Flood Stories
There have been hundreds of flood stories told worldwide, many of which have been told orally, which leads to a variation in the stories. Some experts claim there are over five hundred flood stories. The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis in the Bible are two of the many flood stories told orally throughout the world. The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis in the Bible are similar and different because of the protagonist, the role of the gods, and major plot events that occur.
Utnapishtim and Noah, the protagonists of the stories, are similar in many ways and different in others. Utnapishtim closely relates to Noah because Utnapishtim was told to build a boat because a flood would soon strike, just as Noah was told to do. Utnapishtim was told by Ea in a dream whereas God told Noah normally. However, Utnapishtim was told he had 7 days to build a boat. In Genesis in the Bible, Noah was not told a time. In both cases, Utnapishtim and Noah were given specific directions as for what to bring on board with them. Utnapishtim was told to bring people and animals and Noah was told to bring people and two of every kind of animal.
Furthermore, in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis from the Bible, the god/ gods played a significant role in the story. There were multiple gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh such as Anu; lord of firmament, Enlil; the counselor, and Ea; the god that told Utnapishtim to construct the boat. The majority of gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh were trying to abolish mankind itself due to mankind being too loud, others were against abolishing all of mankind. Some of the gods were unsatisfied and disagreed about the idea of total and complete human abolishment. The ultimate goal was not to have any evidence of mankind, but one god decided to warn only one person, Utnapishtim, about the flood. In Genesis in the Bible, God wanted very little of mankind to survive the flood because mankind were extremely evil. God also wanted two of every animal to board the boat in order to keep life existing, instead of abolishing everything. These two stories are similar because the main goal of the gods/god was to eliminate most of or all of mankind; these two stories are different because of how the gods/god went about achieving the abolishment of most of or all of mankind.
Lastly, there were key plot events in The Epic of Gilgamesh and in Genesis in the Bible prior, during, and after the flood. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, prior to the flood, the gods wanted to destroy all of mankind, but some gods disagreed, so the gods decided to tell Utnapishtim to build a boat. This is different from Genesis in the Bible, because god knew what he was doing when he decided to abolish mankind, and warned Noah and told him to construct the boat. During the flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim, his family, and his animals were unable to