh, a story that has only happened once so far and that will never happen again. Utnapishtim explained to Gilgamesh that the gods were angry with mankind because of all the noise they were making. They decided to destroy all of mankind by creating a flood. But Utnapishtim and his wife were chosen by the gods to survive the flood. They were told to build an ark and load it with animals. They followed the god’s instructions and because they did, they not only survived the flood but also were granted immortality. This story is very similar to that of the Noah’s Ark story of the Bible. Noah and his family were chosen by God to build an Ark because God had decided to kill all of mankind. They did so, and they also included animals and survived the flood. However, Noah and his family did not receive immortality, but they did obtain a covenant that God would not send another flood to destroy mankind.

Gilgamesh also had the desire to live forever. Utnapishtim’s wife takes pity on Gilgamesh and asks Utnapishtim to tell Gilgamesh about the plant that can make him young again, if not immortal. So, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh about a plant named “the old man becomes a young man” located at the bottom of the ocean and so Gilgamesh begins his journey to search for the magical plant. Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet in order to get to the bottom of the ocean to look for the plant. He does indeed retrieve the plant, and is filled with excitement and wonder as he plans on what to do with it. He intends on sharing it with his people upon his return. But, once Gilgamesh has found the plant of youth and immortality, a snake like serpent steals it while Gilgamesh is resting by the watering hole, thereby, stealing immortality from Gilgamesh. Does this not sound like the snake that appears in the Adam and Eve story? It does and in a very similar way as well.

In the Adam and Eve Creation story from the Bible, the Tree of Knowledge is located in the center of the Garden of Eden, a location similar to that of the bottom of the ocean. A snake appears and tempts Eve into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. By her eating from the tree it causes the fall of mankind from their eternal world. Now, if Eve had never eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, would Adam and Eve have enjoyed everlasting life? Again, here is the serpent like snake, the evil figure, which steals or cheats mankind out of immortality. Both Gilgamesh and Eve were careless. They didn’t think twice about the value of everlasting life, and carelessly allowed the gift to be taken away.

Next, the Plant of Youth verses the Tree of Knowledge. In these stories they are also very similar. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were not allowed to eat any of the fruits on the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 2:17). In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is told of a magical plant called the "The Old Men Are Young Again" (45). This plant promises to make an old man young