The three most important differences in the flood myth are:
1. The reason that Man was to be destroyed
2. The importance of dreams and
3. There is not promise not to flood the earth again in Gilgamesh but there is in the Bible.
In the Biblical flood story Man was to be destroyed because of their sinful nature. God is quoted as saying "the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth." In Gilgamesh, Enlil proclaimed "The uproar of mankind is intolerable, and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel." This passage also mirrors the
Epic of Creation, when Apsu is annoyed at the noisiness of the younger gods.
In Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is warned of the flood in a dream, but in the Bible, God speaks to Noah personally. This either shows a greater fear, or respect to the gods in ancient times or perhaps this was due to a greater belief in dreams. I also found it odd that Noah could save only his family but Utnapishtim was able to save all his servants as well. Would Noah's servants not have been righteous as well?
In the Biblical flood story God sets his rainbow in the sky as a promise not to flood the earth again. In Gilgamesh it seems as if the Gods regret the flood, stating, "Would that a lion had ravaged mankind... Wold that a wolf had ravaged mankind... Would that famine had wasted the world... Would that pestilence had wasted mankind Rather than the flood," but they make no promise not to allow it to happen again.
On a side note, I did find it interesting that the ship built by Utnapishtim was made in seven days. Was this intended to be a reflection of the time it took to create the earth or just because the number 7 was significant?
In response to your question about the building time, my guess would be that time in ancient stories isn't meant to be understood literally but in terms of symbolism. Seven is a number that has divine signification and symbolism, so it would make sense that it would play a large role in this story.
ReplyDeleteI like that you analyze these stories, breaking them down into smaller pieces. But I'd really like to see you go a step further and do the work that Auerbach termed "interpretation," trying to discover or assignment meaning to the actual differences.